A Custom on the Edge of Survival
In the remote mountains of Japan, a stark practice once gripped rural communities. Known as ubasute, it involved carrying an elderly relative up a mountain and leaving them there to die. The story of this controversial custom has been passed down through historical accounts, literature, and local folklore, leaving traces in records that date back centuries.
Historical Mentions and Regional Roots
The earliest written reference to ubasute appears in the Uji Shūi Monogatari, a collection of Japanese tales compiled in the early 13th century. The practice is often linked to periods of famine or hardship in Japan’s mountainous regions, particularly in Nagano Prefecture, where harsh winters and scarce resources placed enormous pressure on small farming villages.
Historical documents and oral traditions suggest that ubasute was said to occur on Mount Obasute, near the modern-day city of Chikuma. The mountain’s name, written with characters meaning “abandoning an old woman,” reflects this association.
Accounts in Literature and Folklore
While no direct government records confirm systematic ubasute, the practice appears in multiple Edo-period writings, indicating it was known widely enough to become part of cultural consciousness. One well-known literary example is the 1901 short story “The Ballad of Narayama” (Narayama Bushiko) by Shichirō Fukazawa, later adapted into films in 1958 and 1983.
The story depicts a village where elderly residents are carried to a mountain once they reach a certain age. Though fictionalized, the narrative drew on older oral traditions and helped bring the term ubasute into broader awareness.
Modern Investigations and Commemoration
Twentieth-century historians and ethnographers studying rural Japan found local legends, place names, and poems that kept the story of ubasute alive. Mount Obasute became known for its “moon-reflecting rice paddies,” terraced fields said to mirror the moonlight, but it also remained tied to the custom.
Visitors can find monuments and historical markers acknowledging the association between the mountain and ubasute. Scholars have debated whether the practice was ever widespread or more of a literary motif rooted in rare, desperate acts during famine years. Regardless, its presence in centuries of writings and oral histories indicates it occupied a significant place in Japanese cultural memory.
Ubasute refers to the reported custom of carrying an elderly relative—often a mother—up a remote mountain and leaving them to die.
Stories describe this happening during times of famine or hardship, when families faced the decision to reduce the number of mouths to feed…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/89GbwZxt6h
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) October 15, 2025