Ōkubi 大首

Ōkubi (大首), the “Great Head,” is a terrifying and colossal apparition—a severed, floating head the size of a house that appears at dawn or dusk to signal a great change or a looming disaster.

Meaning and Origin

The name literally means “Great Head” (ō - great, kubi - head).

The origin of the Ōkubi is tied to the concept of Onryō (Vengeful Spirits). It is believed that when a high-ranking person dies with an obsession so powerful that their body cannot contain it, their spirit manifests as this singular, massive feature. Most Ōkubi were depicted as woman, often recognized by their blackened teeth (Ohaguro), which was a sign of a married woman in old Japan.

Characteristics

An Ōkubi is a severed head that can be over two meters tall. It is often seen floating through the sky like a balloon, or suddenly filling the entire space of a barn or a warehouse.

They are usually calm and expressionless, but their sheer size and the way they block out the sun is enough to cause madness. Some legends say that an Ōkubi has the power to exhale a yellow, sulfurous breath that causes immediate swelling and illness in anyone it touches.

Legends

A famous Edo-period story tells of a man who opened his storage room only to find it entirely filled by the face of an old woman. When he tried to poke it with a broom, the face didn’t fight back; it simply felt “sticky and heavy,” like a physical manifestation of grief.

Another legend claims that seeing an Ōkubi is a specific omen of “Sky-Crimes”—violent thunderstorms or revolutionary political shifts. Because it represents a “Head without a Body,” it is often seen as a symbol of a society or a family that has lost its foundation. To ward off an Ōkubi, one must not show fear; if you can look it in the eye and state your name with enough courage, the spirit will realize its size cannot intimidate you and will evaporate back into the mist.