The story
A woman wearing a large surgical mask approaches a child on the way home from school and asks, “Am I pretty?” If the child says yes, she pulls off the mask to reveal a mouth slit all the way to her ears and asks, “Even like this?” That is the typical plot.
Spreading across Japan
The rumor is said to have started in Gifu Prefecture around the end of 1978 and spread nationwide in the spring and summer of 1979, along with newspaper and magazine reports. In some areas, schools reportedly had children walk home in groups.
Various “ways to escape”
As the rumor spread, details were added in different places: she runs away if you say “pomade” three times, she lets you go if you give her a hard caramel candy, she can run 100 meters in a few seconds, and so on. It is a classic modern rumor that grew as children passed it on.
