i love myths and folklore from all over the world.
Japan is full of interesting yokai, today's post will be about the Kuchisaki- onna or slit mouthed woman.
The slit mouthed woman is a well know yokai and has been seen in several popular modern shows and movies.
She can also be found in several manga, live-action movies, anime and video games throughout Japan.
She was in the 1994 animated film Pom Poko, produced by Studio Ghibli, and would later appears in the 1996 live-action
short film titled " Kuchisake-onna", directed by Teruyoshi Ishii.
The 2007 horror movie "Carved" (also known under the titles Kuchisake-onna or A Slit-Mouthed Woman), directed by Koji Shiraishi and featuring Miki Mizuno as the Kuchisake-onna, The film was then followed by a sequal Carved 2: The Scissors Massacre (also known as Kuchisake-onna 2) and The Slit-Mouthed Woman: The Beginning (or Kuchisake-onna Biginingu), released in 2008.
Another movie in 2012 called Kuchisake-onna Returns,
As well as in the occult/supernatural webcomic Mob Psycho 100.
And several other mentions and appearances in various manga's and shows.
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According to the urban legends, children walking alone at night may encounter a woman wearing a surgical mask, which is not an unusual
sight in Japan as people wear them to protect others from their colds or sickness.
The woman will stop the child and ask, "Am I pretty?" If the child answers no, the child is killed with a pair of scissors which the woman
carries. If the child answers yes, the woman pulls away the mask, revealing that her mouth is slit from ear to ear, and asks "How about now?"
If the child answers no, he/she will be cut in half. If the child answers yes, then she will slit his/her mouth like hers. It is impossible to
run away from her, as she will simply reappear in front of the victim.
When the myth reappeared, the late 1970s rumors of ways to escape her soon followed. Some sources say she can be confused by the victim answering
her question with ambiguous answers, such as "You are average" or "So-so". Unsure of what to do, her victem will have enough time to escape while
she is lost in thought. Another way too escape her is simply to tell her you have a previous engagement; she will pardon her manners and excuse herself.
In some variations of the tale, she can be distracted by fruit or candies thrown at her which she will then pick up, thus giving the victim a chance to run.
Another way is for the child to ask her if the child is pretty; she will get confused and just leave.
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The Origins ===
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The Kuchisake-onna was a woman who was mutilated during her life, with her mouth being slit from ear to ear,and became a vengeful yokai after death.
In some versions of the story, the Kuchisake-onna was the unfaithful wife of a samurai during her life.
As punishment for her infidelity, her husband sliced the corners of her mouth from ear to ear.
Other versions of the tale claim her mouth was mutilated during a medical or dental procedure,
or that she was mutilated by a woman who was jealous of her beauty and one that stats her mouth is actually filled with several sharp teeth and her mouth
is split to accommodate them.
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Regardless of how her mouth became split, after her death, the woman would return as a vengeful spirit, or onryo.
As an onryo, she covers her mouth with a cloth mask (often specified in modern tails as a surgical mask), or in some iterations, a hand fan or even just a handkerchief.
She also carries a sharp instrument with her, in some versions a knife, others its a machete, or a scythe, but the most well know versions she uses a large pair of scissors.
In every version of the legend, she is said to ask potential victims if they think she is pretty often phrased as "Watashi, kirei?" (which translates to "Am I pretty?" or "Am I beautiful?"). If the person answers "no", she will kill the person with her knife, and if the person answers "yes", she will reveal her mutilated mouth.
She then repeats her question (or asks "Kore demo?", "Even with this?" or "Even now?") and if the person responds with "no" or screams in fright, she will kill the person immediately .
If the response is "yes", she will slice the corners of the person's
mouth from ear to ear, so that they will look like her.
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===escape====
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An individual can survive an encounter with Kuchisake-onna by using one of several methods. like the ones listed above.
In other versions of the myth, the Kuchisake-onna will leave the potential victim alone if they answer "yes" to both of her questions, though in other tales, she will visit the individual's residence later that night and murder the person while they sleep.
Other survival tactics include replying to her question by describing her appearance as "average", giving the individual enough time to run away; distracting her by giving or throwing money or hard candies (particularly the kind of candy known as bekko ame, made of caramelized sugar) in her direction, as she will stop to pick them up; or by saying the word "pomade" three times.
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older versions
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When rumors of alleged sightings began spreading in 1979 around the Nagasaki Prefecture, other sightings soon spread throughout Japan and caused panic in several towns.
Though the original myth is believed to date back as far as the Edo piriod, the modern version of the Kuchisake-onna can be traced back to as early as 1979.
Several articles reported sightings of this malevolent yokai, the Gifu Prefecture newspaper Gifu Nichi Nichi Shinbun on January 26, 1979,
the weekly publication Shukan Asahi on March 23, 1979, and the weekly news magazine Shukan Shincho on April 5, 1979.
With so many new sightings of the Kuchisake-onna spreading throughout Japan, mass hysteria soon followed to the point that younger children would sometimes be accompanied by members of parent–teacher association groups while walking home from school. to keep them safe.
The police even increasing their patrols to ease public concern.
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==More recent sightings====
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In 2004 here were many new reports in South Korea about a woman wearing a red mask who was frequently seen chasing children, and in October 2007, a coroner allegedly found some old records from the late 1970s about a woman who was chasing young children.
She was then hit by a car, and died soon after. Her mouth was reportedly ripped from ear to ear.
so be weary of strangers, and maybe keep some hard candy as a decoy just in case lol..
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