Shikome
Hag or hags sent by Izanami to pursue Izanagi from the Underworld.
Shikome, also known as Yomotsu-shikome or Yomotsu-hisame, is a figure from Japanese mythology, specifically a hag or group of hags sent by the dead goddess Izanami to pursue her husband Izanagi after he broke a promise not to see her decayed form in the Underworld (Yomi-no-kuni). The name may refer collectively to eight hags, not just one, and appears in the earliest Japanese chronicles, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki.
- Mythology
- Japanese
- Also known as
- Yomotsu-shikome, Yomotsu-hisame
- Role
- Pursuer of Izanagi from the Underworld
- Source texts
- Kojiki, Nihon Shoki
- Associated with
- Underworld (Yomi-no-kuni), Izanami, Izanagi
Lore & Background
In the Kojiki, Izanagi fled the Underworld with Yomotsu-shikome in pursuit. He cast down his black headdress, which turned into grapes and slowed her as she ate them. Then he broke off his comb and cast the pieces, which turned into bamboo shoots, further delaying her as she pulled them out and ate them. The hag was joined by an army of 1500 led by eight Thunder-deities, but Izanagi brandished his sword and climbed to the entrance of the Underworld, where he threw three peaches, causing the pursuers to retreat. Izanami herself then came, and Izanagi blocked the entrance with a boulder.
In the Nihon Shoki, the figure is called Yomotsu-hisame, and there may have been eight such hags. Some versions omit the Thunder gods, the army, and the peaches. In one telling, Izanagi urinated at a large tree, creating a river that slowed Yomotsu-hisame until he reached the entrance called the 'Even Pass of Yomi'.
Reader's Guide
Shikome represents a key figure in the Japanese myth of Izanagi's escape from the Underworld, illustrating themes of death, decay, and the boundary between the living and the dead. The story highlights the use of magical objects—grapes, bamboo shoots, and peaches—to delay pursuers, with the peach later becoming a symbol of warding off evil in Japanese folklore, as seen in the tale of Momotarō. The uncertainty in the Nihon Shoki about whether Shikome is one hag or eight reflects the fluidity of early Japanese mythological traditions. The myth also establishes the 'Even Pass' as the permanent barrier between Yomi and the world of the living. Shikome's pursuit underscores Izanami's anger at being shamed, and the story's variants show how different sources preserved alternative details. The connection to Aarne-Thompson Tale Type 313 and the motif of obstacle flight (Stith Thompson motif D672) places this myth within a broader global folklore pattern.
Did You Know?
- Shikome is also recorded by the name Yomotsu-hisame.
- The name may refer collectively to eight hags, not just one.
- In the Kojiki, Izanagi threw three peaches to make the pursuers retreat.
- The peach in this story is linked to the traditional belief that peaches have supernatural evil-warding powers.
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