Aonyōbō

According to tradition and legend, the Aonyōbō are court ladies associated with noble households who become lingering spirits when those families fall into ruin or when expected husbands or suitors do not return; sources describe them as court attendants who served until marriage and whose social role and household context have been lost, leaving them to inhabit deserted domestic spaces.

Legend describes the Aonyōbō as a blue-skinned, ogre-like spirit taking the appearance of an ancient court noblewoman. She is depicted wearing many layers of kimono from older eras that have become tattered and moth-ridden, and retaining court cosmetics such as a white-painted face, high-painted eyebrows, and blackened teeth.

Sources emphasize behavioral and emblematic traits over a broad catalog of supernatural powers: the Aonyōbō is said to be constantly applying makeup, fixing hair, and adjusting her appearance while waiting for guests who never arrive. According to legend, if trespassers enter the ruined houses she inhabits, the Aonyōbō will devour them. Beyond this predatory warning, the accounts focus on her symbolic role as an embodiment of poverty and social abandonment rather than on an extended list of abilities.