The type of rokurokubi whose necks separate from the rest of the body is said to have derived from stories of the Chinese yōkai, the hitōban (飛頭蛮) a yōkai whose head separates from the body and floats about.
Navodi se da vrsta rokurokuba čiji se vrat odvoji od ostatka tijela potječe od priča o kineskom yōkai, hitōban (飛 頭 蛮) yōkai čija se glava odvaja od tijela i lebdi oko.