Shigeru Mizuki
Historian and manga author Shigeru Mizuki considered Kuchisake-onna to be an example of a "yōkai", a term which can refer to a variety of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore. According to Zack Davisson, a translator of many of Mizuki's works, "When Mizuki put her in one of his newest yokai encyclopedias, that's when she was officially considered a yokai."