Japenese Urban Legends | 日本の都市伝説

Ushi no Koku Mairi

Ushi no koku mairi is one of the most famous and dreaded black magic spells. It takes place between 1:00 and 3:00 in the morning, during the hour of the ox. This is the period of darkest night, when the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead is weakest. During this hour, evil spirits are at their greatest power.

There are a number of complicated steps required to perform this curse ritual, and they vary from account to account.
You must first construct a wara ningyo containing a small piece of the intended target's body, like a piece of hair, blood, fingernails, or skin Alternatively, you may use an image of their target, or a piece of paper with the target's name written on it.
Then, you put on the ceremonial dress, a white kimono and obi, with thick white face powder. An upturned trivet is placed on your head, and you attach tapers to its legs and light them. Tall, single-toothed geta are worn on your feet. A mirror is carried over your chest, a dagger is tucked behind the obi, and a comb is held between your teeth.

Thus prepared, you must sneak into a shrine during the hour of the ox and approach the shrine's sacred tree. Then, you hammer a long iron nail through the wara ningyo into the tree, symbolically breaking the barrier between the world of the living and the spirit world. You call out to evil spirits, demons, and yokai to come into the world.
This ritual must be repeated every night for many nights, and it is very important that the person performing the curse not be seen. If there are any witnesses, they must be killed immediately. Otherwise the evil of this curse will rebound onto the caster.

Once the ritual is completed, something terrible happens. According to some accounts, the cursed victim dies an agonizing death upon completion of the ritual. In other accounts, the entire process is torture for the victim, causing days of suffering while the curse is being performed. In some stories, the curse summons yokai which haunt the victim, and in other stories, the person performing the ritual transforms into a powerful oni or kijo.

A few shrines are well-known for this sort of black magic. Kifune Shrine and Jishu Shrine in Kyoto, and Ikurei Shrine in Okayama Prefecture are the most famous ones. In the old days, these were popular locations for jealous lovers to perform this curse. Even today, every now and then, shrine officials find wara ningyo hammered into trees at these shrines.