JORŌGUMO 絡新婦 or 女郎蜘蛛
Pronunciation: JOH-roh-GOO-moh
Translation: The Harlot Spider or Entangling Bride
Overview
The jorōgumo is a creepy, potentially deadly yōkai who has two different embodiments and two different ways of writing her name, depending on which form she’s inhabiting. Both names are pronounced exactly the same way, though.
If you run across her as a beautiful, beguiling woman hanging out in or near a waterfall, the characters (絡新婦) mean “entangling bride.” If, on the other hand, she’s a giant spider who has captured you with a sticky thread and is luring you in for your ultimate demise, the kanji (女郎蜘蛛) mean “harlot spider.”
The famed woodblock artist Toriyama Sekien used both names. For the title of her page in his classic collection Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (画図百鬼夜行), or Illustrated Demon Horde’s Night Parade (1776), he chose the “entangling bride” characters, while in the table of contents, he went with “harlot spider.” A close look at his image also shows something in between the two forms. In this early depiction, you see what looks like the back of a long-haired, kimono-clad woman, then you notice she has six spider legs protruding from those silken robes (she’s standing on the other two). What’s even more startling is that on the end of every one of those hairy appendages is a fire-breathing baby spider seemingly being whipped about in the air. (It’s a shame that these days, you don’t often hear mention of fire-breathing baby spiders in relation to the jorōgumo.)
Background and Popular Stories
The spider woman’s origins date back hundreds of years ago when there were gorgeous waterfalls flowing into crystal-clear pools all across the country, untouched by human hands and unseen by human eyes. These were magical places where large spiders lived and acted as messengers for the water deities. Over time, travelers started wandering close to these falls and it was discovered these jumbo arachnids also had the power—if they were so inclined—to change into enchanting women.
In order to safeguard these sacred places from intruders, the jorōgumo would shoot out gluey webs, entrapping them. It wasn’t long before the cascades where these spider women resided came to be known as “spider pools,” or—because the women used their spare time and their spider silks to weave—“weaving pools.” If you’re ever out in the wilderness of Japan and come across a waterfall, listen closely for the sound of a loom. If you hear it, you might not want to stick around.
These jorōgumo weren’t necessarily out to entangle and kill innocent men, however. Remember, they were messengers for the water deities, and it was the men who trespassed into their territory.
When one of these spiders decided to transform into a woman, she appeared as the most bewitchingly beautiful lady the man had ever seen. Her allure was so potent that once he saw her, her seductive beauty was etched into his memory forever.
If, though, he discovered her true identity, the spider lady would demand that the man keep it a secret. This is where problems arose. Trying to silence those who had fallen under her spell was itself a trick. The following is a well-known story about just such a case.
Once upon a time, at Jōren Falls in Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture, there lived a jorōgumo. This came to light when one day a man was resting beside the bank of the plunge pool when a web shot out from the water, wrapped around his leg, and started to drag him in. This particular fellow was a quick thinker, though, and deftly pulled off the sticky webbing, winding it around a nearby tree stump instead. He then watched as the stump was uprooted and pulled into the waterfall.
From that time on, no one dared go near the place—until one day, when a woodcutter visiting the area for the first time found himself at the breathtaking falls. While there, he suddenly had the urge to chop down a tree with his axe. As he was doing so, he accidentally dropped his favorite tool into the water. He was just about to dive in after it when the most captivating woman he’d ever seen emerged from the water with it in her hands and returned it to him.
He thanked her, and she made him swear never to tell anyone that he had met her here. If he did, she warned, it would cost him his life. He promised and quickly left the area.
The man then stopped by the nearby town, and without telling anyone about his own experience, he learned that a jorōgumo did indeed live at Jōren Falls. Now he understood fully the danger and kept their meeting locked inside his heart. Years went by, and he never said a word, but he often remembered that day and very much wished he was able to tell someone about it.
Finally, while out drinking with his friends one night, he could hold it in no longer. He let slip what had occurred that fateful day. As soon as he did, the burden he had been carrying around for years was lifted, and his heart felt lighter. That night, he went to bed feeling happy and content for the first time in ages, only, he never woke up again.
There are some alternate endings to this oft-told story of Jōren Falls. One is that after the woodcutter revealed the spider woman’s secret, an invisible thread pulled him outside, and he walked off into the night. Later he was found floating in the same pool where he’d met the jorōgumo years before.
In Modern Stories
Jorōgumo can be found in a ton of manga, anime, and games. In the manga and anime Demon Slayer, a version of her is shown as Rui’s mother, an all-white spider lady who controls others with her sticky threads. In One Piece, she appears as Black Maria, a giant blonde-haired beauty. A few other manga and anime she’s in are Inuyasha, xxxHOLiC, and Yo-kai Watch. The character Rakna-Kadaki in the game Monster Hunter: Rise is based on the jorōgumo, with her webbing made to look like a wedding dress in reference to the version of her name that means “entangling bride.” She can breathe fire too, just like the little baby spiders in Sekien’s iconic image.