Hisa-Me
Also called Shikome, Shiko-Me, Hisame, Gogome, Gogo-Me, Yomotsu-shikome, Yomo-tsu-shiko-me, Eight Ugly Females of Yomi.
The Hisa-Me, or Shikome, are the hideous Frowning Women of the Japanese underworld — the hags Izanami loosed on her fleeing husband, and in later lore savage mountain-roaming demons.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Japanese folklore
- Region
- Japan (place of origin)
- Symbols
- Teeth
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Teeth bears image-domain Teeth denote the capacity to seize, bite and hold, bared in threat or defence, and dreamt falling when the power to grasp life feels compromised.
why
Description survives in the later accounts: bloodshot eyes and sharp, jagged teeth, a savagery the sources call barbaric and sadistic.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Shadow carries both readings
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Hisa-Me."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Hisa-Me."
- Death meets
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Hisa-Me."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Hisa-Me."
- Earth meets
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Hisa-Me."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Hisa-Me."
- Hero meets
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Hisa-Me."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Hisa-Me."