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Kera-kera Woman
keh-rah KEH-rah OHN-nah
Also Known As
Category
Personality
Origin
Kera-kera Woman
keh-rah KEH-rah OHN-nah
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
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