HASHIHIME

Lore

Legends tell of a woman named Kunitoki whose husband took a lover. Driven by consuming jealousy, she prayed seven days at a shrine to become a demon to destroy her rival. The gods answered, declaring that if she bore a heart filled with rage and spent 21 days immersed in the Uji River, her wish would be granted.

Kunitoki divided her hair into five sections like horns, painted her body red, and placed an overturned tripod with three burning torches on her head. After 21 days in the river, she became the Bridge Princess of Uji. Transformed, Hashihime annihilated her rival's family. Her faithless husband only survived through the intervention of the sorcerer Abe no Seimei, who protected him with a powerful talisman.