Japan (urban legend)

Kuchisake-onna (The Slit-Mouthed Woman)

Folklore — not a documented case

A Japanese urban legend in which a woman with her face covered by a mask asks passersby whether she is beautiful, and frightens the person depending on their answer. Spreading widely from the 1970s onward, it is an entirely fictional horror story.

This urban legend, which spread across Japan in the late 1970s, caused a wide stir throughout the country.

The stories in this section are folk tales and legends; they are not verified, real events and should not be confused with the rest of the archive.

From the same region