Imagine that the building you are inside, or the bridge you are walking on, is filled with human corpses. The legend, or practice of burying living humans inside of pillars of important structures, known as Hitobashira in Japan, has existed since ancient years. This was a popular practice up until the 16th century, but is still seen in some 20th century construction projects.

The idea behind Hitobashira was that this form of sacrifice would appease spirits from messing with the structural integrity of the formations. This practice was most commonly used in castles to stop assaults, fire, flooding, and other disasters. The word Hitobashira has a complicated meaning that gave people a basis for volunteering as a sacrifice. In summary, hito can be related to another word, kami, meaning god when discussing Shinto tradition. The second half of the word, bashira, refers to being enshrined in a significant way. Thus, the sacrificed person would become an actual pillar and gain a connection to the gods.

As time went on, the actual meaning behind Hitobashira was lost and legends began to form. The legends tend to tell a story that the buildings that had a sacrifice hidden inside became haunted by the souls of those humans. A famous legend is the one of Maruoka Castle in Fukui Prefecture. When the walls of the castle were being constructed, they would collapse no matter how workers tried to fix them. The only solution left was to improve the stability of the castle using a human sacrifice. A woman named Oshizu agreed to become a hitobashira. She was promised that her son would become a samurai after her death, but instead the castle’s lord was transferred and the promise could not be fulfilled. After the events passed, when rain would come, the castle would overflow. People claimed this rain to be Oshizu’s tears of sorrow. To calm her spirit, a cenotaph was erected inside the castle grounds.

When visiting Japan, you can find stones with the names of those who were sacrificed for Hitobashira at temples, castles, or other structures. Research has been conducted to find human remains inside of pillars of the different formations to prove that this tradition is not only an urban legend, but is a reality.

This Japanese urban legend has spread across cultures since it was first heard around 1000 years ago. While it is considered an urban legend, time has created factual basis for the events. The story originally started as a warning to all women to stay faithful to their husbands, but when the woman known as Kuchisake Onna passed away, she became a vengeful spirit that attacked the young. Kuchisake Onna means “split-mouthed woman” and this is her story.

The origin for this tale comes from the Heian period in Japan. A Samurai warrior had a beautiful wife who would welcome attention from any man that dared to approach her. The Samurai found out that she was unfaithful and decided to fix the problem by carving her face open to give her a wide smile. After slicing his wife, he asked her “Who will think you’re beautiful now?” The woman died soon after that incident.

After her death, it is said that the woman became a spirit that would come back to haunt children. She is known to approach children with a surgical mask on to hide her mouth and ask them, “Am I pretty?” If the child answers yes then she removes her masks and asks the same question a second time. If the child answers yes a second time she will let them go, follow them home, and kill them later that night. If the child answers no to the first question, she will kill them immediately. If the child answers no to the second question she will she will once again kill them immediately. It is said that the only way to survive the ghost is to distract her by answering the questions in a way that makes her think, such as saying, “You’re average.”

The legend went quiet for a long time until the 1970s where she was supposedly found chasing children once again. Panic hit Japan closing schools and forcing children to remain indoors in order to not encounter Kuchisake Onna. It is said that her attacks stopped when she was struck by a car and killed while hunting down another victim. In 2007, one coroner report from the late 1970s was found from describing one injury, a torn mouth.

The Kuchisake Onna of today is a common urban legend spread from Japan to South Korea in books, movies, and television shows. Some even suggest that The Joker from Batman is based off of this ghost, having pale skin with green hair and a scarred smile to connect the dots to a thousand years prior to the creation of the character.