In Japanese mythology, Kuchisake-onna (“Slit-Mouth Woman”) is a woman who is mutilated by a jealous husband and returns as a malicious spirit. Now she wanders, hiding her mouth behind a fan, a sleeve, a scarf or a face mask like those in cold and allergy seasons in Japan.
This woman favors attacking children usually at night. She will stop the child and ask, ‘Am I beautiful?’ If the child answers no, he/she will be killed with a pair of scissors which the woman carries. If he/she answers yes, the woman pulls away the mask, revealing that her mouth is slit from ear to ear and asks ‘Even like this?’. If the child answers no, he/she will be cut in half. If he/she answers yes, then she will slit his/her mouth like hers.
According to some rumors, there are several ways to escape from the Kuchisake Onna:
- When she asks you, you must say that she is pretty two times in a row, so that she will become confused and her victim can escape while she is lost in thought.
- Some sources say she can also be confused by answering her question with, rather than yes or no, “You are average.” Unsure of what to do, she will give you enough time to escape.
- Another escape route is to tell her you have a previous engagement; she will pardon her manners and excuse herself from your presence.
- In some variations of the tale, she can be distracted by throwing fruit or sweets at her which she will pick up, thus giving the victim a chance to run.
- One other way is to ask her if you are pretty; she will get confused and leave.
“Each time out of the gate with Tim, the initial thing for me is to obviously come up with a character. But then, there’s a certain amount of pressure where I go, ‘Jesus, will this be the one where I disappoint him?’ So I try really hard, especially early on, to come up with something that’s very different, that he hasn’t experienced before - we haven’t experienced together before - and that would stimulate him and inspire him to make choices based on that character. I try not to embarrass him, basically.”