What’s Behind the Mask?: The Slit-Mouthed Woman of Japan

In the spirit of Halloween, many of us celebrate by watching horror movies or dressing up as our favorite characters. Even in quarantine, SFX makeup artists can be spotted all over social media with sliced mouths and zippered faces. However, as time passes we have lost touch with the origins of the monsters and myths we impersonate. One particular horror many of us might not be familiar with is the slit-mouthed woman. 

Originating from Japanese urban legend, the slit-mouthed woman is much more than your ordinary halloween tale. There are a myriad of variations, but in the most popular tale, Kuchisake Onna (which directly translates to “slit-mouthed woman” in Japanese) was once the beautiful, yet vain wife of a samurai.

Her self absorbed personality caused her husband to accuse her of infidelity. Acting out in rage, he slit her mouth from ear to ear, ultimately killing her. In revenge, Kuchisake returned as a furious spirit. 

To blend in public and fool her victims, Kuchisake Onna can be spotted with a surgeon’s mask and brown trench coat. She generally targets children, but no one is deemed safe from her tricks.

She approaches the innocent soul in a dim-lit environment and asks, “Do you think I’m beautiful?”. The answer to the question is said to determine the victim’s fate. One who answers “No” is quickly murdered with a knife. However, those who reply “Yes” meet one of two fates. This evil spirit then reveals her true appearance and restates her ominous question. Those who answer “No” are cut in half, while those who muster the answer “Yes” will have their mouths cut from ear to ear, just like Kuchisake Onna. 

As we live through the current COVID-19 pandemic behind masks, this tale brings inevitable paranoia. There is no knowing what lies behind the masks of the strangers around us.

The grotesque slit mouth that the vengeful spirit carves onto her prey can even serve as a modern symbol of our fear of the Coronavirus’ unknown dangers that have crept up on so many innocent lives. 

Although frightening, this vengeful woman is not invincible. Legend has it that some have actually survived their encounters with her by throwing hard candies to distract her or calling her appearance “Average” to confuse her while the individual makes their escape. However, there is no telling whether or not she will find you in your own home later that day.

The bone-chilling fact about urban legends lies in our uncertainty about their truth. The fear that this urban legend could be a terrifying reality has not died out.

Reported sightings of the slit-mouthed woman can be dated as early as the 1970’s.Whether or not the ancient terror may be true, it definitely teaches us not to trust initial appearances. As they say, “seeing is believing”, but is it worth the cost?