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The Ghost In My Machine

Stories of the Strange and Unusual

Encyclopaedia of the Impossible: Kashima Reiko, the Mask Death Demon

November 5, 2014 by Lucia

Previously: The Mojave Phone Booth.

Type: CC (corporeally challenged)

Period/location of origin: Unknown, Hokkaido, Japan. Details of subject’s history suggest modern origins, re: presence of trains.

Appearance: Subject, called Kashima Reiko, or the Mask Death Demon, has the appearance of a young Japanese woman. Her most notable quality is her lack of legs; her body ends mid-torso. It is not, it should be noted, a pretty sight.

An abandoned public restroom

Modus operandi: Subject typically appears in public restrooms, although her presence has occasionally been noted in the washrooms of private residences. Upon appearing, subject will ask target a series of questions in a particular order. These questions are:

  • “Where are my legs?”
  • “Who told you that?”
  • “Do you know my name?”

Failure to answer correctly will result in subject forcibly removing target’s legs from his or her body.

[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]

Containment: Answering subject’s questions correctly is the only known method with which a target may survive an encounter.

  • If subject asks, “Where are my legs?”: The correct response is, “On the Meishin Expressway.”
  • If subject asks, “Who told you that?”: The correct response is, “Kashima Reiko told me that.”
  • If subject asks, “Do you know my name?”: The correct response is, “Mask Death Demon.” This response may be arrived at through careful analysis of subject’s human name: “Ka” comes from the word “kamen,” or mask; “shi” comes from “shinin,” or dead person; and “ma” stands for demon. Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, reply “Kashima.”

Additional notes: Subject bears the name of the human she once was: Kashima Reiko, a woman viciously attacked in a public restroom by a group of men and left to die. Although subject sustained fatal injuries, she did not suffer immediate death; her expiration spanned an extensive period of time, during which she search and called out repeatedly for help (which did not, unfortunately, arrive). Subject eventually passed out from loss of blood atop a railway track running alongside the Meishin Expressway. Subject did not revive before a train traversed the track, severing her body at the waist and finally killing her. Following her traumatic death, subject became an onryo, a vengeful spirit in search of both her legs and revenge.

The perpetrators were never caught.

Subject should not be confused with teketeke, another CC taking the form of a young Japanese woman with no legs, or Hanako-san, who also appears in public restrooms.

Recommendation: Subject will appear to potential targets within the 30-day period following target’s initial awareness of subject’s existence.

I’m sorry.

I’m so sorry.

Resources:

Just Another Reason Public Bathrooms Are Terrifying.

Kashima Reiko.

Ghost Stories from Japan: Kashima Reiko.

***

Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Twitter @GhostMachine13 and on Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!

[Photo via]

Filed Under: Encyclopaedia Tagged With: CC, Encyclopaedia of the Impossible, folklore, ghosts, Japan, Japanese ghosts, Kashima Reiko, public restrooms

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