Inspired by the Japanese legend of the 8 foot tall woman - Hachishakusama.
Fourteen years ago it happened. Hearing the sound again now made me shudder.
My family lived in Japan, and every year my parents would take me there to live with them for the summer. This changed after the incident - I haven’t been back or even seen my grandparents since.
The day started like any other; I was playing outside while my grandparents were doing things around the house. Oka-chan had dropped me off a couple of days before, and I was so excited to do all the things we had planned over the year. It had other plans.
I heard it before anything else - the horrible sound that’s so easy to recognisable and impossible to forget. It was deep, too deep to belong to a person, even though it sounded human. There was a slight echoing to it, yet it wasn’t mechanical. It sounded as though someone was saying ‘Po’ repeatedly. I looked around for the source, but the only unusual thing I could see was the white hat on top of the hedge. Except it wasn’t on top of the hedge, it was behind it and something was wearing it. Even at 9 years old I knew that thing could not be considered a person - no one was that tall without stilts. Who-(or what)-ever it was walked along the hedge, before going back and leaving, the sound fading away into the distance with it. I never saw ‘her’, but I realise that there must have been a gap in the hedge that it saw me through; I had been seen, and now I was going to be hunted.
Suddenly it wasn’t so nice being outside.
My grandparents had finished the housework and were knelt at the table drinking tea. I told them about what happened - Ojī-san would sometimes nod and Obā-chan said things like “that’s nice”. They weren’t giving me their full attention until I mentioned that distinctive sound. Ojī-san tensed, and Obā-chan covered her mouth with her hand.
Ojī-san asked a flurry of questions all at once, and Obā-chan looked distraught. I didn’t understand any of this - I saw a hat, why were they acting like I was going to die?
“When was this? Did you see who it was? You’re sure you heard it? What did it sound like? What colour was the hat? Did she see you?” I tried to answer as best I could, but I was starting to get nervous and panicked. Ojī-san finally stopped with one question left. “Nemuri, this is very important, how tall was the person?”
The hedge was almost 8 shaku high, meaning this thing was, “about 8 feet tall”
Ojī-san ran to the phone and started to call someone. “Obā-chan? What’s going on?” She looked pained at the thought of the story she would inevitably have to tell me. I heard Ojī-san hang up the phone and leave.
“Nem-chan, I’ll tell you later.” Contrary to Ojī-san, who used my full name to convey how serious he was, Obā-chan referred back to the nickname she used to use when I had nightmares as a kid. Maybe she wanted to comfort me or she might have wanted to put off telling me about It for as long as possible.
We sat in silence for a while, until Ojī-san came back with an old woman. He was thanking her profusely, but she just kept brushing it off. “Saito Nemuri, I presume.” At my nod, she continued, “I’m Chisaki Rei, I’d love to stay and chat but we do not have the time.” Her voice was deadly serious, and with that, she swept upstairs to ‘prepare for the ritual’. Confused, I turned back to Obā-chan, she sighed wearily, as if she would rather be anywhere else.
“There’s something dangerous loose in the village. We call it Hachishakusama; it’s an entity that takes the form of a tall woman and it says ‘Po’ in a deep, echoing voice. Many years ago, monks managed to trap it in a building on the edge of the village using four Jizo at the north, east, south, and west. It shouldn’t have been able to escape, but somehow, it did. If it likes you or sees you, it will hunt you until you go mad, then take you when your mind is weak.” I was even more confused than before - all of this sounded crazy! An evil entity likes me? And it’s going to hunt me? It sounds like one of those ghost stories people tell around campfires. I didn’t know what to do, but then Ojī-san called us up to my bedroom so that Chisaki-sama could finish the preparations before sunset.
Once I was safely in my room, Chisaki-sama covered the window with newspapers that she had covered with ancient runes. She put bowls of morishio in all four corners of the room and a Buddha statue in the centre.
“Saito-chan, you must not leave this room or open this door for anything.” She pointed towards a bucket, “not even to use the restroom.”
Ojī-san picked up where she left off “Nemu- Nem-chan, no matter what you hear, do not open this door until 7.30, okay?”
“Okay, Ojī-san. I love you, and Obā-chan, I love you too.” They smiled sadly but didn’t have time to respond as the sun had started to set. They left the room and I locked the door behind them.
I tried not to think about the situation, and instead turned on the small television to distract myself. It didn’t work very well. Was I really going to be taken by Hachishakusama? Eventually, my eyelids grew heavy and I fell asleep.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
It woke me up at about 3.30am. The tapping was coming from the window as if something knew that it couldn’t get in. I told myself it was just a tree blowing in the wind and I tried to go back to sleep. I had been dozing off when I heard a voice. It was Ojī-san! Without thinking I rushed to the door. “If you’re scared I can come to keep you company.” He said. I was so, so relieved - Ojī-san said it was safe to open the door! Yet, something didn’t feel quite right. He had been adamant that I mustn’t leave the room until 7.30, and his voice was lacking its usual warmth. I hesitated and looked down - all of the bowls of salt had turned black; that’s when it started again. “Po...Po...Po...” The tapping on the window got worse - louder and louder, and faster and faster. I knelt by the Buddha and prayed.
I don’t know how long I prayed before I fell asleep again, or if I fell asleep again in the first place. I was definitely awake when the noises finally faded and disappeared at 7.30am. Cautiously, I opened the door and ran downstairs. Chisaki-sama was still there, and so were some of my uncles and cousins.
“They have to be blood relatives to confuse it, but you don’t have much time.” She handed me a charm and told me that no matter what I heard I was not to let go of it or open my eyes outside.
“Thank you, Chisaki-sama.” I turned to Yamada, who was closest to me “Oji-san, where are we going?” He just smiled sadly as we walked outside.
I could hear Obā-chan crying, but I didn’t open my eyes. My grandparents said goodbye and that was the last time I saw them.
I never went back. No one would let me. When Ojī-san died, I wasn’t allowed to go to the funeral. He had been adamant that everyone forbid me from going back. Obā-chan called me earlier today to tell me she had been diagnosed with cancer. This time I was not going to let some stupid spirit stop me - It had stopped me from saying goodbye to Ojī-san, I was not going to let It take this too.
“It happened fourteen years ago Obā-chan, I’m not staying away this time. I'm not a kid anymore. It’ll be fine.” She sighed heavily into the phone and reluctantly agreed. Then, from the phone itself:
“Po...”