Okiku

Okiku (お皿屋敷 ) is a japanese cursed doll which is currently in a museum where it was previously her home in life when she lived with her family.

History
The legendary Okiku doll, named after the girl who used to play with her a long time ago, is a forty-centimeter tall figure dressed in a kimono, with huge black beaded eyes and long dark hair ... it grows.

The Okiku doll has remained at Mannenji Temple in Iwamizawa City (Hokkaido Prefecture) since 1938. According to the temple, the traditional doll had initially had its hair trimmed, but over time it has grown to about 25 centimeters long, below the knees of the doll. Despite the fact that the hair is periodically trimmed, it reportedly grows back.

The doll is said to have been originally purchased in 1918 by a 17-year-old named Eikichi Suzuki while visiting Sapporo for a marine display. He bought the doll at Tanuki-koji - Sapporo's famous shopping street - as a souvenir for his two-year-old sister, Okiku. The girl loved the doll and used to play with it every day, but the following year, she suddenly died of a cold. The family put the doll on the home altar and prayed to it every day in memory of Okiku.

Some time later, they noticed that the doll's hair had started to grow out. 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 the doll was taken into care at the Mannenji Temple, where it has remained ever since.

No one has been able to fully explain why the doll's hair continues to grow. However, a scientific examination of the doll allegedly concluded that the hair is that of a small child.