Osakabehime

[3] The true identity of Osakabehime is generally considered to be an old kitsune,[3][4][5] or an unrighteous child born by Princess Inoe to his son Osabe-shinno,[6] There are also theories such as the claim she is the spirit of the courtesan that Emperor Fushimi loved[5][7] or Osakabe Okami, the god of Mt Hime, where Himeji Castle is located.

[8] Gender of this yōkai was not clearly determined in Shokokuhyakumonogatari (appeared in various forms including men and women), but eventually they came to be considered a woman.

[9][10] In Toriyama Sekien's Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki (今昔画図続百鬼), the yōkai is called "Osakabe" and is depicted as an old princess with a bat.

In Misaka Daiyata's Rōō Chabanashi (老媼茶話, Tea-time gossip of old ladies), from 1742, a young page named Morita Zusho went on a dare to go see if a yōkai really lived in the upper floors of Himeji Castle he saw a noble woman in her 30s wearing a twelve-layered ceremonial kimono.

[10] In Ihara Saikaku's Nishizuru Kokubanashi (西鶴諸国ばなし), Osakabehime is described as extremely knowledgeable about many things and able to control a multitude (up to 800) of kenzokushin (animal-like spirits who act as messengers).