22) Japan - 11. Yamamba

Using the kanji for mountain (山) and grandmother (姥), it is also called 'Yamauba'. There are benevolent traditions where she guides lost travelers or raises abandoned children, but also tales of her killing and eating people. Here is a Japanese folktale. Once upon a time, an old woman abandoned in a mountain became a Yamauba and lived by eating travelers who passed through the mountain. One day, a Yamauba appeared before a merchant crossing the mountain to sell fish and demanded fish. The merchant, in fear, gave her the fish, but she reappeared shortly after demanding more. Eventually, with no fish left, she tried to eat the merchant as well. The merchant fled to a tree near a pond, and the Yamauba, mistaking her reflection in the pond for the merchant, drank all the water and left. Later, the merchant coincidentally entered the Yamauba's house and hid. When the returning Yamauba fell asleep in a wooden box, the merchant poured hot water into the box, killing her. However, the Yamauba's corpse turned into gold and silver treasures, and the merchant returned to the village with the treasure and became rich.