Sacrifice Girl Oyoshi (Patreon)

Occasionally, castles in Japan come with their origin stories that involve beautiful maidens getting sacrificed as part of laying their groundwork. This sounds a bit gruesome, but anyway Oyoshi (circa 16th century) from Gujo-Hachiman, Gifu Prefecture is such an example. The versions vary, but one story goes that a warlord sent out his men to hunt a beautiful girl that would be fitting for his new castle - and while all the village girls were all fleeing for their lives, Oyoshi (of course, the fairest of them all) stood up and gave herself in to the raiders, much to the relief of her peers and maybe some survivors’ guilt. The villagers later built a small shrine in her honor that still exists today. (Cont’d)