My grandparents lived in a small village in Japan. Every summer my parents would take me there on holiday to visit. The last time I saw them was the summer I turned 8.

My grandparents were inside the house while I was playing outside by myself in the backyard. I heard a strange sound; I didn't know what it was and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. I looked around searching but couldn’t find anything until I noticed something on top of the tall hedges that enclosed the backyard. It looked like a straw hat;  the kind farmers would wear. I wasn’t exactly resting on the hedge. It looked more like it was behind the hedge and was slowly moving. When it stopped at a small gap, I realized there was a woman’s face under that hat, peering through the hedges at me.

The hedges must have been 8’ tall and the woman’s head was peeking through the top branches. I could only imagine that she was on stilts or wearing some super high heels, but the hedges were so thick I couldn’t actually tell. I was just shocked by her height. When I looked back up to her face she walked off; the weird noise leaving with her, fading into the distance.

Confused and concerned, I ran back to my grandparent’s house. My grandparents were in the kitchen drinking tea so I sat down at the table and told them what I just saw. At first, they weren't really paying attention, but when I mentioned the sound they both froze and their eyes opened wide. My grandpa's face immediately became serious. He grabbed me by the arm, turned me to face him directly and asked, “this is very important, how tall was the woman?”

I him she was as tall as the garden hedge and his grip got tighter. He kept asking questions like “where was she standing? When did this happen?  What direction did she go?” I tried to answer as fast as I could, but he ran to make a phone call before I could get the words out. From a distance, I couldn't tell what he was saying. He was talking fast, in short, angry bursts. He hung up and walked out the door without acknowledging me or grandma.

I was scared. I asked my grandma what was going on. With scared concern in her voice she answered, “there's something dangerous about, abducting children in this area. Hachishakusama.” Then she described the woman I saw outside. “It takes on the appearance of a very tall woman that makes a weird sound in a deep voice. A long time ago it was captured by monks. They managed to confine it in a ruined building. They trapped it using four jizo. With those blessed statues placed at the north, south, east, west of the ruins, so she wouldn’t be able to escape. The last time she appeared was 15 years ago. ”My grandmother went on to explain that  whoever saw Hachishakusama was destined to die within a few days.

I was shocked; wasn't sure what to believe. I sat in silence trying to make sense of it. My grandpa returned with an old woman he introduced as Kasan. They took me upstairs to the bedroom and began covering the windows with thin papers that had weird symbols that looked like ancient runes all over them. They also placed small bowls of salt in all four corners of the room and a buddha figure in the center. I was told, “Do not leave this room until 7:30 tomorrow morning.  Don’t open the door for any reason. If you need to go to the bathroom, use this bucket.” Grandpa place a bucket inside the door and closed it behind him leaving me alone.

I sat on the bed confused. I turned on the TV as a distraction and fell asleep watching anime. I woke up around 1am to what sounded like tapping on the bedroom window. I realized, as my senses returned, that the noise was the knocking on the door. I heard my grandpa’s voice and was relieved. I got up to open the door but as I got closer, I began to feel weird; a weird gut feeling made me think something was off. I looked around and noticed the salt in each bowl had turned black.

The tapping sound returned. It seemed to come from everywhere. I started to cry and collapsed on the floor. The tapping got louder. I opened my eyes and saw the buddha. Out of fear I began to pray. With each word I spoke the sound grew softer until they disappeared. The room slowly grew silent, the only sound was my whispered prayers.

I stayed on the floor, huddled close to buddha until 7:30 am. I carefully opened the door and inched my way to my grandparents. They had been up all night packing our bags. As soon as I enter their room, they hugged me close and rushed me outside and into the van. We drove to the airport and left Japan. They told me it was the only way to escape Hachishakusama; never set foot in Japan again.