On the road to Akasaka, near Tokyo, there is a hill, called "Kii-No-Kuni-Zaka," or "Hill
of Kii Province." It is bordered on the side by an ancient moat, very deep and wide, with
greenish walls due to the mold that rises to some gardens. On the other side of the
road there are long and huge walls of an imperial palace.
When there was no public lighting, that place was desérted at night. Delayed walkers preferred
to make a long detour of several kilometers, rather than venturing up this hill after sunset.
At that time an old merchant from the Kyôbashi neighborhood was rushing to go through this
area when he was surprised by the night. On his way, he met a woman crouched near the
pit. She was alone and cried bitterly. The merchant feared she would take her life, and
stopped to try to help her.
He saw that the girl was funny looking and petite and was elegantly dressed. Her hair
was combed like that of a young woman from a good family. "Distinguished Miss." He told
her. “Don't cry like that, tell me your sorrows. I will be happy to help you”. He
was a good man and spoke sincerely. But the girl kept crying, with her head hidden between
the wide sleeves of her dress.
“I beg you. It is no place for a lady to be alone at this time of night. Don't cry
anymore and tell me the cause of your grief”. The young woman got up slowly. She groaned
and cried on her back; her face hidden. The old merchant put a hand on her shoulder and
begged for the third time. “Listen to me for a moment…”. The lady turned around
abruptly, dropped the sleeve of her dress and stroked her face with her hand. She had
no eyes, no nose, no mouth. Her face was completely blank.
The man screamed in fright and ran away. He ran to the edge of the hill, dark and deserted,
not daring to look back. Finally, he saw a flashlight in the distance. It was a soba
street vendor, who had put his stall on the side of the road. The old man came to him
and fell at his feet, whimpering.
The merchant asked. “What's wrong with you? Are you okay?". The old man, breathless, was
unable to explain himself, and the other insisted. "Have you run into a thief?" “No!” He
finally replied, “but, near the pit I saw a woman who… Her face was ... Ah, I can't
describe it! ” To which the seller replied, "Was it something like this?" He stroked his
face and suddenly all his facial features disappeared. At that moment the lantern light
went out...
That old man had run into a yokai called Noppera-bō. It's a faceless ghost that adopts human form,
usually a beautiful woman. At first, it appears as a normal person, sometimes even a relative
or acquaintance. But suddenly it makes its features disappear, leaving a blank face there.
Its purpose is to scare people and for their victims to flee in terror. But fortunately,
they don't go further than that, and regardless of their frightening appearance, they are
harmless. In general, they are considered kind beings, and even some legend says that
they have helped walkers attacked by bandits, or guided lost travelers back to their destination.
They frequent the Kyoto, Osaka, and Kagawa prefectures.
Another of the most popular testimonies talks about a lazy fisherman who lived in a peaceful
cabin with his wife. He decided to go fishing at the nearby imperial koi ponds, next to
Heiankyo's palace. His wife, knowing that it was a sacred place, which was also next
to a cemetery, tried to stop him, but he didn't listen to her.
Upon arriving there he met a beautiful young woman, who also begged him not to fish in
the place. Faced with the man's refusal, she ran her hand over her face, making her features
disappear. The fisherman, terrified by the vision, ran away and didn't stop until he
returned home.
After catching his breath, he told what happened to his wife. She scolded him seriously, stood
in front of him and suddenly made her face disappear, leaving it empty too. The petrified
man realized that he was married to a Noppera-bō.
In the past, these appearances only happened in Japanese lands, but today they have also
become popular in areas with a lot of Japanese emigration such as Hawaii, the American islands
in the middle of the Pacific. On May 19th, 1959, the journalist of a local newspaper
heard the chilling testimony of a woman who had gone to an open-air cinema at night in
Kahala, Honolulu.
Halfway through the movie, she went to the toilet, and when she looked in the mirror,
she saw a long-haired woman standing behind her out of the blue. She saw, horrified, that
she had no face, and no legs, only the upper half of the body. When she turned around,
no one was there. But the door slammed with a great rumble, leaving her locked in the
toilet, and she ended up fainting.
The appearance of this spectrum was attributed to the fact that the cinema was next to a
cemetery, but the manager denied everything. Years later, in 1981, an anonymous call was
received during a ghosts program on local radio that described a very similar encounter,
although in this case, the woman had bright red hair.
There are more and more sightings around the world, especially in public toilets of cinemas,
restaurants or shopping centers. It isn't very well known why these places attract the
Noppera-bō so much, but if you have to go to one at night, it may be a good idea not to go alone...