A Female Monster in Medieval Japan:

The influence of Otogizōshi“Tsuchigumo Sōshi”

on noh play Tsuchigumo
Keiko Kimura
　　　　　

Introduction
If there was not the picture scroll version of Otogizōshi “Tsuchigumo Sōshi,” the
famous noh play Tsuchigumo would not be produced. The impact of Otogizōshi
influenced a variety of artistic performances, and the noh play Tsuchigumo is one of
them.
Originally Otogizōshi descended from elements of Monogatari and Setsuwa, which
flourished in the Heian and Kamakura periods. In the medieval age, Otogizōshi
opened their fantasy worlds to everybody. They were for all classes of people, and
their abundant and curious illustrations had a great impact especially on commoners,
which allowed Otogizōshi to retain their broad popularity. With Otogizōshi’s human
context and entertaining narrative form, everyone was able to appreciate and enjoy
them regardless of the era or the location in which they lived. Because of Otogizōshi’s
openness, everybody including noh writers and actors enjoyed its world.

Otogizōshi
Otogizōshi comprise a Japanese literary genre. They are also called Muromachi
Tales and sometimes translated as “companion tales/books.” There are more than 400
short tales which were composed by unknown writers roughly from the early 14th to
the early 17th centuries.1 It was the new tendency of medieval literature to express
commoners’ tastes. Otogizōshi have thematic diversity: myth, legends, traditional
folktales, historical incidents, religious belief, and so on. Many of their subjects are
amusing, fantastic, and often weird. Otogizōshi’s endless range of characters include
aristocrats, warriors, clergy, avatars of gods or buddhas, commoners, animals acting
like human beings, spirits, monsters, plants, and nonhuman beings like yōkai.
Sometimes the stories are set in foreign countries and imagined lands, as well as

1
Northern and Southern Courts (1336-1392), Muromachi, and early Tokugawa periods.

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other worlds like Heaven and Hell.

Before the appearance of Otogizōshi, there was the literary tradition of the
aristocratic Heian and Kamakura periods. Monogatari, the long narrative, flourished
among the nobles. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century is one
of the most famous archaic narratives. In contrast to Monogatari, which was read in
aristocratic society, Otogizōshi were written in plain and colloquial Japanese.
Medieval Japan was a war-torn climate in great political instability, in which people
couldn’t afford to enjoy long narratives.
With the emergence of samurai / warriors the nobility lost its power, and
gunkimono or warrior tales appeared in Otogizōshi, in which famous and powerful
warriors vanquish monsters and ogres. These tales show the military prowess of
famous warriors.
One of the most famous works is “Shutendoji /The Tale of the Drunken Ogre.” It
tells the story of the mighty imperial warrior Minamoto no Raikō/Yorimitsu (948-1021)
and his retainers, who vanquish the Shutendoji, the demonic ogre notorious for
abducting noble maidens from the capital of Kyoto and imprisoning them within his
palace on Mount Oeyama. Ordered by the emperor, Raikō and his retainers go to the
ogre’s palace disguised as Yamabushi/mountain monks and defeat Shutendoji and
other ogres. Plate 1 shows the scene in which Raikō cuts off Shutendoji’s head.
Finally, the maidens are safely rescued from the lair of Shutendoji.
The tale’s transcribed versions number over 100, which reveals its extraordinary
popularity.

Plate 1.　K anō Motonobu, “Shuten-dōji

emaki (The Tale of the Drunken
Ogre),” Set of three handscrolls,
1522, Suntory Museum of Art

Raikō is on the side of imperial authority; on the other hand, the ogre Shutendoji
represents those who defy authority. Raikō is an idealized warrior and was admired
especially by the warrior class. The commoners enjoyed their exploits through
looking at the pictures. Thus people’s interest in Otogizōshi illustrated scrolls spread
throughout Japan in the Warring States Period (1467-1573).
Another characteristic of Otogizōshi is that they have non-human protagonists, that
is, animals, insects, plants, and even objects. In Otogizōshi, they humorously act like

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 A Female Monster in Medieval Japan:
The influence of Otogizōshi“Tsuchigumo Sōshi”on noh play Tsuchigumo

human beings and engage in everyday human activities. It is interesting to see

interactions between humans and non-humans. For example, in “Nezumi Sōshi (The
Tale of the Mouse),” the mouse lord seeks salvation from the animal realm and prays
that he can marry a human woman. Through marriage, he believes that he can be
reborn as a human. At the Kyoto temple Kiyomizudera, which is famous for its
Kannon belief, he fortunately meets a beautiful princess and realizes his dream. But
poor mouse lord! Learning his real identity, she runs away from him.
Some of the most famous non-human beings are household furnishings and pots. If
they are used by humans for fewer than 100 years and are discarded, they transform
into tsukumogami, a kind of yōkai. Their parade is depicted in the handscroll format,
such as “Hyakkiyagyo (The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons).” Illustrations of
these weird creatures were tremendously popular among the people at that time.

“Tsuchigumo Sōshi”
In another of Minamoto no Raikō’s monster-hunting tales which belongs to
Gunkimono/warrior tales, “Tsuchigumo Sōshi (Picture scroll of an earth spider),”
Raikō vanquishes Tsuchigumo, a gigantic supernatural female spider. Initially the
spider disguises itself as a beautiful woman and then reveals her real identity, holding
numerous skulls of her victims inside her body. Though the cannibalistic spider is
regarded as an evil being, it is depicted as comical as well as weird. This story also
has an entertainment element.

A beauty turns into a monster in “Tsuchigumo Sōshi”

The oldest “Tsuchigumo Sōshi” picture scroll, which is written and painted in the
14th century, is housed in the Tokyo National Museum. I follow the plot of this
version of “Tsuchigumo Sōshi.”
The story begins thus: “Minamoto no Raikō, descendant of the emperor, was
renowned as a courageous, daring, and resolute warrior.” 2 One day in Autumn Raikō
goes to Rendaino in Kitayama located outside of Kyoto with his retainer warrior
Watanabe no Tsuna. There they happen to see a skull floating through the air.
Thinking it mysterious, they follow it and find it entering into an ancient and
decaying house in a place called Kaguraoka, which is a haunted mansion. First they
find a weird 290 year old woman and then yōkai such as a nun with a tremendously

2
From the text.

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large head and lots of grotesque animal-like creatures. At dawn, unexpectedly a

mysterious, beautiful woman with big eyes appears----her eyes seem like those in
modern Japanese girl’s comics. Dazzled by her beauty, Raikō loses his calm.
Suddenly she throws ten or so cloud-like white balls at him. Though almost blinded
by them, Raikō cuts them with his sword, but the tip of his sword is broken and it
disappears. He finds that her blood remains on the grip of his sword. Though her
figure has disappeared, she has left a puddle of her blood on the floor which has been
streaming from her body. Following the trail of the blood, Raikō and Tsuna reach a
cave in the mountain, where they find a gigantic monstrous spider about 200 feet tall-
---the description is different from the picture in the scroll (see Plate 2). The spider
struggles to fight to kill Raikō and Tsuna. Continuing attacking, at last Raikō
decapitates her head, from which 1990 skulls and numerous small spiders as large as
human beings pop out of her body. They seem to be her children.

Plate 2.　“Tsuchigumo Sōshi,” The

Kamakura Period, 14th
century, Tokyo National
Museum

Who is Tsuchigumo?
The Yamato imperial court in which Minamoto no Raikō belonged as subject to the
emperor had to vanquish the inhabitants beyond the reach of the emperor’s control
to rule Japan. Tsuchigumo was the generic appellation of those inhabitants. It was
told that their physical features were different from those of the Yamato tribe---their
arms and legs were longer, and they had a custom of dwelling in caves. That is why
they were called the Tsuchigumo (earth spider) tribe. They were thought to be less-
cultivated native inhabitants.
What is written in Kojiki and Nihonshoki (the oldest chronicles of Japan) is: The
Tsuchigumo tribe in old Japan were the people who were eliminated under the reign
of the Yamato imperial court. They were regarded as wild barbarians. From the
viewpoint of White Anglo-Saxon Americans, their situation is similar to the Native
Americans. What we call history is the conqueror’s history. Japanese history is not

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written from the Tsuchigumo tribe’s point of view. In the first place the Tsuchigumo
tribe were living peacefully, but the more powerful latecomers the Yamato Imperial
Court eliminated the Tsuchigumo tribe without legitimate reason.
In Hizen no kuni Fudoki (account of the topography of Hizen province),3 there is an
episode in which Emperor Keikō proceeded to Hizen no kuni (Hizen province) in
Kyushu to subjugate the Tsuchigumo tribe. In the account we learn that he kills
Princess Yasome at Omina Mountain. She is thought to be a female leader of the
tribe, or a daughter of its head. What impresses us is that their chief was female.
There are episodes of the Tsuchigumo tribe in Bungo no Fudoki (account of the
topography of Bungo province), Hitachi no Fudoki (account of the topography of
Hitachi province), Higo no kuni Fudoki (account of the topography of Higo province),
Hyuga no kuni Fudoki (account of the topography of Hyuga province), Settsu no kuni
Fudoki (account of the topography of Settsu province), Mutsu no kuni Fudoki (account
of the topography of Mutsu province), and Echigo no kuni Fudoki (account of the
topography of Echigo province) as well.
In the fictional story world, they are not people but monsters which must be
eliminated. For the Yamato imperial court, these inhabitants had to be evil and
horrible. That is the process of the production of the monstrous earth spider,
Tsuchigumo.

A mysterious woman in noh play Tsuchigumo

In The Tale of Heike, there is the following story in “The Chapter of The Sword.”

In the summer of the same year, Raikō becomes ill. All the incantations and
prayers by the monks and priests fail to cure his illness. Raikō’s intermittent
fevers continue for more than thirty days. One night a seven-foot tall priest
unfamiliar to everyone approaches Raikō’s bed and tries to restrain him with
ropes. Raikō takes up his sword called Hizamaru4 and strikes the priest, who
then vanishes. As his shitennō (four super warriors) and others rush to Raikō’s
room they find a trail of blood that leads to a mound in Kitano where there is
a giant earth spider. Raikō realizes that his illness has been caused by this
earth spider. Raikō and his men impale the spider and transport it to the

3
Now in Saga prefecture and Nagasaki prefecture in Kyushu.
4
The name derives from an episode in which the sword can cut even the knee.

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riverside as a warning. Raikō renames his Hizamaru sword Kumokiri (spider-

cutting).5

The plot of the noh play Tsuchigumo is similar to the episode of “The Chapter of
The Sword” in The Tale of Heike as I have quoted above.
In the noh play Tsuchigumo the exciting scene of Tsuchigumo’s spinning its
threads to ensnare Minamoto no Raikō is well known. In this paper, however, I
would like to focus on the existence of a mysterious woman in the play. As in
“Tsuchigumo Sōshi,” in the noh play Tsuchigumo an earth spider appears first in the
guise of a mysterious woman. She is called Kochō (Butterfly). Kochō waits on Raikō
as a maid. She brings medicine for Raikō who is ill, but actually it does not work. In
spite of her nursing, Raikō’s condition does not improve. He is getting worse. It is
suggested that Kochō bring medicine for him every day, but it does not seem like a
medicine. What we can imagine is that she puts poison in the medicine secretly,
which leads Raikō to death. He does not find what she has done to him because he
must have felt for her. The following conversation is held between Kochō and Raikō.

Kochō: Excuse me, my lord. I received your medicine from the chief of the
medical department. How do you feel today?
Raikō: My soul has grown weaker since yesterday. So does my body. I am
now only waiting for my last moment.
Kochō: Please do not say such things, my lord. You have become too anxious
right now. Illness is always agony; however, it is cursed most of the time.
Raikō: I therefore do not give up,
Try various diverse cures day and night—I do all I can do.
However, my condition is so serious that I cannot distinguish day and night.
I am too sick to feel the flow of time.
Really, there is nothing that I can do to distract myself.
I can think only of my illness and it makes me more depressed.
The more depression increases, the more the pressure on my chest increases.6

“Iro o tsukushite yoru hiru no (Try various diverse cures day and night)” has

5
This part is Noriko Reider’s summary. Usually “The Chapter of The Sword” is not included in the popular
The Tale of Heike.
6
From the text by the Noh.com.

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another meaning: “exhausting love day and night.” In Japanese, “iro” means “love” as
well as “various.” Raikō seems to be mesmerized by her.
At night, an unknown priest appears. In spite of his role as a priest, he recites a
waka (poem) which was originally recited by Sotohori Iratsume. Through the poem,
we see that the priest is a disguised woman, and we find it strange that Raikō recites
the latter part of the poem. From his behavior, we understand that Raikō knows
who the person is. By reciting the latter part of the song, it shows that Raikō has
found the disguised priest is Kochō whom Raikō is in love with, and at the same time
he has understood that the one who he loves is a kind of monster related to the
spider from the waka (the poem).
Originally this poem appears in Nihon shoki on the eighth year in the reign of
Emperor Ingyo. Sotohori Iratsume was the wife of the Emperor who was the fourth
prince of the ex-emperor Nintoku. At the time Sotohori Iratsume’s beauty was well
known. In Nihon shoki, it reads: “Otohime’s (Sotohori Iratsume’s) countenance was of
surpassing and peerless beauty. Her brilliant color shone out through her raiment, so
that the men of that time gave her the designation of Sotohori Iratsume.” Otohime
was nicknamed Sotohori Iratsume because of her shining skin.
In Nihon shoki, there are two poems composed by Sotohori Iratsume. One of them
is put in this noh play Tsuchigumo. The poem in Tsuchigumo was recited in 419.
At that time the Emperor went to Fujihara and secretly observed how matters were
with Sotohori Iratsume. That night she was sitting alone, thinking fondly of the
Emperor. Unaware of his approach, she made a poem, reciting:

This is the night

My husband will come.
The little crab 7 ----
The spider’s action
Tonight is manifest 8

From old times, a spider was considered a good sign in that it brings the person
one waits for. The poem by Sotohori Iratsume is one of the oldest examples of such
usage. Originally an appearance of a spider as a good sign came from China. It was

7
“Little crab” is poetic epithet for spider.
8
This poem is also included in Kokin wakashu (A collection of poems ancient and modern). In Kokin wakashu,
the last line is: “it manifests in advance.”

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a sign that an intimate person, especially a lover, would come. That is why the
spider was used as an expression of feeling of love in the Heian and medieval Japan.
The female earth spider transforms herself into Kochō and then an unknown priest.
And on that night in the guise of the priest, the earth spider throws her thread and
tries to tie him up. At that point, Raikō finds her real identity as a killer, and he tries
to cut her body with his sword named Hizamaru. But she escapes from his mansion.
Raikō orders one of his warriors and asks him to follow the blood she has left and kill
her.
In “Tsuchigumo Sōshi,” an earth spider in the guise of a beautiful woman throws a
white ball, and in the noh play Tsuchigumo an earth spider in the guise of a priest
casts white threads to Raikō to trap him.
Why does Raikō let his retainer go to the den of an earth spider? It might be
because he understands that he will succumb to the earth spider’s allure if he sees
her.

Earth Spider: You must have no idea who I am.

I am the spirit of the earth spider, who has resided in Mount Kazuraki for
thousands of years.
I first tried to approach Raikō in order to disturb the world of the Emperor
again. Yet you now try to take my life in turn?

In the end she reveals her real identity as an earth spider who has been under the
oppression of the Emperor for a long time.

Conclusion
As we have seen, the mysterious woman appears in “Tsuchigumo Sōshi” as well as
the noh play Tsuchigumo. In Otogizōshi, Raikō encounters a beautiful woman and is
mesmerized by her. Then she turns from a seductive woman to a destructive female
killer, Tsuchigumo. We then find that she is Tsuchigumo in disguise. In the noh play
as well, a mysterious woman appears, and Raikō seems to become ill because of her
conspiracy. From his words we find that he is in love with her.
The earth spider seems to have femme fatale elements. The femme fatale, the fatal
woman—charming and seductive as well as dangerous—is a figure of fascination in a
variety of legends, myths, folktales, literary works, and pictures in the west and in
the east. Different from ordinary women, she has an immense power. She is not

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The influence of Otogizōshi“Tsuchigumo Sōshi”on noh play Tsuchigumo

predictable or manageable. In most cases, however, she is conquered by heroes in

the end.

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（本学客員研究員）

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