Creature Feature: Kuchisake Onna

Kuchisake Onna (lit. "slit-mouth woman") is a monster from Japan. Her defining characteristic is her mouth, which extends from ear to ear in a horrible, permanent smile. who brandishes a large scissors and preys on children. As the story goes, a samurai mutilated his lover in a jealous rage in order to destroy her beauty. She became a vengeful spirit, and nowadays can sometimes be found wandering the streets wearing a surgical mask. Japanese people often wear such masks during the cold season to prevent others from catching their colds, so Kuchisake Onna does not particularly stand out in a crowd. 

Should you meet Kuchisake Onna, she'll likely ask you if you think that she is beautiful. Apart from her surgical mask, she does appear to be a very beautiful woman, and anyway, most people say "yes" automatically to be polite. However, upon receiving a positive response, Kuchisake Onna will tear her mask off and show you her awful mouth, slit on each side all the way up to her ears. She will then ask you again if you think she is beautiful. Those who answer "no" or try to run away will be chased down. Kuchisake Onna can apparently run 100 meters in 3 seconds (thats like 75 mph!), and she usually carries a knife or scythe.


Picture the scene. You are walking home from school and your path takes you down a deserted city street. Suddenly, you hear a faint noise coming from the shadows. You glance over and see a beautiful woman standing there. She has long black hair and is wearing a beige trenchcoat. A surgical mask covers the lower half of her face. In Japan, wearing a surgical mask is not uncommon during flu season, to prevent spreading germs.
She steps out of the shadows and blocks your path.
“Am I beautiful?” she asks.
Before you can answer, she tears off her mask, revealing a hideously deformed face. Her huge mouth is sliced from ear to ear and gapes open revealing rows of sharp teeth and a big red disgusting tongue twisting and twirling inside.
“Am I beautiful NOW?” she screams.
Terrified, you struggle to answer her. If you say “No”, she pulls out a huge pair of scissors and kills you immediately, chopping off your head. If you say “Yes”, she takes her scissors and slices your mouth from ear to ear, making you look just like her. If you try to run away, she will hunt you down and kill you, by slicing you in two.
Another way to escape from Kuchisake Onna is to give a non-committal answer. If you say “You look average” or you look normal, she will be confused, giving you just enough time to run away. Men will be killed immediately, while women have their mouths cut, creating a new Kuchisake Onna. Depending on the version of the tale, the only way to escape is to tell the Kuchisake Onna that she is beautiful the second time, or to distract her with fruit or candy.
There are many rumors about how Kuchisake Onna got her horribly disfigured mouth. Some say that her slit mouth is the result of plastic surgery that went horribly wrong. Others say that she was injured in a terrible car crash. Some even believe she is an escaped mental patient who was so demented that she cut her own mouth apart.
According to one legend, years ago, in Japan, there lived a very beautiful woman who was extremely vain and self-absorbed. Her husband was a very jealous and brutal man and he became convinced that she was cheating on him. In a fit of rage, he took a sword and slit her mouth from ear to ear, screaming “Who will think you’re beautiful now?” She became a vengeful spirit, and began wandering the streets of Japan, wearing a surgical mask to hide her terrible scars.
The Slit Mouth Woman’s reign of terror began in the spring and summer of 1979, when rumors began to spread throughout Japan about sightings of the Kuchisake-onna hunting down children. The story spread like wildfire and actually created scares in many towns. Police increased their patrols and schools sent teachers to walk students home in groups.

In 2004, South Korea was plagued by reports of a red-masked woman who was chasing children.

In 2007, a coroner found some old records from the late 1970s about a woman who was chasing little children, but was hit by a car, and died shortly after. Her mouth was ripped from ear to ear.

The USA has its own version of Kuchisake Onna. There were rumors about a clown who appeared in public bathrooms and accosted children, asking “Do you want death or happy smile?” if they chose “happy smile”, he took out a knife and slit their mouths from ear to ear.



As with many Japanese horror tales, this one is recursive: women who are accosted by Kuchisake Onna can themselves become monsters if they answer her question incorrectly. Apparently there was a wave of Kuchisake Onna rumors in 1979 in Japan. More recently, 1994 film about Kuchisake Onna modernized the tale by making her disfiguration the result of a plastic surgery mishap. Another film of the same name released in 2007. There's more to read about Kuchisake Onna at The Youkai Mura and Wikipedia.