Kasane 累

Kasane (累), the “Overlapping Curse,” is a central figure in one of Japan’s most terrifying tales of karmic retribution—a woman whose life and death were both defined by the sins of her parents and the cruelty of her husband.

Meaning and Origin

The name Kasane (also read as Rui) means “to pile up” or “to overlap.”

Her origin is based on a real series of events from the 17th century in the village of Hanyū (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture). According to the local records of the Hōzō-ji Temple, a woman named Rui was born with a hideous facial disfigurement. The villagers believed her appearance was the result of a Generational Curse; her stepfather had previously murdered her half-brother Suke to steal his inheritance. Because her face mirrored that of the murdered boy, they said Suke’s spirit had “piled up” on her, giving her the name Kasane.

Characteristics

Kasane is typically portrayed as a woman with a severely distorted face—often with one eye swollen shut or drooping, and skin that looks burned or decayed. In her ghostly form (Yūrei), she is a figure of pure, unrelenting agony.

She is often depicted holding a bloody sickle (the tool used to kill her) or emerging from the dark waters of the “Pool of Kasane” (Kasane-ga-fuchi). Unlike many other ghosts who wait for their victims, Kasane is “active.” Her haunting is characterized by Possession; she does not just stand in the shadows, she enters the bodies of those she hates, causing them to suffer the same physical and mental torment she endured in life.

Legends

The most famous version of her legend involves her husband, a man named Yoemon. He married Kasane only for her money, and as his revulsion for her looks grew, his greed turned into murder. He lured her to the edge of the Kinugawa River and killed her with a sickle.

However, Kasane’s spirit returned immediately. When Yoemon tried to marry another woman, Kasane possessed the new bride, speaking through her mouth in a distorted voice and revealing the murder to the entire village. The legend took a religious turn when the high priest Yūten Shōnin was called to the village. Through days of intense prayer and the use of sacred relics, he finally managed to break the cycle of the curse, separating the spirit of Suke from Kasane and allowing both to find peace. Her grave still exists at Hōzō-ji today, serving as a grim monument to the idea that “evil deeds return to the doer.”