Okiku Doll

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This one has a lot more evidence than the others, including scientific evidence. It also includes a cute little doll!

Unless dolls aren't your thing. If that's the case, then you're in for some creepiness.

Anyways, the Okiku Doll is a mysterious doll that is said to be possessed by the spirit of a child. It is named "Okiku" after the girl who used to play with the doll a long time ago. The doll is a 40-centimeter tall kimono-clad figure with beady black eyes... and hair that grows.

The Okiku doll has resided at the Mannenji temple in the town of Iwamizawa ever since 1938. According to the temple, the traditional doll had short cropped hair, but over time the hair has grown to about 10 inches long, down to the doll's knees. Although the hair is periodically trimmed, it reportedly keeps growing back.

It is said that the doll was originally purchased in 1918 by a 17-year-old boy named Eikichi Suzuki, who was visiting Sapporo for a marine exhibition at the time. He bought the doll from Tanuki-koji, Sapporo's famous shopping street, as a souvenir for his 2-year-old sister, Okiku. The young girl loved the doll and played with it every day. Unfortunately, the following year, she died suddenly of a cold. The family placed the doll in the household altar and prayed to it every day in memory of Okiku.

Sometime later, they noticed the hair had started to grow. This was seen as a sign that the girl's restless spirit had taken refuge in the doll. In 1938, the Suzuki family moved to Sakhalin, and they placed the doll in the care of Mannenji temple, where it has remained ever since.

Nobody has ever been able to fully explain why the doll's hair continues to grow. However, one scientific examination of the doll concluded that the hair is indeed that of a young child.

Anyways, the picture above is an example of her hair growing. The picture to the left is of her hair after getting trimmed, while the one on the right is of her hair grown over a long period of time.  It's a bit creepy, but at least Okiku doesn't seem too harmful. Maybe she is just a friendly little girl after all.

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