轆轤首
ろくろくび

Translation: pulley neck
Habitat: occurs in ordinary women; also frequently found in brothels
Diet: regular food by day, lamp oil by night

Appearance: 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; sometime they lick up lamp oil with their long tongues; and sometimes they just cause mischief by scaring nearby people.

Origin: Unlike most yōkai which are born as monsters, rokurokubi and their close relatives nukekubi are former humans—transformed by a curse resulting from some evil or misdeed. Perhaps they sinned against the gods or nature, or perhaps they were unfaithful to their husbands. In many cases, their husbands or fathers actually committed the sin. By some cruel twist of fate the men escape punishment and the women receive the curse instead. In any case, the rokurokubi curse only affects women.

Legends: A lord noticed that the oil in his lamps was vanishing at an alarming rate, and suspected one of his servant girls might be a rokurokubi. He decided to spy upon the girl. After she had fallen asleep, he crept into her room and watched over her. Soon he noticed vapors and ectoplasm forming around her chest and neck. A little while later, the servant girl rolled over in her sleep, however only her body moved! The head stayed in its place, and the neck lay stretched out between the two. The next day he fired her. She was fired from every place at which she subsequently worked. The poor girl never understood why she had such back luck with her employment. She never found out that she was a rokurokubi.

An old tale from Tōtōmi Province (Shizuoka Prefecture) tells of a monk who eloped with a young lady named Oyotsu. While traveling, Oyotsu became sick. Treating her would have used up all of their travel money, so the monk murdered Oyotsu and stole the remaining money. On his travels, he stayed at an inn owned by a man with a beautiful daughter. The wicked monk shared a bed with the innkeeper’s daughter, and during the night her neck stretched and her face changed into that of Oyotsu. She angrily accused him of murdering her. The next morning the monk, regretting his evil deeds, confessed the murder of Oyotsu to the innkeeper. The monk also told the innkeeper what he had seen the night before. The innkeeper confessed that he, too, had murdered his wife for her money. He used the money to build his inn, and as a punishment his own daughter was transformed into a rokurokubi. Afterwards, the monk rejoined his temple, built a grave for Oyotsu, and prayed for her soul every day. What happened to the innkeeper’s daughter is never mentioned.