Kuchisake-onna
Kuchisake-onna (口裂け女, "Slit-Mouthed Woman") is a figure appearing in Japanese urban legends. She is a woman who was mutilated by her husband, and returns as a malicious spirit. When rumors of alleged sightings began spreading in 1979 around the Nagasaki Prefecture, it spread throughout Japan and caused panic in many towns. There are even reports of schools allowing children to go home only in groups escorted by teachers for safety,[1] and of police increasing their patrols. Recent sightings include many reports in South Korea in the year 2004 about a woman wearing a red mask who was frequently seen chasing children, and, in October 2007, a coroner found some old records from the late 1970s about a woman who was chasing little children. She was then hit by a car, and died shortly after. Her mouth was ripped from ear to ear.[2]
The modern urban legend
According to the legend, she walks around wearing a surgical mask.
The woman will ask someone, "Am I pretty?" If they answer no, they are killed with a pair of scissors which the woman carries. If they answers yes, the woman pulls away the mask, revealing that her mouth is slit from ear to ear, and asks "How about now?" If they answer no, she/he will die. If the person 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 legend reappeared, the 1970s rumors of ways to escape also emerged. Some sources say she can also be confused by the victim answering her question with ambiguous answers, such as "You are average" or "So-so". Another method is to flip her questions towards her, such as asking her "Do you think I'm pretty?" Unsure of what to do, she will give a person enough time to escape while she is lost in thought. Another escape route is to tell her one has 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. She will also be at an advantage to run toward you if she has the chance.[3] Another way is for the child to ask her if the child is pretty; she will get confused and leave.[4]
In popular culture
Live action
- Kuchisake-onna (Video, 1996)
- Kannô byôtô: nureta akai kuchibiru aka The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2005)
- Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman aka Kuchisake-onna (2007)
- Kaiki toshi-densetsu - Kuchisake-onna (2008)
- Carved 2: The Scissors Massacre aka The Slit-Mouthed Woman 2 aka Kuchisake-onna 2 (2008)
- The Slit-Mouthed Woman 0: The Beginning aka Kuchisake-onna 0: Biginingu (2008)
- Kuchisake-onna Returns (2012)
- Constantine, in episode 5, Danse Vaudou
Manga and anime
- Kuchi-sake Onna
- Kuchisake Onna Densetsu
- The Kuchisake Onna was mentioned in an episode of "Detective Conan"
- The Kuchisake Onna makes an appearance in the manga Mob Psycho 100
- Kanojo wa Rokurokubi (character: Yotchy)
Other appearances
The Kuchisake-onna also makes an appearance in:
- Hell Teacher Nube
- Hanako to Guuwa no Tera
- Franken Fran (includes a short parody of the Kuchisake-onna legend in an extra of Volume 2)
- Toshi Densetsu (Includes the Kuchisake-onna)
- Ghost Stories (The Kuchisake-onna was planned to make an appearance in episode 5 of the series, but it was banned after several complaints that her disfigurement looked too much like a cleft palate.)[5]
- Danganronpa The split personality of character Touko Fukawa, the scissors wielding serial killer Genocider Syo, was most likely inspired by Kuchisake-onna.
- Touhou Shinhiroku~Urban Legend in Limbo as Hata no Kokoro's attributed urban legend
- Fairest 2 In the comics spin-off of Fables (comics), Kuchisake-onna is called Mayumi, and acts as Tomoko's right hand.
Kuchisake-onna is also mentioned in the Japanese visual novel Rewrite.
Kuchisake-onna is a central figure of Arabella Wyatt's digital novel Horror of Kuchisake-onna, which uses the urban legend to explore both domestic abuse and social conformity.
See also
- Bloody Mary, a similar apparition in western urban legends.
- Glasgow smile
- La Llorona
- Onryō, a malicious ghost in Japanese folklore
- Teke Teke, another malicious Japanese spirit.
- Japanese urban legends
- Vengeful ghost
References
- ^ Severed Mouth Woman on YouTube
- ^ "Kuchisake Onna | The Mask of Reason".
- ^ "Have you heard the one about…?: A look at some of Japan's more enduring urban legends". Japan Times. June 7, 2005.
- ^ Yoda, H & Alt, M. (2008) "Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide" Kodansha International ISBN 978-4770030702
- ^ "LiveLeak.com - The Slit-Mouthed Woman (J-Horror)". liveleak.com.
