Osakabe-Hime (長壁姫 Osakabe-hime, lit. Long Wall Princess) is the master of Himeji Castle and the sister of Kame-hime.
Appearance[]
Personality[]
History[]
2007 Anime[]
Along with her sister, Kame-hime, Osakabe-hime appears and becomes one of the 47 Yōkai Warriors in episode #99 of the fifth anime adaptation, City Castle Tower! Yōkai Kame-hime. She is the 23rd of the chosen 47 Yōkai Warriors and represents Hyōgo Prefecture.
Powers and Abilities[]
In the fifth series, the sibling is noted to be "higher than yōkai" and their spiritual powers are on completely different level than normal yōkai. It is easy for them to cause large-scale disasters such as to vanish an island, to cause massive tornadoes, to transport the whole water of lake Biwako the largest lake in Japan. and to take human souls of an entire city.
Legend[]
Osakabe-hime is a spirit who haunts the Himeji Castle and is said to be the older sister of Kame-hime. She is very reclusive, living high up in the keep of her castle, and normally takes on the form of an elderly woman. Her origins are unclear, with the most popular account being that she is a nine-tailed fox. Other accounts say that she is a snake spirit or the ghost of one of Emperor Fushimi's favorite courtesans. Another common legend says that she was the kami of the mountain that Himeji was built on, Osakabegami of Mount Himeji, whose shrine was removed and re-enshrined in Harima-Sōja, a shrine dedicated to several kami. In the 1600s, the lord of the castle Ikede Terumasa, fell mysteriously ill and rumours spread that this was caused by Osakabegami, angered that her shrine was removed. To appease her, they built a small temple in the keep of the castle and re-enshrined her at the top of her mountain.[1]