Rokurokubi is actually a type of Japanese Yōkai. The term ‘Yōkai’ in Japan is a very common word, mostly used in reference to the supernatural that could possibly play both heroic and demonic roles, depending on the tales being told. Yōkai range from terrible, disfigured monsters that are a nightmare to behold to beautiful beings, glowing with grace. They look almost completely like humans with one of two differences. Rokurokubi would be the kind of Yōkai whose neck stretches. The Rokurokubi appear in classical kaidan and also in Yōkai works.
This type of Rokurokubi comes from the legends that say that the Rokurokubi have a spiritual string-like object connecting the head to the torso, and it can be said that this type originates from people mistaking the string for an elongated neck. Tales of ‘when people sleep, their necks would stretch’ started appearing in the Edo period and afterwards, in literature such as “Buya Zokuda”, “Kanden Kōhitsu”, “Yasō Kidan” and many others.
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By day, Rokurokubi appear to be ordinary women. By night, however, their bodies sleep while their necks stretch to incredible lengths and roam around freely. Sometimes their heads attack small animals and sometimes they lick up lamp oil with their long tongues and also sometimes they just cause mischief by scaring nearby people. Rokurokubi are said to be cursed human beings that are neither alive nor dead.
Some entities are aware of their supernatural existence but some are, unfortunately, not aware and still think they are human. At night, after relentlessly wandering around with its serpent-like neck, the creature would wake up in the morning, human again but with disturbing visions of its encounter the previous night, claiming that they are just horrible nightmares. Most Rokurokubi are depicted as female but some tales describe these entities in male versions.
The curse of this wretched life could befall on those who commit sins such as being unfaithful to one’s spouse. Since these creatures are mostly depicted as a woman, it is said that a woman being unfaithful to her husband could cause her to turn into this nightmare. Others claim that even if the sin is done by the husband, the woman would still have to deal with the unfair curse.
Sources: Yokai.Com, TikTok Monsternesia.
