Am I Pretty?

This is probably one of the most chilling urban legends of Japanese folklore I’ve come across. It is also one of Japan's most well known.

There is a Japanese urban legend about a ghost of a woman known as Kuchisake-Onna who roams the dimly lit streets late at night. From a distance, at first glance, she appears ordinary and unsuspecting. Maybe even attractive. The closer one approaches her, they will realize that a surgical mask covers her mouth. Maybe it's the surgical mask or the way she approaches you, but there is something more chilling about her now. In her hand she carries a knife or a pair of scissors that glistens under the street light and her innocent appearance is instantly vanishes.

Legend says that if you catch eye contact with Kuchisake-Onna, she will approach you and ask you one question:

"Am I pretty?"

Sometimes you don't have to make eye contact with her. She only has to notice you.

It's an innocent question but there is something chilling about the way she asks.

If a woman asks if she is pretty, most smart people would answer yes. Only a fool would tell her no.

If one foolishly tells Kuchisake Onna "no", she will wield her knife and she will become enraged and slash their face into a gruesome carved out slit smile.

If one answers "yes", she will pull her mask down revealing her most chilling feature of all -a slit running across her mouth carved into a sinister smile from ear to ear.

She will ask her unsuspecting victim one more time:

Do you still think I'm pretty?

If one replies "no" or screams in terror, she will slit their throat.

If one thinks saying "yes" will appease the gruesome spirit, they are unfortunately mistaken.

Legend has it even if someone tells her that she is still a beautiful woman in spite of her deformed mouth, she will follow them home and kill them out of vengeance.

How did who was most likely a quite attractive woman become so formidable looking?

There are numerous stories that tell the origin of how she got the horrific carved smile slit into her face when she was alive. Now her spirit is out for revenge and looking for vengeance.

Some say it was done by her husband as punishment for her infidelity. In life, she was married to a powerful Samurai warrior who was more often off fighting wars than at home. The prolonged loneliness that Kuchisake-Onna felt led to infidelity. Inevitably, her husband discovered her infidelity and slit her face as severe punishment. With a sinister carved out grin, now no other man would desire her.

Other versions of the legend say it was done by a woman jealous of her beauty or a mental or dental procedure gone horribly wrong.

Escaping Kuchisake-Onna

It seems no matter how you answer, there is no way to escape a horrible fate brought forth by Kuchisake-Onna.

There is a clever way to outsmart “the slit mouthed woman” and escape safely without harm. The only way to do this is to confuse her by being vague about how you feel about her appearance.

If you tell her that she looks “average” or “okay”, that will confuse Kuchisake-Onna giving you just enough time to escape.

Kuchisake-Onna is a very malicious spirit that one must dare not cross paths with.

Be forewarned if you ever walk the streets Kuchisake-Onna might roam and never let her see you or you will be asked:

"Do you think I'm pretty?"