A doll that is said to be possessed by a child has spread curiosity throughout Japan.
The doll Okiku, named after the girl who played with it, is a doll with beady black eyes and hair that grows.
The doll was bought by a 17 year old boy named Eikichi Suzuki in 1918. He went to Tanuki-koji, a famous shopping street, and bought the doll for Okiku, his 2 year old sister.
She loved the doll and played with it every day. But a year later, she died of a cold.
The doll was placed at the household altar and the family prayed to it every day in memory of Okiku.
A while later, the family noticed its hair starting to grow. That was when they started to think the Okiku was in the doll.
The family had the hair tested in a lab. The lab people said, that is was human hair.
In 1938, the Suzuki family moved to a different town, and they placed the doll at the Mannenji Temple, where it has remained ever since.
The hair continues to grow. Every year, the people of Japan hold a ceremony there, in memory of Okiku. They trim her hair.
Nobody had ever been able to explain how the hair grew. But at the lab, they were able to find out that the hair belongs to a young child.
