In celebration of Halloween, I want to share my favorite Japanese urban legend. It’s a story that you will never forget.
During Japan’s Heian period (794-1185 AD), there was a beautiful woman that lived in a village with her samurai husband. She, like many men, knew how beautiful she was, and her husband hated it.
He caught her flirting with other men in the village, and it fueled his jealousy. Oftentimes, if she noticed someone staring at her, she would ask, “Am I pretty?”
One day, he caught her being unfaithful with another man. To get his revenge, he slit her mouth from ear to ear and said, “Who will find you beautiful now?”
Afterward, she took her life due to the pain and humiliation she experienced. Her vengeful spirit prevented her from moving on, so she returned to haunt people as a ghost named Kuchisake-onna or the Slit-Mouthed Woman.
She appears at night, most often when you’re alone and turn a corner. She will be waiting for you in a surgical mask and trench coat and will ask you, “Am I pretty?”
If you respond, “No,” she will immediately kill you with a pair of scissors. If you say “Yes,” then she will reveal her slit mouth to you and reply back, “Am I pretty now?” Either way you answer that question, it will result in your death.
However, there are a few things that you can say instead that will confuse her long enough for you to get away. You can say, “so-so” or “average” or throw amber candy to distract her.
Who knows, maybe you’ll come across Kuchisake-onna one day. Hopefully, you’ll remember the distraction trick if you do find yourself so unlucky.
Leave a comment if you have any questions or other urban legends you’d like me to write about! Happy Halloween!
