Chīnouya live in rivers near graveyards where children are buried. They emerge from the water to look after the spirits of dead children, nourishing them in the afterlife with their milk. When they appear on land, they usually haunt a specific tree and only ever appear near it.
Chīnouya is a type of spirit originating in the folklore of Yanbara, the forested, northern part of Okinawa Island.
Child-rearing spirits like her are found all over Japan and share several similarities. North of Okinawa Prefecture, spirits like ubume and kosodate yūrei are well-known examples.
Within Okinawa, many islands have their own local variations, such as the chīanmē from Kouri Island. A chīanmē stares, forlorn, towards one direction and foretells the death of a child. It is believed a child will die within one week in whatever village lies in the direction the chīanmē stares.
Because chīnouya watch over of the spirits of dead children, when a child under six years old dies, it's customary to ask them to look after the spirits of the deceased by leaving multi-tiered boxes of food at the graveyard as an offering.
Despite their kind appearance and motherly nature, chīnouya can be very dangerous.
Their loving attention has the opposite effect if the subject is a living child, causing them to weaken and die. When children wander too close to the water where a chīnouya lives, the chīnouya will pull them down into the depths and drown them.
Because mirrors resemble the shiny, reflective water’s surface, on islands where chīnouya are found, young children are kept away from mirrors.
One belief is that children who look at mirrors will be drawn to water, and might wander too close to the water where a chīnouya lives.
Chīnouya resemble ghostly human women, with long black hair that hangs down as if just washed, and exceedingly large breasts. Their facial expressions show gentle, motherly kindness.
They can be found near Graveyards, rivers and streams.
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