Ubume (Ghost Mother with Child)

The image shows a female figure with long, dark, flowing hair and a distressed facial expression, characterized by heavy-lidded eyes and an open mouth. She is semi-nude, with her upper body exposed and wearing a tattered, blood-stained lower garment that cascades in washes of red and purple. She cradles a small, ochre-skinned infant against her chest. The background is a plain, weathered paper surface, suggesting a traditional scroll or hand-colored print.

The ubume is a prominent figure in Japanese folklore representing the lingering attachment of a mother who dies during labor, often said to appear to travelers to ask them to hold her infant. This imagery is deeply rooted in Buddhist-influenced traditions concerning the 'blood pool hell' (ketsubon-kyō) and the anxieties surrounding maternal mortality in pre-modern Japan.