A Horrific Urban Legend: Hachishakusama

The name Hachishakusama, which corresponds to the meaning of Eight Feet Tall in Japanese, belongs to a terrifying eight-feet tall woman in a Japanese urban legend. According to the urban legend, Hachishakusama is a Yokai, a type of evil Japanese spirit who usually kidnaps children, what she does with the children and what her main goal is unknown. Hachishakusama is described as an abnormally pale, eight-feet tall woman with long black hair who wears a long white dress and sometimes puts on a straw hat. It is said that if Hachishakusama looks at you, she will stalk you for days, months, and years and when she gets the chance, she kidnaps you. Why Hachishakusama prefers children to kidnap and kill might be due to the curious nature of children who are prone to be lured away. The legend says that Hachishakusama makes her presence known around the victim by making a sound, mainly repeating the word ''Po'' with a masculine voice.

While some tellings describe Hachishakusama as an attractive woman with a beautiful face, some tellings depict her as an old hag with nonproportional limbs and a horrible face. With his pale face, long black hair, and long white dress, Hachishakusama resembles most of the Japanese evil spirits who are also women with pale faces, white long dresses, and black long hair. Like most horror stories, this urban legend probably was made up to scare children into obeying their parents or to turn children into well-mannered persons.