top of page

Futakuchi Onna (Japan)

  • Writer: S. N. Linn
    S. N. Linn
  • Aug 22
  • 1 min read
An illustration of Futakuchi Onna, a woman with a second mouth hidden at the back of her head. The mouth has sharp teeth and a lolling tonugue.

Futakuchi Onna, or two-mouthed woman, appears to be an ordinary woman except that she has a second mouth hidden beneath her hair at the back of her head. Her long black hair moved like tentacles, shoveling food into her second mouth. The origins of this yokai serve as cautionary tales against greed and cruelty.


In some stories, she was a victim who was denied food, and secretly eating through her second mouth was the only way she could get nourishment. In others, she was the abuser who starved the others, and she developed a second mouth in her head when the vengeful spirit of her victim cursed her.


 
 
bottom of page