Marina Shirakawa | Ubume (産女) | Onna Yokai | Mixed Media color painting | 1986

Size : 26 x 36,5 cm
Mixed Media 
Good condition

Ubume (産女)

This artwork illustrates the chilling tale of the Ubume, the ghost or yōkai of a woman who died in childbirth or while pregnant.

The dishevelled, ghostly women peering over the folding screen (byōbu) represent the spirits of the deceased mothers watching from the afterlife or the spiritual realm.

In traditional Japanese folklore, if a pregnant woman passed away, a grim posthumous Caesarean section or symbolic ritual was sometimes performed to remove the child. This was rooted in the Buddhist belief that a mother buried with an unborn child would be trapped in the Chi-no-Ike (Blood Pool Hell).

The wooden tub filled with red liquid directly references this "Blood Pool Hell," symbolizing the spiritual pollution and suffering associated with dying during childbirth in ancient times.

Please read Marina's bio for more information