The yama-uba (yamanba) is a yōkai of Japanese folklore, mostly in the shape of a woman and drawn as either a devouring monster or a benevolent being. She appears as a crone with unkempt, long white hair and a filthy, tattered kimono, given to cannibalism. She is said to have a mouth at the top of her head, hidden beneath her hair, and in one tale her only weakness is a single flower that holds her soul.
Those she attacks are chiefly the travelers and merchants who cross the mountain paths. Yet in one tale she raises the orphan Kintarō, who grows into a famous warrior. That nurture and predation live in one body, with no telling in advance which it will be, matches our world’s register — judgment kept sealed.