The Legend of the Slit-Mouthed Woman

This urban legend originates in Japan and, considering I did all the research for it after dark, is one of the stories that left me unsettled. Then again, anything the rest of the world can do with horror, Japan does twenty times better. Even when it comes to Urban Legends.

The Legend of the Slit-Mouthed Woman, or Kuchisake-onna, is based around a woman who came back as an evil spirit or a yokai. While the exact date of the story is unknown, the story is believed to have dated back during the Tokugawa period, also known as the Edo period, which spanned from 1603 to 1867.

There are several different versions of the story.

In one version, there was a woman known for her beauty, and thus drew many suitors. Out of all of her suitors, she decided to marry a wealthy samurai. Despite the news of her chosen suitor traveling, the other suitors refused to give up. When the time came for her husband to go off to war, he had no choice but to leave her alone. While he was away, the woman became very lonely, and eventually fell for one of the suitors. She decided that she was tired of waiting for him and that since she was the prettiest woman in town, she could do what she wanted. She kept on with her relations with different suitors, each stronger, richer, and more handsome than the last.

Eventually, word got around and the samurai heard about the very beautiful woman who was only accepting the strongest and richest suitors around. The samurai, who just so happened to be a very proud man, was very curious as to who the woman was, despite him being married. When the samurai returned home, he went out for drinks with his friends. The party went on late, and one of his friends had yet again brought up the subject of the beautiful woman. His friend mentioned that she lived nearby, and the samurai decided to call upon the woman.

As his friend led him down the street, a faint sense of familiarity filled him, but the alcohol that he had consumed impaired his memory. The pair came to a stop at a red door, but the samurai didn’t move to knock. As his friend began to tease him on backing down, the samurai turned to his friend, and in all seriousness, told him that this was his house.

He then ran into the house; straight to his bedroom. There, he found his wife with another man. Outraged, the samurai ran his sword through the man and asked his wife, “Do you think you are beautiful?” before using the same sword to cut her mouth.

Another story goes much in the same manner, with the woman being beautiful, marrying the samurai, and then cheating. The main difference there is that the samurai had heard of the rumor, but thought nothing of it. He had instead returned home with no intention of cheating himself and found his wife with another man by chance.

Whichever way the actual tale went, the result all ended up the same.

The woman came back as an evil spirit, the Kuchisake-onna, that looks like a completely normal woman wearing a mask; something completely common in Japan. Kuchisake-onna wanders around the streets during the night looking for people, usually children, wandering alone. She approaches them and asks: “Am I beautiful?”

If the person says yes, she will remove her mask, showing her horrid scars, and ask again: “Am I beautiful?”

If the person then says no, she will take out a sharp object and give them scars matching hers, and the victim will bleed to death. Sometimes the object is a knife or a machete, but most accounts report the object to be a large pair of scissors.

If the person replies with the same answer, but shows that they are afraid, she will follow them home and stab them to death there. But, if the person says yes and shows no fear at all, she will supposedly gift the person with a bloodstained ruby and then leave.

The origin of the legend began in the late 1970’s when a news article was printed about a local sighting of the Kuchisake-onna. An older woman who lived in Yaotsu in Gifu Prefecture spotted a woman with a slitted mouth standing in a corner of her garden. The rumor was spread by word of mouth, mostly through teenagers and young children, and, of course, the press also heard about it. There had, reportedly, been many different versions of the story; which is bound to happen with rumors and gossip in any situation. Some versions said that she had a red coat, carried a sickle, hated hair pomade, or could run a hundred meters in six seconds.

There are several ways to survive Kuchisake-onna rather than risking your life for a ruby with questionable origins.

One option is when she first approaches you, to tell her that you don’t have time. She will then apologize and let you be on your way. Other options consist of describing her appearance as completely average, throwing money or hard candies to distract her and give the person time to run away, or chanting the word ‘pomade’ three times.

I wouldn’t try betting my life on chanting ‘pomade’ or throwing candies at a complete, albeit, creepy stranger, and anyone with even a little survival instincts would run the other way if they spotted someone carrying a sickle down a darkened street. Then again, if you throw anything hard enough, especially coins, it will keep anyone away, but it might be safer to stay inside.

If you do ever find yourself walking down a suburban street in Japan after dark, be weary of approaching strangers. And especially a masked woman who may, or may not, stop to ask you a very deadly question.