"Jinmenju"

Photographer

Jason ray

Category

Special Category - Film Photography

Company

Double Negative Photography

Submission Group

Amateur

Year

2024

Country / Region:

United States

In Japanese mythology, Jinmenju (a type of yokai called choshizen) means "the human-faced tree". The fruit of Jinmenju resembles a human head (usually with the face of a beautiful woman), deeming the fruit both eerie and inedible. These tree spirits originated in China but were passed on to Japanese folklore. According to legend, haunted Jinmenju also bloom flowers like human hands. Upon asking it questions, its flowers laugh but don't understand human language. If the flowers laugh too much, they wither and fall to the ground in death.