Food was harder to obtain in the past, and certainly more scarce. So there was a constant worry of not having enough to feed a family, especially during times of war and famine.

These very understandable fears resulted in cautionary tales of a Yokai that consumes any food it can grasp.

The Futakuchi-Onna

Translated to “two-mouthed woman, this Yokai has many conflicting backgrounds, so it’s difficult to find the direct origin. But even though its origins vary, the description is the same across the board.

The Futakuchi-Onna looks like a normal woman, but hidden beneath her hair is a large second mouth.

This second mouth is always hungry. Constantly whispering insults, while demanding more and more food.  If not fed, it will screech obscenely and cause the woman enormous amounts of pain. After dark, the hair becomes long, tentacle-like strands. Grasping and devouring any food it can reach.

While most believe it to be a curse similar to the Rokurokubi, there are many who believe it to be a mountain witch disguising herself as a young woman. Or maybe it’s the result of a mother who let her stepchild starve to death, and the second mouth results from the child’s angry spirit.

However the most common theory states the Futakuchi-Onna is a curse attaching itself to those who are stingy, or starve themselves to stay thin.

In some cases the host eats very little, letting the curse consume all the food by choice. But the darker stories describe a host slowly starving away, the second mouth consuming anything they try to eat –until the host starves to death.

These likely formed as a cautionary tale. Warning people about the dangers of being stingy, and not sharing food with the village during times of famine. Or in more modern times, used as a way to encourage people to eat their fill at gatherings.

We can only imaging how many kids were told to finish their dinner, or they may “turn into a Futakuchi-Onna!”