Datsueba- Japanese DemonDemon"Hag of the River of Three Crossings"

Guardian of the Sanzu-no-Kawa

The dead arrive at the Sanzu-no-Kawa, the River of Three Crossings, and Datsueba is waiting for them. She sits on the near bank: wild-haired, teeth bared, a powerful frame belying her aged appearance. The river offers three crossings, a bridge for the virtuous and serpent-infested depths for the sinful, but before any crossing can be attempted, each soul must pass the crone. She seizes the dead and strips them of their clothing, taking the garments by force from those who resist. No soul passes her fully clothed.

The Weighing of Sin

Datsueba works with her male counterpart, Keneo. After she strips the robes from the deceased, Keneo takes them and hangs them upon the branches of a great tree beside the river, the Edadarezukai. The branches bend under the weight of the garments according to the burden of sin the dead person carries. Heavy sins drag the limbs low. The robes of the virtuous barely disturb them.

This is the first reckoning. Beyond the river, Emma-Ō waits with his mirror of karma to pronounce final judgment. But Datsueba and Keneo come first.

At certain temples, devotees tried to reverse the equation. Statues of Datsueba were dressed in clothing offerings. The living clothed the crone in the hope that when their own time came, she would strip them gently.