"Faceless Monster": Meeting a Crying Woman by the Moat at Night

In Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan, there is a story called "The Mujina," set at Akasaka in Tokyo, known by every Japanese person.

There is a slope in Akasaka called Kii-no-kuni-zaka. On one side is a moat, on the other is the wall of the Imperial Palace. There are no lights at night, and no one dares to walk it. Legend has it that an old merchant, hurrying home late at night, reached the slope and saw a woman crouching by the moat, weeping bitterly.

Afraid she might do something desperate, he approached and asked, "What's wrong? Can I help you?" The woman did not turn around; her sleeve covered her face as she continued to cry. He urged her again, and the woman slowly turned her head, lowered her sleeve, and wiped her face. Her face had nothing on it—no eyes, no nose, no mouth—just a smooth egg.

The merchant was terrified and took off running, running all the way without daring to look back. After a long distance, he saw a light ahead: a soba noodle stall, its vendor facing away from him, head bowed. He rushed over, panting, and shouted, "I saw... I saw..." The vendor did not turn around and asked, "Saw what? Is it like this?" He turned his face, wiped his face, and it was also a smooth expanse.

The light at the stall went out all at once.

The monster in the story is called a "mujina" in Japan—a shapeshifting beast, also known as a "faceless monster." The story ends here, with no sequel: the author never wrote about the merchant's fate or where the vendor went.

Kii-no-kuni-zaka still exists today, right next to Akasaka-mitsuke Station in Tokyo, with a moat by the slope where people row boats, high-rises on one side and a stone wall on the other. Walking it in the daytime, no one thinks of this story; only at night do people slow their steps and unconsciously glance back behind them.

#Ghosts #网络转载 #日本怪谈