Kiss of the Kuchisake-Onna

Kiss of the Kuchisake-Onna was one of the most popular stories collected in the Hyakumonogatari Kaidenkai, a comprehensive monogatari of popular Kwaidan. It was often performed as a puppet-play or a Kabuki play.

Origins
The tale of uncertain origin was set in the Licensed Quarter of Ryoko Owari, and collected by the ronin shugenja Seikansha as an account of a Crab officer during that clan's brief occupation of the City of Lies which involved a demon called a dokufu (“mountain spider”) hunting his men.

Tale
Yasuki Taro was a Crab during that clan's brief occupation of the City of Lies. He spent his spare time in the floating world of Teardrop Island. He was amused by a samurai-ko, and began to court her. They were alone in a tiny skiff when moonlight exposed the beautiful maiden as a dokufu. The mountain spider hunted other Crab men, and she would be known as Kuchisake-Onna.