It's no wonder Japanese creators come up with some of the most creative and bizarre characters and stories in pop culture considering their mythology is so darn strange and interesting.
But as original and creative as Japanese myths are they also contain many elements and themes you'd recognize from other myths, such as the snake-haired monster and the curse doll.
The Japanese version of a voodoo doll was made of straw and constructed to inflict a curse upon someone:
We all know the now famous movie trope of the ‘voodoo’ doll, but accounts in Japan show us of a type of straw doll used for cursing a person. To make one, create a small straw figure, then write the name and age of the target on paper and insert it into the doll. Next, draw a face on a separate sheet of paper and fix it to the figure.
At night, visit a sacred space and find an old tree, then with an iron crown on your head (which holds three candles), wait for the hour of the Ox – this is similar to our own ‘witching hour’ but the time is actually between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m. At this time, nail the doll to the old tree and your curse will manifest itself on your victim.
The Japanese version of the Gorgon myth involves reflections and shadows revealing the truly monstrous nature of a person:
It is said that the real intentions of a lady can be shown by her reflection and shadow. A gentleman who wishes to know the mindset of a woman should watch her reflection in a mirror, and if the beauty he observes in the reflection is actually a hag with writhing snakes for hair, her heart is impure, and a relationship with her would be catastrophic.
Likewise, if two women appear to get on in polite conversation then check their shadows: if both shadows display angry snakes in the hair, each trying to bite at each other, then know that the women actually hate each other, in truth, even though their conversation is polite.