[Aota]

Also, forgot to mention, this can also be a talk about favorite Japanese horror movies/anime/manga.

I can start off with a funny spirit I learned about a little earlier. The akaname. The name, translated means filth licker. It is the spirit that licks the bathrooms. Whether it licks it clean, I'm not sure about this yet. Also, one that has kind of scared me was the the kuchisake-onna, or slit-mouthed woman. The legend started around the Heian period. The woman was wife to a samurai, and she was known to be cheating on her husband. Well, one night the samurai cut slits on the sides of her mouth from ear to ear, and asked her, screaming, "Who will think you are beautiful now?" Now, an urban legend goes on in Japan about this. The urban legend picks up from this point, stating that a woman roams around at night (especially during foggy evenings), with her face covered by a surgical mask, which
would not be especially unusual, as people with colds often wear masks for the sake of others. When she encounters someone (primarily children or college students), she will coyly ask, "Do you think I'm beautiful?" ("Kirei da to omou?") or a similar question, at the same time taking off her mask, revealing her mutilated mouth. The victim will usually run away screaming, and the Kuchisake-onna will chase after, carrying a bladed weapon, such as a knife. She will catch the victim on the doorstep of their home and kill them there. The legend says that the only way to avoid being chased is to give a middle-ground answer to Kuchisake-onna's question. Answering "yes" or "no" will result in a chase, and only answering something along the lines of "You look ordinary" will make her leave the victim alone. If a victim is chased, the only way to distract the Kuchisake-onna is by throwing her a favourite brand of candy.

I have reason to believe the story behind Spirited Away, the bathhouse, and the town, and everything was surrounded around the Hyakki Yako, or the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

Sorry it was so long. I was too tired to explain it in my own way. I'll be more excited about this stuff after some sleep. G'night, or morning all.