Ubagabi – Old Woman’s Fire of Kawachi and Tanba

Basic Description

Ubagabi is a will-o’-the-wisp that appears on rainy nights, with traditions centered around Hiraoka in Kawachi and along the Hozu River in Tanba. It flies as a fireball about a foot across and is said to sometimes show the face of an old woman or the shape of a bird. Explanations tie it to the curse of an old woman who stole lamp oil from Hiraoka Shrine, or divine punishment upon a woman who drowned after discarding her child; the phenomenon is noted in old books and picture scrolls. Contact is considered a dire omen.

Folklore & Legends

Shokoku Rijindan records that in Hiraoka, on rainy nights, a foot-wide fire flew through the air; when it struck a man’s face he glimpsed a form like a chicken, which then reverted to a fireball as it departed. In Saikaku Shokoku Banashi, the flame is the curse of an oil-thieving crone: it darts a league in an instant, and those whose shoulders it grazes will die within a few years—yet it vanishes if one cries out “aburasashi” (“oil filler”). In Tanba, Kokon Hyaku Monogatari Hyōban tells of an old woman who drowned after abandoning her child at the Hozu River; ever since, strange lights have appeared on the water. Toriyama Sekien also depicted it as “Uba-ga-bi,” a ghostly flame bearing an old woman’s face.

Mysterious Flames of the Night

Phantom Fires and Flame Yokai

A multitude of phantom fires with various origins that illuminate nocturnal fields, shores, graveyards, and eaves. From the Uba-ga-bi of an old woman who stole oil, the flames igniting on straw raincoats on rainy nights, and the Shiranui lining the sea, to hitodama representing the souls of the dead—an illustrated catalog of fire-related fears compiled by artists like Toriyama Sekien.

Tsurube-bi (Bucket Fire)

Ubagabi (Old Woman’s Fire)

Shiranui

Furari-bi (Wandering Flame)

Chōchin-bi (Lantern Fire)

Grave Fire

Fire of the Akuro-gami

Minobi (Rain-cloak Fire)

Hitodama (Human Soul Fire)

Aburabō (Oil Wraith)

Oil Baby

Korōka (Ancient Lantern Fire)

Kazembō (Fire-Monk of Toribe Hill)

Tōdaiki (Human Candelabrum)

Related Yokai

Yokai deeply tied to this one in legend.

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Sōgenbi

Collection Inclusion

This yokai is included in the following collections:

The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

Toriyama Sekien’s 1776 yokai art book presenting one creature per leaf, the first in the “Gazu Hyakki Yagyo” series.

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Fire Yokai and Ghost Lights | Onibi, Kitsunebi and Shiranui in Japanese Folklore

Explore Japanese fire yokai and ghost lights, including Hitodama, Shiranui, Tsurube-bi, Aosagibi, Kosenjōbi, Wanyūdō and Enenra, grouped by origin.

View collection

Detailed Analysis

A reference version based on images of Ubagabi that appear frequently in Edo-period essays and ghost tales. In Kawachi, an old woman who stole oil from a shrine was said to become a ghostly fire after death, drifting around shrine approaches and village paths on rainy nights. In Tanba, it was tied to water calamities on the Hozu River, feared as lights that swarm over the water. It appears as an orange fireball about one shaku in size, at times bearing the face of an old woman or the shadow of a bird. Contact is an omen of misfortune, though accounts note it can be driven off by calling out or by taboo words. With moral contexts of stolen shrine oil, child abandonment tales, and water disasters behind it, the Ubagabi endured as a ghost-fire embodying regional taboos and faith.

Character Profile

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

Yokai Type: Traditional Yokai
Category: Natural Phenomena Spirits
Rarity: Epic
Personality: silent, drawn by grudges and resentments, drifting will-o’-the-wisp
Compatibility: avoids those who keep faith and taboos, reluctant to approach places under strong religious observance
Abilities: glows and flies on rainy nightsshapeshifts to mislead the eye (fireballold woman’s facebird-like shadow)brushes the shoulder to portend ill fortuneswarms near watersides and shrine precincts
Weaknesses: repelled by spoken formulas (for example, words about oil), avoids strong prayers and wards, scatters in heavy rain or strong winds
Habitat: Kawachi Province around Hiraoka, Tanba Province along the Hozu River, shrine approaches, village paths, river surfaces

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Yokai Compatibility Test

The diagram below is a diagnostic evaluation chart for Ubagabi (Traditional Accounts Version). The higher the value of each item, the stronger that characteristic is expressed.