The Story of Kuchisake-Onna

Kuchisake-Onna comes from the Heian period of Japan’s history, roughly 1200-800 years ago.  A beautiful woman, either wife or concubine to a samurai, was extraordinarily vain.  She cheated on the samurai.  When he discovered her treachery, he slit open her mouth from ear to ear, giving her a Glasgow smile, and asked her, “Who will think you are beautiful now?”

While the original tale is clearly a cautionary story to remain faithful, the story takes a creepy turn when the ghost of the Kuchisake-Onna began appearing in Japan in the 1970s.  The story goes that a woman would appear to people travelling alone at night.  The woman wore a surgical mask, not terribly uncommon in Japan, and would ask if the traveler thought she was pretty (“Watashi kirei?“).  If they said no, she would kill them immediately or at least slash their faces the same as hers, usually with a long pair of scissors.

If the hapless victim said yes, she would remove the mask and ask, “how about now?” (“Kore demo?“) revealing her bloody, gaping wounds.  If the person said no at this second point, she would again kill them, slashing open their mouth.  If, however, the person said yes again, they still would not be safe.  She would follow them home and kill them on the threshold of their house.  （This is because  the word "kirei" , Japanese for ‘pretty,’ is a near homophone of "kire", the imperative form of "to cut".）

As mentioned, the Kuchisake-Onna began making steady appearances in the 1970s, and in 1979 she was supposedly chasing children.  Surprisingly enough, there is some basis for this. In 2007, a coroner found records that in the late 1970s there was a woman who chased children.  She was struck by a car and killed while in the midst of such a chase, and she did have a torn mouth similar to the story.  This woman was likely the cause of the panic in the late ’70s.

The legend, however, has not died.  It resurfaced in the early 2000s, and is still prevalent today, though the means of escape is now telling the ghost you have a previous appointment to attend to, at which point she’ll excuse her poor manners and depart.  The legend has even spread to South Korea, where she appears with a blood red face mask.

The story has been used as a basis for a number of manga and novels, as well as a series of J-horror films.  The Kuchisake-Onna is often mixed with the yūrei, depicted with similar long black hair which conceals her horrible smile.

News Report of Kuchisake-Onna

In 1968 August 18, a bus accident happened in Gifu - Ken, there was only one dead body left with the bones in the accident. Surprisingly, when experts investigate and recover the skull, they found that the mouth of the deceased actually crack to the ears. It was believed as the possession of Kuchisake-Onna

In 1979 January 26, Gifu day news reports about Kuchisake-Onna, this is the first time it appears in the media. In 1979 June 29, Weekly Asahi reported a rumor that happened in early December 1978 which take place in Kamo-gun, Gifu Prefecture, home of Yaotsu-cho, a rural old woman saw Kuchisake-Onna while she was going to toilet.

In 1979 June 21, a female holding a kitchen knife and appears in Himeji City, the 25-year-old female lips as a tear-shaped, was being arrested for violating the Law on "grab the knife .

In 2012 September 5, according to the announcement of Kagoshima, there was three girls playing around at park on 16.50 p.m encounter Kuchisake-Onna, witnessed Kuchisake-Onna and described it looks exactly the same as Kuchisake-Onna

Stay Away From Kuchisake-onna

There are several ways to prevent this terrible fate.

One, to confuse Kuchisake-Onna by saying: You are average.

Two, present her with hard amber candy, which she'll take much delight in and let you go.

Three, say ‘Pomade’ six times, she will looks surfer and then flee.

Four, ask her if you are beautiful, which will confuse her hopefully long enough to escape. Be wary, she is said to be incredibly fast and will be unlikely to stop.

About the movie

                                            Kaiki toshi-densetsu-Kuchisake-onna（2008）

Kuchisake-Onna 2: The scissors massacre (2008 )

The Slit-Mouthed Woman 0: The Beginning (2008) 
           

        Is a 2008 Japanese horror film. It's the prequel to the movie Kuchisake-onna. It is based on a legend and some actual events that occurred in Japan. It deals with the origins of the Slit-Mouthed Woman.

      The setting is Japan in 1978, from March to May. Mayumi Sawada lives a positive life. She is the fastest runner on her track team. Her family runs a farming business that is a success. She has feelings for the track team's captain, Seiji Moriyama, even though he's about to leave for college in Tokyo. Her sisters are doing well, too. The eldest, Sachiko, is about to become married, and Yukie does great business at the hair salon.

However, that happiness soon ends one night. While Sachiko and Yukie went out to Tokyo, Mayumi slept in Sachiko's room. Unfortunately, Sachiko's ex came in, believing that it was Sachiko in bed, and poured a whole bottle of sulfuric acid on her face. 

Soon after, he killed her mother – stabbing her in the mouth – before being shot in the head by Mr. Sawada. Mayumi was rushed to the hospital.

Meanwhile, rumors of the night had spread around. Upon her return to school, many people call her a "mutant girl", since she covers her face with a surgery mask. However, she still had her family, friends, and Seiji, who writes letters to her. Mayumi noticed a woman in a red coat standing outside her house one day, but she soon disappeared.

Things only became worse when her father committed suicide, as a way of saving the family's debts with his life insurance. Mayumi saw the red coat woman again, but she vanished once more. Her two friends began to distance from her, admitting to another student that they "wouldn't say [they were] best friends..." Now all Mayumi had were her sisters and Seiji. However, back in Tokyo, Seiji himself has his own girlfriend, and has been ignoring her letters.

  The red coat woman had shown up once again, this time in Mayumi's house. Home alone, Mayumi calls Yukie and begs her to come home. After the phone conversation, she hides in the kitchen when the red coat woman appears once again. The woman makes it to the kitchen, but as Mayumi screams, it actually is Sachiko, who just got home.

The next day, the news announces that two high school girls were killed by a woman with scissors. The two girls are revealed to be Mayumi's friends. Despite how they treated her, she goes to their funeral to mourn. There, she meets Seiji, who was back in town until the next day. Mayumi wants to spend time with him one last time before he goes back to Tokyo again, so he promises to take her to "their view" the next morning.

Later that night, Mayumi goes to Yoshizawa Hair Salon and asks Yukie if she could have a hair cut, so she would look nice for Seiji. Eventually, Yukie is able to slide her in for one, but they were moved to the other side of the room.

The next morning, Seiji begins to talk about the rumors that he heard of him and Mayumi "going out". He tries to let her down easy, saying that he's always seen her as a little sister. She assumes it is because of her face. Seiji denies this, but when she asks again, she takes her mask off. Hesitant, he tells her that he's already seeing someone. On the walk back, he ignores her. The next scene shows a bloody Mayumi cleaning off a pair of scissors. In the flashback, it shows the red coat woman killing Seiji, as well as the two high school girls. It is revealed that the red coat woman is Mayumi, as some sort of alter ego.

With Mayumi's friends' murders, Seiji's going missing, and Mayumi's odd behavior, Yukie begins to become suspicious of her. While Mayumi is in school, Yukie comes home early and searches her room. To her dismay, her suspicions came true when she found the bloody dress in her closet. She tells Sachiko about this, but with what's going on in their lives right now – with Sachiko's marriage and Yukie's great business – Sachiko didn't want to act on anything just yet. Soon, Mayumi realizes that her secret has been uncovered.

In the dining room, all three sisters sit quietly at the table. Mayumi hides the scissors behind her, and she unmasks herself before taking a drink of her orange juice. However, Sachiko had poisoned her drink with rat poisoning. Mayumi eventually dies, lying on the floor, so Sachiko begins to clean up the mess. To cover her up, Sachiko places a beige trench coat over her body. Yukie, shocked at what just happened, reluctantly helps her clean the mess up. The two sisters take the body out in the middle of the woods and bury her body.

The next day, the two resume their normal lives. Though Yukie has more trouble coping, Sachiko stays home and cleans, thinking about her upcoming days with her husband and her yet-to-be-born child. However, Mayumi mysteriously returns from the grave. She goes to the hair salon, killing Yukie and her employer. It isn't too long before she returns home. Sachiko begins to run, but returns to the kitchen to grab a knife. She successfully stabs Mayumi, so she runs away. She searches for help before seeing a market of people just ahead of her. Relief was soon taken from her as Mayumi stabs her repeatedly with her scissors. Before falling to the ground, she hears Mayumi ask her, "Am I... pretty...?"

As it begins to rain, Mayumi looks up at the sky. Then, she sees a young boy look at her in horror. She stares back at him for a moment before going after him with an abnormally crazed face.

Kuchisake onna Returns(2012)