The Okiku Doll is a haunted object presently stored at the Mannenji Temple and originating in Hokkaido, Japan as a possession of a daughter, Okiku, from the Suzuki family. The doll was bought for Okiku Suzuki in 1918 by her older sister, Eikichi Suzuki, and she fell in love with it, naming it after herself as Okiku. Standing at 16 inches , constructed from porcelain and dressed in a kimono with a ‘okappa head’ hairstyle, the doll was of a traditional design to resemble an artefact. Okiku named the doll after herself and was obsessed with it – she slept beside it, took it everywhere and regarded it as her closest family.
Tragedy would inflict the family in 1919, however, with an outbreak of Spanish flu and Okiku would perish at only the age of three. As the doll was her dearest possession, they situated The Okiku Doll on a shrine devoted to her life – it became a miniature representation of her. As time passed, they observed the most peculiar development – the hairline was no longer at the jawline, it had protruded to the shoulders: the doll seemed alive with actual physiological processes. Their only answer was that their daughter’s spirit had occupied the doll and it was thus an extension of her. They maintained her hair diligently and preserved her condition with care – it was all that was left of their daughter.
The family would decide to relocate in 1938 to Sakhalin as another province, but concluded the doll had to stay in Hokkaido as the region where the supernatural ‘transference’ transpired. They escorted the doll to the Buddhist monks of the Mannenji Temple in the town of Iwamizawa and explained the special history surrounding the doll. To this day, the monks safeguard the doll as it continues reportedly grow real, actual human hair of a child. The Okiku Doll itself has become a tourist attraction and inspired countless cultural homages – it has even has a Kabuki play dramatizing the family’s circumstances
Was the doll the result of tsukumogami as a phenomenon whereby tools become active from possession by some unknown spirit? Maybe the family’s mere superstition their daughter is still around was the product of a misguided grief? Or, was Okiku’s bond so intense to the doll that not even the afterlife would separate their connection? Perhaps to the more sceptical, all a manufactured hoax as another false urban legend of no historical basis – a curiosity beneficial for local tourism?
The doll is not trusted ever to be released as with Robert the Doll in the USA who inspired Annabelle and is certainly a cultural icon with a fun, albeit creepy, mythology behind it.
More Urban Legends:
Dark Romantic: Exploring Vampiric Obsession
Stalking the night, with the pallor of a corpse, thirsting for the blood of humans, living amongst the plague-ridden vermin and predatory beasts. Throughout the centuries, they have gone by…
Head Count (2021) Folklore Examination: A Representation of the Uncanny
Set amidst the beautifully desolate scenery of the Joshua Tree desert, Head Count is a suspenseful slow burn that delves into folklore and urban legends through a threatening presence…
Urban Legends – Linda Vista Community Hospital
In Boyle Heights, on the corner of South St Louis and Inez Street, is the old Linda Vista Community Hospital. This building is one of the oldest medical facilities in…
Urban Legend: The Ghost of Inunaki Village
Here’s a Japanese urban legend that’s the foundation of the upcoming horror film Howling Village from Ju-On‘s original creator, the existence of a spirit village that’s displaced in time and traditions….
Some say the countdown begun when the first man spoke, others say it started at the Atomic Age. It’s the Doomsday Clock and we are each a variable to it.
Welcome to Carcosa where Godot lies! Surreality and satire are I.
I put the a(tom)ic into the major bomb. Tom’s the name!