Kotoribako

**Kotoribako'** is a popular urban legends, appears to be a small, wooden puzzle box measuring about 20 square centimetres. Subject’s surface may be inlaid with an ornate or elaborate design, also made of wood, which may help conceal subject’s opening mechanism. Targets or others who have encountered subject has described it as appearing to be built out of wooden *Tetris* blocks.

## Story

All varieties of subject came into being during the early years of the Meiji era of Japanese history. During this time, a particular village located in Shimane Prefecture housing a group of heavily persecuted people saw the arrival of a stranger. This stranger may have been fleeing an uprising in the nearby Oki Islands, although virtually nothing about the stranger’s history either before his arrival in the village or after his departure is known.

The villagers initially weren’t keen on taking in the stranger; they feared increased persecution by their oppressors if they did. However, the stranger told them that if they helped him, he would teach them how to make a powerful weapon to use against their oppressors. They agreed. And the stranger instructed them in the creation of subject. The first step in the creation of subject is the building of the box.

After the box is built, it is filled with the blood of an animal and allowed to sit, undisturbed, for one week. The animal bled for this purpose must be female. The box is then fitted with a lid. After the box is complete, it must be filled. And in order to fill the box, a great sacrifice must be made: Children must die. Or, perhaps more accurately, many great sacrifices must be made — one child; one sacrifice. Anywhere between one and eight sacrifices may be used to create a single box, with particular item or items from each sacrifice being added to the box’s contents once the sacrifice is complete. The item or items taken from each sacrifice and used to fill the box depends on the sacrifice’s age. For safety purposes, these details have been omitted from this report. This step of subject’s creation reveals the meaning behind subject’s true name: Kotoribako translates roughly to “child-stealing box.”

As previously mentioned, subject comes in different varieties and different potencies. These varieties and their corresponding potencies are determined by the number of sacrifices used to create any given subject. Accordingly, the varieties are referred to as follows:

* One sacrifice: Ippou.
* Two sacrifices: Nihou.
* Three sacrifices: Sanpo.
* Four sacrifices: Shippou.
* Five sacrifices: Gohou.
* Six sacrifices: Roppou.
* Seven sacrifices: Chippou.
* Eight sacrifices: Hakkai.

It is unknown precisely what these names mean. The number of sacrifices used to create each variety appears to be a part of that variety’s name; furthermore, one person knowledgeable on the subject has theorized that Ippou and Nihou contain a syllable (“hou”) that resembles the word for “sealing” in Japanese, while Hakkai contains a syllable (“kai”) which resembles the word for “opening.”

As previously noted, each variety is indicated through the placement of a specific symbol denoting said variety on the surface of subject. The more sacrifices involved in the creation of any given subject, the stronger and more potent that particular subject will be.

It is NOT RECOMMENDED that subjects requiring eight sacrifices be created. Only one such subject has been known to have been created; the stranger made its creation a term of his deal with the villagers, along with the stipulation that they were never, to make another Hakkai-variety subject themselves. The whereabouts of this subject are currently unknown.

Where or how the person responsible for instructing the villagers in the creation of subjects learned to create subjects himself is also currently unknown.

To return to the history: The villagers used their collection of subjects, made over the course of 13 years, to strike back at their oppressors and dictate the terms of their own freedom. However, following an incident in which one of these subjects caused the deaths of a household of villagers themselves, the villagers determined that the collection of subjects was too dangerous to continue using. Accordingly, they enacted the containment procedures detailed above. A first-hand account of what targets may expect upon coming in contact with subject was shared over a period of several days in early June, 2005 on the Japanese message board 2ch. The writer of this series of posts described the discovery of one subject, and everything that occurred following it.

Much of what is known about subject is contained within these posts, thanks to subject’s friendship with a priest of the shrine entrusted with the purification and disposal of subject. Subject’s location of origin may be gleaned from these 2ch threads. Many 2ch users attempted to discern exactly where the writer of the threads was based — but although the writer asked that other users stop trying to figure this out, they did note that while they weren’t located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, they weren’t too far away. Additionally, the writer provided one solid hint: It was the area of Japan that refers to the month of October — widely called Kanna-zuki (神無月) by its traditional title, Kamiari-zuki (神在月). The area of Japan that still uses this particular appellation — Izumo —is located in Shimane Prefecture. The largest number of subjects that has existed at any given time is 16. This collection comprised six Ippou boxes, two Nihou boxes, five Gohou boxes, and three Chippou boxes. As of 2005, two boxes remained.

It is unknown whether those two boxes have since been purified and disposed of. They might still be out there. Somewhere. Waiting until they might be considered useful once more. Do not approach any variety of subject. Do not touch any variety of subject. And above all, do not MAKE any variety of subject. It might backfire on you. Badly.