Village of oni women

Village of oni women
Oni on'na no shūraku
Nihongo	鬼（おに）女（おんあ）の集（しゅう）落（らく）
Viz Manga	Colony of ogre women
English TV	Village of demon women
Location information
Location	Japan
Status	Abandoned
Affiliation	Salamander †
Permanent residents	Oni women Matsu Wakana (formerly)

The Village of oni women (鬼（おに）女（おんあ）の集（しゅう）落（らく）, "Oni on'na no shūraku") was a settlement made up entirely of women who had lost their loved ones to war. It was on a hill near a river, hidden among the trees and with very few houses where the women lived. It also contained a shrine where the women prayed to the goddess Kannon for guidance and comfort.

History

The village was established by women who were under the control of a salamander yōkai. It used them to bring men that wandered into the village into a temple, which contained a painting with its essence inside. It would kill them and remove their skin so it could restore its physical body that had its own skin removed by an ancient monk. Among its victims was a samurai that came across the villages after being wounded in battle.

During the story

Inuyasha and his friends heard rumors of a village of women that removed the skin of men. They decided to investigate in order to find any connections it may have had with the Shikon no Tama and Naraku. They soon meet Shinosuke, who was looking for the village in the hopes of finding his fiancée Wakana there. They are soon located by some women in the village and brought there. The woman in charge, Matsu, claimed that Wakana was not with them. She offered them accommodations for the night, to which Miroku gladly accepted, and had them men and women sleep in different houses.

As everyone was prepared to go to sleep, the women began to leave the village and had towards the river. Sango decided to investigate, but was soon captured by them and dragged underwater to a hidden chamber. Inuyasha detected the scent of a yōkai and joined Kagome and Shippō to investigate. It was also revealed that Wakana was among the women of the village and a lured Shinosuke to the temple in order to kill her. It was then that one of the women managed to lead Miroku to the temple to be killed by the Salamander.

Miroku managed to expel the Salamander from the temple and freed Wakana from its control. The salamander was destroyed and all of the women were freed from its control.

Trivia

• The village of the oni women is similar to the village of women in "A Mermaid Never Smiles", the first story in the series Mermaid Saga that was written by the creator of InuYasha Rumiko Takahashi. Both villages have only women who kill all the men that stumble across them. Also, there is a strong connection between the women and water in both instances. In the Mermaid Saga, the women are mermaids that attack the heroes underwater in one scene, similar to the underwater battles with the possessed women in Inuyasha.
• The idea of war widows who are taken in after the death of their husbands has a historical tradition in Japan. Chiyome Mochizuki, who lived during the Sengoku era (the time in which Takahashi's Inuyasha is set) is often considered the historical figure that established the concept of the "kunoichi" (female ninja). Mochizuki was said to have taken in widows and trained them in the ways of war, creating assassins and spies. Though kunoichi have filled popular culture, they are more elusive when it comes to factual historical research. In fact, it is difficult to establish the historical veracity of Chiyome Mochizuki, who is not mentioned in any historical records of the era. It seems she is likely a fictional character created during the 1970s rather than a true historical personage and that the name "kunoichi" is perhaps an exclusively modern term.
• It is unknown what becomes of the village after all of the women are free from the salamander's control.