Kashikobuchi Pool and Spider Steleかしこぶち・くもひ

The jorōgumo is a composite yokai shaped by the name of a living spider species, early modern ghost stories of shapeshifting women, Toriyama Sekien’s depiction of a woman's body overlaid with spider legs, and regional legends of spider-haunted pools. In Tonoigusa, a visiting mother and child dissolve into a monstrous attic spider, while in Taihei Hyaku Monogatari, a maiden pleading for marriage proves to be an illusion cast by a tiny spider beneath the eaves. In waterside lore, it casts fine silk onto a person's foot—threads capable of dragging a huge log into the depths once transferred. The popular modern image of a lute-playing seductress who devours men does not appear in any single verified classical text.