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Kera-kera Woman

keh-rah KEH-rah OHN-nah

Kera-kera Woman

Kera-kera Woman

Their soul is listening — speak, and they will answer.

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.

Yokai Cards1

Kera-kera Woman across multiple art-style decks

Card gallery

Detailed Analysis

Character Profile

This section is our own creative profile for storytelling. It is not historical fact or scholarship.

Rarity
Rare

For more detailed information and diagnosis results about 塀越しの艶笑女霊・倩兮女, please click here.

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