Hasuba Ichiko (Age of Death: 10)
Item #: SCP-676-JP
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-676-JP is contained in a small containment room at Site-8124. SCP-676-JP is to be covered, and remain covered except during experiments, and staff in charge must regularly check its humidity and temperature. Due to anomalies discussed below, as a rule, a small transport vehicle should be used when moving SCP-767-JP for experimental purposes.
Description: SCP-676-JP is a painting in the format of “Chigiri-e” paintings or “Collage” paintings, pasted onto a cardboard 28cm tall and 18cm wide. No anomalous anti-destructive qualities have been confirmed, and it shows normal signs of degradation over time.
The painting appears to be composed of monochrome photographic paper from the Shōwa 40s (1965-1975), or monochrome photographs clipped from newspapers, all of which are to be of faces and body parts of what is believed to be the same girl.
Because the photographs having deteriorated so much they have peeled off, what the painting is meant to represent as a whole is unclear, but it’s believed to represent a human race.
SCP-676-JP’s anomaly activates when a human being (Hereafter referred to as the target) holds it with their hands. While the target keeps SCP-676-JP in their possession, they’ll suffer a perceptual disorder accompanied by stress in the shape of an auditory hallucination of “a girl crying”. This symptom can be stopped by severing contact with SCP-676-JP, and in most cases, the target instinctively lets go of SCP-676-JP in order to escape the hallucinations.
If the target is forced to keep holding SCP-676-JP, the target will complain of the auditory hallucinations becoming worse, eventually leading to loss of consciousness (Syncope) produced by a vasovagal reflex as a result of a strong stress reaction. Symptomatic solutions to defend against loss of consciousness, such as tranquilizing medicine, are limited to work as temporary measures, and currently all cases have led to loss of consciousness.
Supplementary Record 676-JP-1
The results obtained from collecting and reconstructing testimony of targets holding SCP-767-JP show that there is a correlation between the time SCP-767-JP is held, and the degree of the auditory hallucinations.| Time of possession | Hallucination summary |
|---|---|
| 0~10 seconds | A crying sound is “faintly heard”. Some targets don’t notice the voice. |
| 11~30 seconds | Volume of the cry gradually increases. Explained by many targets as the “voices getting closer”. In many cases (Unless indicated otherwise), targets take actions in order to stop holding onto SCP-767-JP. |
| 31~40 seconds | Target expresses an avoidance reaction to hallucinations from SCP-767-JP similar to that of patients suffering from severe auditory hallucinations (Covering ears and shouting to drown out the hallucinations). |
| 41~60 seconds | Many targets lose consciousness at this stage due to convulsions, hyperventilations, and other similar symptoms. Several cases have been confirmed in which the target explains “they’re talking to me”. |
| 60~72 seconds | Loss of consciousness occurs even if the target has been using tranquilizers and other measures to reduce stress reactions. Targets who continue to hold SCP-767-JP suffer sequelae such as atrophy of the frontal cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala as a result of strong psychological trauma. |
| Over 73 seconds | Unknown. |
Supplementary Record 676-JP-2
In three previous cases, targets confirmed having reactions of “someone talking to me” or “someone being around me” while holding SCP-676-JP for over 50 seconds. It’s not known whether this is the result of deterioration of the stress reaction due to auditory hallucinations (voice hallucinations) and paranoia based on general clinical psychology knowledge, or if it’s a change in SCP-676-JP’s anomaly, and the target’s state of mind following the experiment difficults any interview or post-experiment investigation.
The following are transcript records of the three cases discussed above, transcribed by the Foundation’s Special Psychology Research Team. The notes are not from the original text, instead having been added by staff in charge of reproducing the written report.
First case
[00:00:51]: [Sniffing sounds] Please, no more.1 Ahhh. Ahhhh. [Hits floor with right hand] Shut up. I don’t know, and I won’t know even if you say it like that. Please, stop. [Incomprehensible babbling]
Second case
[00:00:48]: [Vomiting sounds] Ah, ah, it hurts.2 It hurts so much. [Close breathing sounds due to hyperventilation] No, stop, it’s not like that. You’re wrong. [Crying sounds]
Third case
[00:01:07]: [Pointing at experiment observer with right hand] Brother, over there.
Supplementary Record 676-JP-3
SCP-676-JP was discovered and contained on October 1982, in the village of Umibe (Present-day Usuki), Kita-Amabe district, Ōita prefecture, during the funeral service of Hasuba Ichiko, following reports of “a funeral attendee suddenly going insane”. Currently, a cover has been given for those involved.
The following are excerpts of records from a one-week participant observation conducted by the Foundation’s Cultural Anthropology Fourth Investigation Squad:
Before discussing the details of the incident’s discovery, we must first share some assumptions about the culture and customs of Umibe village, Kita-Amabe district. It’s mainly information about the village’s funeral rites.
In this village, several women known as “Nakime” are employed to conduct the funerals. Perhaps, if one were to guess the Kanji, it’d be “哭女”: Weeping woman. They perform a task once the sutras have stopped being chanted, and the coffin has been moved out of the house. At the time of the funeral procession, they cling to the coffin, and cry loudly. This custom is not only performed here, but in many other places, and one theory is that the loud cries of the living repel evil spirits. At that time, young women of the village take turns to perform this act.
Now, let’s go back to the incident. The result of accounts by some villagers has been collected below.A young girl who lived in this village named Hasuba Ichiko suddenly fell ill and died. The cause of the illness remains unknown. According to an old woman who lived nearby, the girl’s face, which was bright and round, suddenly began festering as if decomposing, and people made a fuss about her being cursed.
Thus, a funeral service was held at the Hasuba household to reminisce about her abrupt end. Five weeping women were hired. The funeral progressed without issue, and then it was time for the procession.
The procedure within the village is not written down, but it starts with young men from the village holding the coffin, guided by the Michiake, who is the person in charge who walks in front of the coffin, and they transport the coffin from the house towards the funeral site. At this point, the wailing women, who are waiting sitting down at a corner of the room during the funeral, begin crying, and appropriately cling to the coffin. Of course, they take special care not to bother the people carrying the coffin.A similar process was carried out at the funeral for the Hasuba household. It is custom that, when a child passes, the mother becomes the Michiake, but the father took on the role of the Michiake as the mother was extremely depressed due to the sudden death of her daughter.
The father gave the signal, and the young men began moving the coffin. The wailing women cried and held onto the coffin. However.From the 5 wailing women, one of them began screaming, not standing up, not even facing the coffin. Furthermore, the voice was clearly unusual. All villagers claimed to have never heard such a voice before.
All the attendees look at the wailing woman due to her disgraceful behavior.She was holding a crumpled up piece of paper in her hand.
Supplementary Record 676-JP-4
The following are excerpts from interview records to residents gathered during the aforementioned participant observation survey:
Survey subject: Male, 54
Ichiko, yeah? That girl was a cute one, with a strong body, who played around with all the boys. No one would have believed she’d get sick and be unable to overcome it.
At the time o’ the bone-gnawing (Dialect from certain regions of Ōita prefecture, used to refer to funeral service.), the mother looked pretty pitiful, no? All the time she was covering her face with her hands, and you could hear a ‘hic, hic, hic’, little whimpers escaping her. It was such a sad sight to see, I couldn’t watch anymore.
Survey subject: Female, 71
It’s awful for old people like us to lose our loved ones. Ichiko began menstruating pretty early, and by ten she had already slept with someone. There’s been less and less children here, so seeing people sleep with one another makes this old woman overjoyed.
Ahh, that’s right, this might come as a surprise to you. A girl from the other side of the village got pregnant at 13. There’s no need to be bothered by it. In such a remote place, the only things to look forward to are eating and pairing up.
Do you know the “What matters is the Moon” song? Ahh, you’re a scholar, are you not? Admirable. Look, I never went to school or anything of the sort. Heh, folk songs still remain in many places. When it’s time to help with someone’s first time, the old women sing it loudly.
Wanna know why? It’s so the song don’t attract young people. Well, if ya wanna know more, you should ask the old woman who sells seaweed over to the west. Even now, the hag should help ya.
Survey subject: Female, 68
What matters is the Moon, Thirteen, Seven
You’re a bit young, no? Have a young child then.
Have a child and let the old hag hold it.
Where are you going, old lady? To buy vinegar, to buy oil.
Oil merchant, careful there, you’ve spilled all your oil.
Jirō Hyōwe’s got a dog, Tarō Hyōwe’s got a cat.
Lick the fur, lick the fur.
Too bad, the cat gets shredded and spread.
That way it goes, this way it goes.
Supplementary Record 676-JP-5
Akamatsu Keisuke, folklorist who has been actively researching Japanese folklore mainly in Ise and Harime, and has left behind many fieldwork interview logs such as “Folkloristics on folksongs and obscene songs”, also conducted field studies in the Kyushu region during the first half of 1960, having visited Kita-Amabe district, Ōita prefecture during this process.
These records were not bound and published during his lifetime, but were rather discovered after his death in March 2000, and were collected and stored by the Inter-University Research Institute Corporation and the National Museum of Ethnology’s Center for Research and Development of Academic Resources.
The following are excerpts from study records of the Foundation’s Folkloristics Second Research Team and staff in charge of SCP-676-JP who temporarily borrowed and researched the records, acting as a national university’s research team.
Unfortunately, no descriptions relating to SCP-676-JP itself were found in Akamatsu’s research, but we found very interesting things here and there.
For starters, the words “Ichiko/市子” has remained as part of the village’s ethnic vocabulary.
There is the account of the Edo-period comic novel “Imayō Tsuji Dangi” in which Ichiko is written as “巫子”, but as this account clearly shows, Ichiko is used to refer to shrine maidens; women who serve the Gods. However, in many cases of this village, the term is used to refer to women who engage in prostitution.Long ago, shrine maidens were known as “oracle prostitutes”, and served the role of harlots in villages, with the Heian Period “Kokushi’s Explanation of the Official Ruling’s Case” stating that “Lately, maidens at the service of Shinto shrines have fallen to ruin, especially due to many rumours of their affairs”. Perhaps this is where its meaning as Shinto priesthood disappeared, and its “opposite meaning” was born.
There’s also many descriptions of sneaking visits in these records, although perhaps they are concentrated here because Akamatsu focused on sex folklore research.Perhaps this shows that this had an important role in the survival of society. The continuation of communities due to pregnancy and childbirth was a serious issue for the society of the time that has been documented by many folklorists other than Akamatsu. Furthermore, according to county office records, the gender ratio of Umibe village at that time was approximately 3:7, leaning towards women. This status quo might have helped.
What is said to be common for the folk of Umibe’s “Sneaking visits” is the scope of its freedom. For starters, depending on individual sexual maturity, age ranged from 10 to 40 years old. People older than this age range were not totally excluded, and women in particular took on the role of “Okuri-baba”, who had the role of providing guidance during their first time. Akamatsu wrote that “Considering the disparate sex ratio, it was not uncommon for women to “retire” in their thirties, and be asked to assume the role of “Okuri-baba””, a view which I generally agree with.
Despite this and other accounts, there’s still some inexplicable points about SCP-6767-JP. There are no surviving accounts of any folklore or custom regarding that painting.
I’ve been studying folklore for decades, and can generally analogically infer connections between patterns and origins of folklore. However, there is no magic or rituals that would accomplish such a thing, and there’s no records either in Akamatsu’s accounts nor in Umibe’s folklore that suggest any exist.
SCP-676-JP is. A crumbling collage of a single girl composed of dozens of photographs cut up and pasted together to create something akin to a face that, when held, lets out an unbearable cry.
Who made it, when and why was it made, and why were the weeping women holding it?
Supplementary Record 676-JP-6
The following are portions of an interview believed to have been taken during the process of Akamatsu Keisuke’s research.
Akamatsu follows a type of format regarding folklore research in which the interviews are accompanied by information of the speaker, such as sex and age, but this record does not include this, only including the sentence “Accounts heard on Umibe Village, Kita-Amabe district, Ōita prefecture”. Because of this, the interviewee has not been identified.
Ah, it’s you. The guy who has been living here as of late, asking all sorts of questions. No, no, it’s fine. Everyone here’s bored. I’m just someone who’d like more people to talk to.
Night visits? Ah, you mean dokingoto. You told me you were a scholar, but now scholars write of such things?I see. That’s several decades ago, I believe. In my village, around winter the “Zuzukuri” happens, with lots of young people gathering to procreate. Maybe in the beginning, it had to do with something solemn like monks rolling prayer beads.3 At some point, it must have changed.
You get as many wooden sticks as people are groups. Then, the women write their names at the end of the stick. Without seeing the names, the men pull out a stick. This is so you can’t be choosy about it.Now, even in the old days, there’s been a lot of women here. Because of this, to limit the number of pairs, women over 40 aren’t allowed to participate in the Zuzukuri. Then, I found out I was the same age as that pitiful vulgar woman. Do you know what that woman did after she couldn’t go to Zuzukuri anymore?
It happened in late autumn, before Zuzukuri. A young woman from the village was cursed to death.At the funeral, when she was called to help as a wailing woman, that girl recited the mantras with an indifferent look on her face. She clung to the coffin when it was taken out. She held her hand over her mouth, and you could hear a ‘hic, hic, hic’.
She was laughing.
And that’s all I can say. Ah, you seem in a hurry, something happened? The person’s waiting. Ah, it’s difficult being a scholar, no? Come back anytime. I get bored every day.
You’re a young man, no? Advice from a senile old woman: Take care of yourself.
Women’s lies are a scary thing.
Supplementary Record 676-JP-7
Initially, participat observation surveys for supplementary records 676-JP-3 and -4 were planned to include interviews for both parents of Hasuba Ichiko. However, the plan was suspended as both parents died the day before the survey, only making a cultural anthropology survey for residents of neighboring villages. As no evidence of anomalous phenomena were detected, the deaths were ruled out as a normal incident.
Based on circumstances surrounding the bodies at the time of discovery, it’s assumed that a forced double suicide4 was carried out in the house’s altar room. The cause of death for both was suffocation, with both having swallowed a tissue-like paper full of half of the bone meal contained in Hasuba Ichiko’s funerary urn that they had taken home following the funeral service.
The wife had no visible external wounds, but the husband had been choked to death, having his teeth smashed, and his hands tied behind his back.
Due to no significant results following long-term investigation, investigation and research into the origins of SCP-676-JP were suspended on April 1, 2000.