倩兮女
Common
Traditional Yokai

Kera-kera Woman

keh-rah KEH-rah OHN-nah

Also Known As

Kera-kera Onna(keh-rah KEH-rah OHN-nah)

Category

Ghosts & Spirits

Personality

Origin

Japanese folklore

Basic Description

A female yokai depicted by the Edo-period artist Toriyama Sekien in Konjaku Hyakki Shūi. She peers over a wall with her mouth agape, cackling kera-kera to bewilder passersby. Sekien alludes to a Chinese anecdote by Song Yu, likening her to the spirit of a woman whose coquettish laughter unsettled hearts. No specific locale or backstory is given; later tradition remembers her as a eerie, laughing apparition.

Folklore & Legends

Printed books and picture booklets show a large female face peeking over a wall, laughing kera-kera—evidence that the laughing woman motif circulated even before Sekien. Postwar notes claim her laughter reaches only a lone traveler on a quiet road; the faint of heart may collapse. Tosa’s “Laughing Woman” is often cited as a parallel, using laughter to frighten people.

Detailed Analysis

Kera-kera Woman 石燕図譜準拠

For more detailed information and diagnosis results about 石燕図譜準拠, please click here.

Interested in this type of yokai?

Discover the yokai most similar to your personality with our yokai diagnosis

Loading...