The story of the Kuchisake-onna (Slit-mouthed Woman) is of a woman whose mouth was mutilated in life and, in death, roams the street looking for the validation of her beauty in a murderous, scissor-wielding rage.

A modern ghost story from Japan on the surface, the tale of the Kuchisake-onna highlights the immense pressure women are placed under to meet the impossibly ever-shifting and contextual standards of beauty.

What sort of torment must have this woman felt to be so aggrieved she rose from the dead to mutilate or kill others who dare look at her scarred face? How much value was placed on her physical beauty rather than the quality of her character or personality?

We often talk about placing more weight on the beauty of one’s soul, of their inner beauty - what might it look like if we, as a society, truly believed that? How might we not only find our own beauty from within, but create the conditions for others to see themselves in the same way?

4,800 x 7,200 px
(c) 2022 Rick Kitagawa