The rumor of the slit-mouthed woman is said to have spread in Gifu Prefecture around the end of 1978, reaching the whole country the following year.
Sighting & Incident Site
Gifu Prefecture (Said to Be Where the Rumor Began)
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Positions on the map are a rough guide to the area where a legend or sighting is set. Most pins are placed at representative points of a municipality or prefecture (outside Japan, a city position rounded to about 10 km, or the country), not at the exact place.
Municipality points: Geolonia address data (CC BY 4.0), based on the Address Base Registry (Digital Agency of Japan) / Country points: Natural Earth
| Encyclopedia | Kuchisake-onna (Slit-Mouthed Woman) |
|---|---|
| Location | Gifu |
| Type of place | More |
| Map position | Approximate position (Prefecture), not the exact place |
An urban legend about a woman in a surgical mask who asks "Am I pretty?" and then reveals a mouth slit from ear to ear. It spread among children all over Japan around 1979.