Umi Nyōbō

Legends:
In Iwate Prefecture, two fishermen went out to sea and did not return. Their wives waited and waited for them, and began to worry. An umi nyōbō came upon the bodies of the two drowned fishermen in the sea. She disguised herself as a human and visited the fishermen’s wives. She handed them a package and left. When the wives opened the packages, inside were the severed heads of their drowned husbands. The women screamed in horror, and were so overcome with grief that they threw themselves into the sea and drowned. It is said that afterwards they became umi nyōbō themselves. The best known umi nyōbō story comes from the village of Uppurui in Shimane Prefecture. An old man was asked by a friend to house sit while he was away. The old man had done this many times, and was used to it.