The Japanese can trace the history of their culture from antiquity, they trace their genealogies for centuries, and they have preserved very old urban tales. Japanese urban legends (都市 伝 説 toshi densetsu) are a layer of urban legends based on Japanese mythology and culture. Often they are terribly scary, perhaps it is precisely in their hoary antiquity. Children's school horror stories and quite adult stories - we will retell some of them.
15. The tale of the red room
For a start - a fresh horror story of the XXI century. It's about a pop-up window that pops up when you surf the Internet for too long. Those who close this window soon die.
One ordinary guy who spent a lot of time on the Internet once heard from a classmate the legend about the Red Room. When the boy came home from school, the first thing he did was sat down at the computer and started looking for information about this story. Suddenly, a window appeared in the browser, where on a red background was the phrase: "Do you want?" He immediately closed the window. However, it immediately reappeared. He closed it over and over, but it kept reappearing. At some point, the question changed, the inscription read: "Do you want to get to the Red Room?", And a child's voice repeated the same question from the columns. After that, the screen darkened, and a list of names appeared on it, written in red. At the very end of this list, the guy noticed his name. He never appeared at school, and no one ever saw him alive - the boy painted his room red with his own blood and committed suicide.
14. Hitobashira - people-pillars
Stories about people-pillars (人 柱, hitobashira), more precisely, about people buried alive in columns or pillars during the construction of houses, castles and bridges, have been circulating in Japan since ancient times. These myths are based on the belief that the soul of a person, walled up in the walls or foundation of a building, makes the building unshakable and strengthens it. The worst thing, it seems, is not just stories - human skeletons are often found on the site of destroyed ancient buildings. During the liquidation of the consequences of the earthquake in Japan in 1968, dozens of skeletons were found walled up inside the walls - and in a standing position.
One of the most famous traditions of human sacrifice is associated with Matsue Castle (松江 市, Matsue-shi), which dates back to the 17th century. The walls of the castle collapsed several times during construction, and the architect was confident that the man-pillar would help rectify the situation. He ordered an ancient ritual to be performed. The young girl was kidnapped and after the proper ceremonies, walled up in the wall: the construction was completed successfully, the castle is still standing!
13. Onry - vengeful spirit
Traditionally, Japanese urban legends are dedicated to terrible otherworldly creatures who, out of revenge or simply harm, harm living people. The authors of the Japanese "Encyclopedia of Monsters", having conducted a survey among the Japanese, were able to count more than a hundred stories about a variety of monsters and ghosts, which are believed in Japan.
Usually the main characters are the spirits of onryo, which have become widely known in the West thanks to the popularization of Japanese horror films.
Onry (怨 霊, resentful, vengeful spirit) is a ghost, the spirit of a deceased person who has returned to the living world to take revenge. A typical onryo is a woman who died through the fault of a villainous husband. But the wrath of the ghost is not always directed against the offender; sometimes innocent people can also be his victims. Onryo looks like this: white shroud, long black flowing hair, blue and white aiguma makeup (藍 隈), imitating deathly pallor. This image is often played out in popular culture both in Japan (in the horror films "The Ring", "The Curse") and abroad. It is believed that the Scorpion from Mortal Kombat is also from onryo.
The legend of the onry dates back to the end of the 8th century in Japanese mythology. It is believed that many famous Japanese historical figures who actually existed became onryo after death (politician Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), Emperor Sutoku (1119-1164) and many others). The Japanese government fought them as best they could, for example, built beautiful temples on their graves. It is said that many well-known Shinto shrines are actually built to "lock up" the onryo to keep them from escaping.
12. Okiku doll
In Japan, this doll is known to everyone, her name is Okiku. According to an old legend, the toy contains the soul of a little dead girl who owned the doll.
In 1918, a seventeen-year-old boyfriend, Eikichi, bought a doll as a gift to his two-year-old sister. The girl really liked the doll, Okiku did not part with her favorite toy for almost a minute, she played with it every day. But soon the girl died of a cold, and her parents put her doll on their home altar in memory of her (in the houses of Buddhists in Japan there is always a small altar and a Buddha figurine). After a while, they noticed that the doll's hair was starting to grow! This sign was regarded as a sign that the girl's soul had moved into a doll.
Later, in the late 1930s, the family moved, and the doll was left in a local monastery in the city of Iwamizama. The Okiku doll lives there today. They say that her hair is periodically cut, but they still continue to grow. And, of course, in Japan everyone knows for sure that the cut hair was analyzed, and it turned out that it belongs to a real child.
Believe it or not - everyone's business, but we would not keep such a doll in the house.
11. Ibiza - little sister
This legend takes stories of annoying little sisters to a whole new level. There is a certain ghost that you may encounter while walking alone at night (to be honest, many of these urban legends can happen to those who wander the city alone at night.)
A young girl appears and asks if you have a sister and it doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. She will say, "I want to be your sister!" and after that it will appear to you every night. Legend has it that if you somehow disappoint Ibiza as a new older brother or sister, she will get very angry and start killing you on the sly. More precisely, it will bring "twisted death".
Actually, Ibitsu is a famous manga by artist Haruto Ryo that came out from 2009 to 2010. And there was described a wise way to avoid problems with this obsessive person. The heroine of the manga sits in a pile of garbage and asks the guys passing by if they want a little sister. Those who answered “no”, she immediately kills, and those who answered “yes” - declares her brother and begins to persecute. Thus, in order to avoid trouble, it is best not to answer anything. Now you know what to do!
10. Horror story about a ghost passenger who never pays
This is a narrowly professional horror story for taxi drivers. At night, a man in black suddenly appears on the road, as if from nowhere (if someone appears, as if from nowhere - he is almost always a ghost, did you know?), Stops a taxi, sits in the back seat. The man asks to take him to a place that the driver has never heard of ("Can you show me the way?"), And the mysterious passenger himself gives instructions, showing the way exclusively through the darkest and most terrible streets. After a long drive, not seeing the end of this journey, the driver turns around - but there is no one there. Horror. But this is not the end of the story. The taxi driver turns back, takes the wheel - but cannot go anywhere, because he is already deader than dead.
It seems that this is not a very ancient legend, is it?
9. Hanako-san, toilet ghost
A separate group of urban legends - legends about ghosts-inhabitants of schools, or rather, school toilets. Perhaps this is somehow connected with the fact that the Japanese element of water is a symbol of the world of the dead.
There are a great many legends about school toilets, the most common of which is about Hanako, a toilet ghost. About 20 years ago, it was the most popular horror story of elementary school students in Japan, but even now it has not been forgotten. Every Japanese child knows the story of Hanko-san and every schoolboy in Japan, at one time or another, stood in fear and did not dare to enter the toilet alone.
According to legend, Hanako was killed in the third stall of the school toilet, on the third floor. There she lives - in the third booth of all school toilets. The rules of conduct are simple: you need to knock on the door of the booth three times, and say her name. If everything is done politely, then no one will get hurt. She seems to be completely harmless if not disturbed, and meeting with her can be avoided by staying away from her booth.
There seems to be a character in Harry Potter very similar to Hanako. Remember Crybaby Myrtle? She is the ghost of the girl who was killed by the gaze of the Basilisk, and this ghost lives in the toilet room, however, on the second floor of Hogwarts.
8. Tomino's Hell
Tomino's Hell, a cursed poem, appears in Yomota Inuhiko's book Heart Like a Rolling Stone and is included in the twenty-seventh collection of poems by Saizo Yaso, published in 1919.
There are words in this world that should never be spoken out loud, and the Japanese poem “Tomino's Inferno” is one of them. According to legend, if you read this poem aloud, disaster will happen. In the best case, you will get sick or injured in some way, and in the worst case, you will die.
Here is the testimony of one Japanese man: “I once read Tomino's Hell on the Urban Legends radio show and sneered at the ignorance of superstition. At first everything was fine, but then something began to happen to my body, and it became difficult for me to speak, it was like suffocation. I read half of the poem, but then I broke down and threw the pages aside. On the same day I had an accident, seven stitches were put in the hospital. I don’t want to think that this happened because of the poem, but on the other hand, I’m scared to imagine what could have happened if then I read it to the end ”.
7. The cow's head is a horror story that cannot be written down
This short legend is so terrible that almost nothing is known about it. They say this story kills everyone who reads or retells it. Let's check it out now.
This story has been known since the Edo period. During the Kan-ei period (1624-1643), its name was already found in the diaries of various people. Moreover, it is only the name, not the plot of the story. They wrote about her like this: "Today they told me a horror story about a cow's head, but I cannot write it down here, because it is too terrible."
So this story is not in writing. However, it was passed from mouth to mouth and has survived to this day. This is what happened recently to one of the few people who know "Cow's Head". Further, we quote a Japanese source:
"This man is an elementary school teacher. During his school trip, he told scary stories on the bus. Children, who usually made noise, listened to him very attentively. They were really afraid. It was pleasant for him, and he decided to tell his best horror story at the very end - "Cow's head".
He lowered his voice and said: "Now I will tell you a story about a cow's head. A cow's head is ..." But as soon as he started talking, there was a disaster on the bus. The children were horrified by the transcendental creepiness of the story. They shouted with one voice: "Sensei, stop!" One child turned pale and covered his ears. Another roared. Even then, the teacher did not stop talking. His eyes were blank, as if he was possessed by something ... Soon the bus stopped abruptly. Feeling that trouble had happened, the teacher came to his senses and looked at the driver. He was covered in cold sweat and trembled like an aspen leaf. He must have pulled up because he could no longer drive the bus.
The teacher looked around. All the students were unconscious and frothing from their mouths. Since then, he has never talked about "Cow's Head".
This "very scary non-existent story" is described in Komatsu Sakyo's "Cow's Head" story. Its plot is almost the same - about the scary story "Cow's Head", which no one tells.
6. Fire in a department store
This story is not from the category of horror stories, rather, it is a tragedy, which is overgrown with gossip, which is now difficult to separate from the truth.
In December 1932, a fire broke out at a Shirokiya store in Japan. The staff were able to get to the roof of the building so that firefighters could rescue them with ropes. When the women, descending the ropes, were somewhere in the middle, strong gusts of wind began, which began to open their kimonos, under which they traditionally did not wear underwear. To prevent this dishonor, the women let go of the ropes, fell and shattered. This story allegedly brought about a major change in traditional fashion, as Japanese women began to wear underwear under their kimonos.
Despite the fact that this is a popular story, there are many questionable points. For starters, the kimonos are draped so heavily that the wind will not reveal them. In addition, at that time, Japanese men and women were calm about nudity, washing in joint baths, and the willingness to die, just not to be naked, inspires serious doubts.
In any case, this story is actually in Japanese textbooks on firefighting, and the vast majority of Japanese believe in it.
5. Aka Manto
Aka Manto or Red Cloak (赤 い マ ン ト) is another "toilet ghost", but unlike Hanako, Aka Manto is an evil and dangerous spirit. He looks like a fabulously handsome young man in a red cloak. According to legend, Aka Manto can walk into the school women's toilet at any time and ask: "What kind of cloak do you prefer, red or blue?" If the girl answers "red", then he will chop off her head and the blood flowing from the wound will create the appearance of a red cloak on her body. If she answers blue, Aka Manto will strangle her and the corpse will have a blue face. If the victim chooses a third color or says that both colors are not pleasant, then the floor will open under her and deathly pale hands will carry her to hell.
In Japan, this ghost - the killer is known under various names "Aka Manto" or "Ao Manto", or "Aka Hanten, Ao Hanten". Some people say that at one time, Red Cloak was a young man who was so handsome that all the girls immediately fell in love with him. He was so frighteningly handsome that the girls fainted when he looked at them. His beauty was so overwhelming that he was forced to hide his face under a white mask. One day, he kidnapped a beautiful girl and was never seen again.
This is similar to the legend of Kashima Reiko, a female ghost without legs who also lives in school toilets. She exclaims, “Where are my feet?” When someone walks into the toilet. There are several options for correct answers.
4. Kutisake-onna or a woman with a torn mouth
Kutisake-onna (Kushisake Ona) or Woman with a Torn Mouth (口 裂 け 女) is a popular children's horror story, especially famous due to the fact that the police found many similar reports in the media and their archives. According to legend, an unusually beautiful woman in a gauze band walks the streets of Japan. If a child walks down the street alone, then she can approach him and ask: “Am I beautiful ?!”. If, as usual, he hesitates, then Kutisake-onna tears off the bandage from his face and shows a huge scar that crosses his face from ear to ear, a giant mouth with sharp teeth in it and a tongue like a snake. Then the question follows: "Am I beautiful now?" If the child answers "no", then she will cut off his head, and if "yes", then she will make him the same scar (she has scissors with her).
The only way to elude Kushisake Onna is to give an unexpected answer. “If you say,“ You look average, ”or“ You look normal, ”she will be confused and have plenty of time to run away.
The only way to elude Kushisake Ona is to give an unexpected answer. If you say “you look okay,” she will be confused and have plenty of time to escape.
In Japan, it is not uncommon to wear medical masks, they are worn by a huge number of people, and poor children seem to be afraid of literally everyone they meet.
There are many ways to explain how Kushisake Onna got her terrible shapeless mouth. The most popular version is the escaped madwoman who is so insane that she cut her own mouth open.
According to the ancient version of this legend, a very beautiful woman lived in Japan many years ago. Her husband was a jealous and cruel man, and he began to suspect that she was cheating on him. In a fit of rage, he grabbed a sword and slit her mouth, shouting "Who will consider you beautiful now?" She has become a vengeful ghost that roams the streets of Japan and wears a headscarf to hide her terrible scar.
The US has its own version of Kushisake Onna. There were rumors of a clown who would appear in public restrooms, walk up to the children and ask, “Do you want to have a smile, a happy smile?” And if the child agreed, he would take out a knife and slit their mouths from ear to ear. It seems that this clown smile was appropriated by Tim Burton to his Joker in the 1989 Oscar-winning "Batman". It was the satanic smile of the Joker in the brilliant performance of Jack Nicholson that became the trademark of this beautiful film.
3. Hon Onna - slayer of sexually anxious men
Hon-onna is the Japanese version of the sea siren or succubus, so it only poses a danger to sexually anxious men, but it is scary creepy nonetheless.
According to this legend, the gorgeous woman wears a luxurious kimono that hides everything except her wrists and beautiful face. She flirts with a dude charmed by her, and lures him to a secluded place, usually in a dark alley. Unfortunately for the guy, this will not lead him to a happy ending. Hon-onna takes off her kimono, revealing a creepy, naked skeleton without skin and muscles - a pure zombie. She then embraces the hero-lover and sucks his life and soul.
So Hon-onna hunts exclusively for promiscuous males, and for other people she is not dangerous - a kind of forest orderly, probably invented by Japanese wives. But, you see, the image is vivid.
2. Hitori kakurenbo or playing hide and seek with yourself
"Hitori kakurenbo" in translation from Japanese means "a game of hide and seek with oneself." Anyone with a doll, rice, needle, red thread, knife, nail clippers and a cup of salt water can play.
First, cut the doll's body with a knife, put some rice and part of your nail inside it. Then sew it with red thread. At three o'clock in the morning you need to go to the bathroom, fill the sink with water, put the doll there and say three times: "He drives first (and tell me your name)." Turn off all the lights in the house and head to your room. Close your eyes here and count to ten. Return to the bathroom and stab the doll with a knife, while saying: "Fired, knocked, now it's your turn to look." Well, the doll will find you wherever you hide! To get rid of the curse, you need to sprinkle the doll with salt water and say three times: "I won"!
Another modern urban legend: Tek-Tek or Kashima Reiko (鹿島 玲子) is the ghost of a woman named Kashima Reiko who was run over by a train and cut her in half. Since then, she wanders at night, moving on her elbows, making the sound "teke-teke-teke" (or tek-tek).
Tek-tek was once a lovely girl who accidentally fell (or intentionally jumped) from a subway platform onto the tracks. The train cut her in half. And now the upper body of Teke-teke wanders the city streets in search of revenge. Despite the lack of legs, it moves very quickly on the ground. If Teke-teke catches you, she will cut your body in half with a sharp oblique.
According to legend, Tek-Tek hunts children who play at dusk. Tack-Tack is very similar to the American children's horror story about Klack-Klak, with which parents frightened children walking until late.
Touching in their childish superstitious naivety, the Japanese carefully preserve their urban legends - both children's funny horror stories and quite an adult horror. Acquiring a modern flair, these myths retain an ancient flavor and a quite tangible animal fear of otherworldly forces.
Cow's head "There is a terrible horror story called" Cow's Head ". This story has been known since the Edo period. During the Kan-ei period (1624-1643), its name was already found in the diaries of various people. But only the title, not the plot. wrote this way: “Today they told me a horror story about a cow's head, but I cannot write it down here, because it is too terrible.” Thus, it is not in the books. However, it was passed from mouth to mouth and has survived to this day. But I I will not post it here. It's too creepy, I don’t even want to remember. Instead, I’ll tell you what happened to one of the few people who know "Cow's Head." This man is an elementary school teacher. scary stories on the bus. Children, who usually made noise, today listened to him very carefully. They were really afraid. It was pleasant for him, and he decided at the very end to tell the best horror story - “Cow's head.” He lowered his voice and said: “And now I I'll tell you a story about ko I'll cut my head. The cow's head is ... "But as soon as he began to talk, a disaster struck on the bus. The children were horrified by the incredible creepiness of the story. They shouted in one voice:" Sensei, stop it! "One child turned pale and covered his ears. Another roared But even then the teacher did not stop talking. His eyes were empty, as if he was possessed by something ... Soon the bus stopped abruptly. Feeling that something had happened, the teacher came to his senses and looked at the driver. He was covered in cold sweat. and trembled like an aspen leaf. He must have slowed down because he could no longer drive the bus. The teacher looked around. All the students were unconscious, their mouths were foaming. Since then, he never talked about "Cow's head." Commentary: In fact, there is no horror story about a cow's head. What is this story? How terrible is it? This interest is spreading it. "Listen, do you know a scary story about a cow's head?" scared me too much ... - What are you doing? Okay, I'll ask someone else on the Internet. - Listen, a friend told me about the story about the cow's head. Don't you know her? So "a very terrible non-existent story" quickly gained wide popularity. The source of this urban legend is Komatsu Sakyo's short story "The Cow's Head". Its plot is almost the same - about the scary story "Cow's Head", which no one tells. But Komatsu-sensei himself said: "Tsutsui Yasutaka was the first to spread the rumor among the publishers of science fiction about the story of the cow's head." So, it is known for sure that this legend was born in the publishing business.
The Japanese can trace the history of their culture from antiquity, they trace their genealogies for centuries, and they have preserved very old urban tales. Japanese urban legends (???? toshi densetsu) are a layer of urban legends based on Japanese mythology and culture. Often they are terribly scary, perhaps it is precisely in their hoary antiquity. Children's school horror stories and quite adult stories - we will retell some of them.
15. The tale of the red room
For a start - a fresh horror story of the XXI century. It's about a pop-up window that pops up when you surf the Internet for too long. Those who close this window soon die.
One ordinary guy who spent a lot of time on the Internet once heard from a classmate the legend about the Red Room. When the boy came home from school, the first thing he did was sat down at the computer and started looking for information about this story. Suddenly, a window appeared in the browser, where on a red background was the phrase: "Do you want?" He immediately closed the window. However, it immediately reappeared. He closed it over and over, but it kept reappearing. At some point, the question changed, the inscription read: "Do you want to get to the Red Room?", And a child's voice repeated the same question from the columns. After that, the screen darkened, and a list of names appeared on it, written in red. At the very end of this list, the guy noticed his name. He never appeared at school, and no one ever saw him alive - the boy painted his room red with his own blood and committed suicide.
14. Hitobashira - people-pillars
Stories about people-pillars (??, hitobashira), more precisely, about people buried alive in columns or pillars during the construction of houses, castles and bridges, circulate throughout Japan since ancient times. These myths are based on the belief that the soul of a person, walled up in the walls or foundation of a building, makes the building unshakable and strengthens it. The worst thing, it seems, is not just stories - human skeletons are often found on the site of destroyed ancient buildings. During the liquidation of the consequences of the earthquake in Japan in 1968, dozens of skeletons were found walled up inside the walls - and in a standing position.
One of the most famous legends about human sacrifice is associated with the Matsue Castle (???, Matsue-shi), the construction of which dates back to the 17th century. The walls of the castle collapsed several times during construction, and the architect was confident that the man-pillar would help rectify the situation. He ordered an ancient ritual to be performed. The young girl was kidnapped and after the proper ceremonies, walled up in the wall: the construction was completed successfully, the castle is still standing!
13. Onry - vengeful spirit
Traditionally, Japanese urban legends are dedicated to terrible otherworldly creatures who, out of revenge or simply from harm, harm living people. The authors of the Japanese "Encyclopedia of Monsters", having conducted a survey among the Japanese, were able to count more than a hundred stories about a variety of monsters and ghosts, which are believed in Japan.
Usually the main characters are the spirits of onryo, which have become widely known in the West thanks to the popularization of Japanese horror films.
Onry (??, offended, vengeful spirit) is a ghost, the spirit of a deceased person who returned to the world of the living to take revenge. A typical onryo is a woman who died through the fault of a villainous husband. But the wrath of the ghost is not always directed against the offender; sometimes innocent people can also be his victims. Onryo looks like this: a white shroud, long black flowing hair, white and blue aiguma makeup (??), imitating deathly pallor. This image is often played out in popular culture both in Japan (in the horror films "The Ring", "The Curse") and abroad. It is believed that the Scorpion from Mortal Kombat is also from onryo.
The legend of the onry dates back to the end of the 8th century in Japanese mythology. It is believed that many famous Japanese historical figures who actually existed became onryo after death (politician Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), Emperor Sutoku (1119-1164) and many others). The Japanese government fought them as best they could, for example, built beautiful temples on their graves. It is said that many well-known Shinto shrines are actually built to "lock up" the onryo to keep them from escaping.
12. Okiku doll
In Japan, this doll is known to everyone, her name is Okiku. According to an old legend, the toy contains the soul of a little dead girl who owned the doll.
In 1918, a seventeen-year-old boyfriend, Eikichi, bought a doll as a gift to his two-year-old sister. The girl really liked the doll, Okiku did not part with her favorite toy for almost a minute, she played with it every day. But soon the girl died of a cold, and her parents put her doll on their home altar in memory of her (in the houses of Buddhists in Japan there is always a small altar and a Buddha figurine). After a while, they noticed that the doll's hair was starting to grow! This sign was regarded as a sign that the girl's soul had moved into a doll.
Later, in the late 1930s, the family moved, and the doll was left in a local monastery in the city of Iwamizama. The Okiku doll lives there today. They say that her hair is periodically cut, but they still continue to grow. And, of course, in Japan everyone knows for sure that the cut hair was analyzed, and it turned out that it belongs to a real child.
Believe it or not - everyone's business, but we would not keep such a doll in the house.
11. Ibiza - little sister
This legend takes stories of annoying little sisters to a whole new level. There is a certain ghost that you may encounter while walking alone at night (to be honest, many of these urban legends can happen to those who wander the city alone at night.)
A young girl appears and asks if you have a sister and it doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. She will say, "I want to be your sister!" and after that it will appear to you every night. Legend has it that if you somehow disappoint Ibiza as a new older brother or sister, she will get very angry and start killing you on the sly. More precisely, it will bring "twisted death".
Actually, Ibitsu is a famous manga by artist Haruto Ryo that came out from 2009 to 2010. And there was described a wise way to avoid problems with this obsessive person. The heroine of the manga sits in a pile of garbage and asks the guys passing by if they want a little sister. Those who answered “no”, she immediately kills, and those who answered “yes” - declares her brother and begins to persecute. Thus, in order to avoid trouble, it is best not to answer anything. Now you know what to do!
10. Horror story about a ghost passenger who never pays
This is a narrowly professional horror story for taxi drivers. At night, a man in black suddenly appears on the road, as if from nowhere (if someone appears, as if from nowhere - he is almost always a ghost, did you know?), Stops a taxi, sits in the back seat. The man asks to take him to a place that the driver has never heard of ("Can you show me the way?"), And the mysterious passenger himself gives instructions, showing the way exclusively through the darkest and most terrible streets. After a long drive, not seeing the end of this journey, the driver turns around - but there is no one there. Horror. But this is not the end of the story. The taxi driver turns back, takes the wheel - but cannot go anywhere, because he is already deader than dead.
It seems that this is not a very ancient legend, is it?
9. Hanako-san, toilet ghost
A separate group of urban legends - legends about ghosts-inhabitants of schools, or rather, school toilets. Perhaps this is somehow connected with the fact that the Japanese element of water is a symbol of the world of the dead.
There are a great many legends about school toilets, the most common of which is about Hanako, a toilet ghost. About 20 years ago, it was the most popular horror story of elementary school students in Japan, but even now it has not been forgotten. Every Japanese child knows the story of Hanko-san and every schoolboy in Japan, at one time or another, stood in fear and did not dare to enter the toilet alone.
According to legend, Hanako was killed in the third stall of the school toilet, on the third floor. There she lives - in the third booth of all school toilets. The rules of conduct are simple: you need to knock on the door of the booth three times, and say her name. If everything is done politely, then no one will get hurt. She seems to be completely harmless if not disturbed, and meeting with her can be avoided by staying away from her booth.
There seems to be a character in Harry Potter very similar to Hanako. Remember Crybaby Myrtle? She is the ghost of the girl who was killed by the gaze of the Basilisk, and this ghost lives in the toilet room, however, on the second floor of Hogwarts.
8. Tomino's Hell
Tomino's Hell, a cursed poem, appears in Yomota Inuhiko's book Heart Like a Rolling Stone and is included in the twenty-seventh collection of poems by Saizo Yaso, published in 1919.
There are words in this world that should never be spoken out loud, and the Japanese poem “Tomino's Inferno” is one of them. According to legend, if you read this poem aloud, disaster will happen. In the best case, you will get sick or injured in some way, and in the worst case, you will die.
Here is the testimony of one Japanese man: “I once read Tomino's Hell on the Urban Legends radio show and sneered at the ignorance of superstition. At first everything was fine, but then something began to happen to my body, and it became difficult for me to speak, it was like suffocation. I read half of the poem, but then I broke down and threw the pages aside. On the same day I had an accident, seven stitches were put in the hospital. I don’t want to think that this happened because of the poem, but on the other hand, I’m scared to imagine what could have happened if then I read it to the end ”.
7. The cow's head is a horror story that cannot be written down
This short legend is so terrible that almost nothing is known about it. They say this story kills everyone who reads or retells it. Let's check it out now.
This story has been known since the Edo period. During the Kan-ei period (1624-1643), its name was already found in the diaries of various people. Moreover, it is only the name, not the plot of the story. They wrote about her like this: "Today they told me a horror story about a cow's head, but I cannot write it down here, because it is too terrible."
So this story is not in writing. However, it was passed from mouth to mouth and has survived to this day. This is what happened recently to one of the few people who know "Cow's Head". Further, we quote a Japanese source:
"This man is an elementary school teacher. During his school trip, he told scary stories on the bus. Children, who usually made noise, listened to him very attentively. They were really afraid. It was pleasant for him, and he decided to tell his best horror story at the very end - "Cow's head".
He lowered his voice and said: "Now I will tell you a story about a cow's head. A cow's head is ..." But as soon as he started talking, there was a disaster on the bus. The children were horrified by the transcendental creepiness of the story. They shouted with one voice: "Sensei, stop!" One child turned pale and covered his ears. Another roared. Even then, the teacher did not stop talking. His eyes were blank, as if he was possessed by something ... Soon the bus stopped abruptly. Feeling that trouble had happened, the teacher came to his senses and looked at the driver. He was covered in cold sweat and trembled like an aspen leaf. He must have pulled up because he could no longer drive the bus.
The teacher looked around. All the students were unconscious and frothing from their mouths. Since then, he has never talked about "Cow's Head".
This "very scary non-existent story" is described in Komatsu Sakyo's "Cow's Head" story. Its plot is almost the same - about the scary story "Cow's Head", which no one tells.
6. Fire in a department store
This story is not from the category of horror stories, rather, it is a tragedy, which is overgrown with gossip, which is now difficult to separate from the truth.
In December 1932, a fire broke out at a Shirokiya store in Japan. The staff were able to get to the roof of the building so that firefighters could rescue them with ropes. When the women, descending the ropes, were somewhere in the middle, strong gusts of wind began, which began to open their kimonos, under which they traditionally did not wear underwear. To prevent this dishonor, the women let go of the ropes, fell and shattered. This story allegedly brought about a major change in traditional fashion, as Japanese women began to wear underwear under their kimonos.
Despite the fact that this is a popular story, there are many questionable points. For starters, the kimonos are draped so heavily that the wind will not reveal them. In addition, at that time, Japanese men and women were calm about nudity, washing in joint baths, and the willingness to die, just not to be naked, inspires serious doubts.
In any case, this story is actually in Japanese textbooks on firefighting, and the vast majority of Japanese believe in it.
5. Aka Manto
Aka Manto or Red Cloak (?????) is another "toilet ghost", but unlike Hanako, Aka Manto is an evil and dangerous spirit. He looks like a fabulously handsome young man in a red cloak. According to legend, Aka Manto can walk into the school women's toilet at any time and ask: "What kind of cloak do you prefer, red or blue?" If the girl answers "red", then he will chop off her head and the blood flowing from the wound will create the appearance of a red cloak on her body. If she answers blue, Aka Manto will strangle her and the corpse will have a blue face. If the victim chooses a third color or says that both colors are not pleasant, then the floor will open under her and deathly pale hands will carry her to hell.
In Japan, this ghost - the killer is known under various names "Aka Manto" or "Ao Manto", or "Aka Hanten, Ao Hanten". Some people say that at one time, Red Cloak was a young man who was so handsome that all the girls immediately fell in love with him. He was so frighteningly handsome that the girls fainted when he looked at them. His beauty was so overwhelming that he was forced to hide his face under a white mask. One day, he kidnapped a beautiful girl and was never seen again.
This is similar to the legend of Kashima Reiko, a female ghost without legs who also lives in school toilets. She exclaims, “Where are my feet?” When someone walks into the toilet. There are several options for correct answers.
4. Kutisake-onna or a woman with a torn mouth
Kutisake-onna (Kushisake Ona) or Woman with a Torn Mouth (????) is a popular children's horror story, especially famous due to the fact that the police found many similar reports in the media and their archives. According to legend, an unusually beautiful woman in a gauze band walks the streets of Japan. If a child walks down the street alone, then she can approach him and ask: “Am I beautiful ?!”. If, as usual, he hesitates, then Kutisake-onna tears off the bandage from his face and shows a huge scar that crosses his face from ear to ear, a giant mouth with sharp teeth in it and a tongue like a snake. Then the question follows: "Am I beautiful now?" If the child answers "no", then she will cut off his head, and if "yes", then she will make him the same scar (she has scissors with her).
The only way to elude Kushisake Onna is to give an unexpected answer. “If you say,“ You look average, ”or“ You look normal, ”she will be confused and have plenty of time to run away.
The only way to elude Kushisake Ona is to give an unexpected answer. If you say “you look okay,” she will be confused and have plenty of time to escape.
In Japan, it is not uncommon to wear medical masks, they are worn by a huge number of people, and poor children seem to be afraid of literally everyone they meet.
There are many ways to explain how Kushisake Onna got her terrible shapeless mouth. The most popular version is the escaped madwoman who is so insane that she cut her own mouth open.
According to the ancient version of this legend, a very beautiful woman lived in Japan many years ago. Her husband was a jealous and cruel man, and he began to suspect that she was cheating on him. In a fit of rage, he grabbed a sword and slit her mouth, shouting "Who will consider you beautiful now?" She has become a vengeful ghost that roams the streets of Japan and wears a headscarf to hide her terrible scar.
The US has its own version of Kushisake Onna. There were rumors of a clown who would appear in public restrooms, walk up to the children and ask, “Do you want to have a smile, a happy smile?” And if the child agreed, he would take out a knife and slit their mouths from ear to ear. It seems that this clown smile was appropriated by Tim Burton to his Joker in the 1989 Oscar-winning "Batman". It was the satanic smile of the Joker in the brilliant performance of Jack Nicholson that became the trademark of this beautiful film.
3. Hon Onna - slayer of sexually anxious men
Hon-onna is the Japanese version of the sea siren or succubus, so it only poses a danger to sexually anxious men, but it is scary creepy nonetheless.
According to this legend, the gorgeous woman wears a luxurious kimono that hides everything except her wrists and beautiful face. She flirts with a dude charmed by her, and lures him to a secluded place, usually in a dark alley. Unfortunately for the guy, this will not lead him to a happy ending. Hon-onna takes off her kimono, revealing a creepy, naked skeleton without skin and muscles - a pure zombie. She then embraces the hero-lover and sucks his life and soul.
So Hon-onna hunts exclusively for promiscuous males, and for other people she is not dangerous - a kind of forest orderly, probably invented by Japanese wives. But, you see, the image is vivid.
2. Hitori kakurenbo or playing hide and seek with yourself
"Hitori kakurenbo" in translation from Japanese means "a game of hide and seek with oneself." Anyone with a doll, rice, needle, red thread, knife, nail clippers and a cup of salt water can play.
First, cut the doll's body with a knife, put some rice and part of your nail inside it. Then sew it with red thread. At three o'clock in the morning you need to go to the bathroom, fill the sink with water, put the doll there and say three times: "He drives first (and tell me your name)." Turn off all the lights in the house and head to your room. Close your eyes here and count to ten. Return to the bathroom and stab the doll with a knife, while saying: "Fired, knocked, now it's your turn to look." Well, the doll will find you wherever you hide! To get rid of the curse, you need to sprinkle the doll with salt water and say three times: "I won"!
Another modern urban legend: Tek-Tek or Kashima Reiko (????) - the ghost of a woman named Kashima Reiko, who was run over by a train and cut her in half. Since then, she wanders at night, moving on her elbows, making the sound "teke-teke-teke" (or tek-tek).
Tek-tek was once a lovely girl who accidentally fell (or intentionally jumped) from a subway platform onto the tracks. The train cut her in half. And now the upper body of Teke-teke wanders the city streets in search of revenge. Despite the lack of legs, it moves very quickly on the ground. If Teke-teke catches you, she will cut your body in half with a sharp oblique.
According to legend, Tek-Tek hunts children who play at dusk. Tack-Tack is very similar to the American children's horror story about Klack-Klak, with which parents frightened children walking until late.
Touching in their childish superstitious naivety, the Japanese carefully preserve their urban legends - both children's funny horror stories and quite an adult horror. Acquiring a modern flair, these myths retain an ancient flavor and a quite tangible animal fear of otherworldly forces.
I was still a young boy when my father told me this story. We were sitting with him in the kitchen, drinking coffee, and we were talking about mysticism.
It is worth noting that the Pope was a believer who recognized the presence of various transcendental forces, but at the same time was a logician with a practical mindset.
Well, closer to the topic, as they say. After drinking a little coffee and drinking it with honey, I asked my father a question that worries me: “Dad, nothing mystical has happened in your life?”. Dad wrinkled his forehead and thought for a while, going over in his memory cases that somehow fall under the category of mystical. Then he said, “Well, actually there was something. I was born in the most tragic period of our history - in August 1941. Ukraine is the second after Belarus to have undergone Nazi bombing. The city of Dnepropetrovsk in a matter of weeks turned into ruins. My mother showed real heroism in hiding and feeding me and my older sisters for shelter. Ten or twelve years later, the city was rebuilding at an extremely slow pace. I, like most children of the same age, grew up in the ashes of war. Life was hard. I had to work all day, helping my mother, forgetting about carefree childhood, adolescence and youth. The only entertainment we had was raids on the rural melon, located outside the city. Watermelons and melons were our only childish delight, because even ordinary sugar was impossible to get.
And so, once, having agreed with friends about the next sortie to melon, I went to the village. I came there before the rest of the guys. Sitting on a bench near Uncle Vanya's hut, I began to examine the field where our youthful joy grew. Noticing the paths of movement and possible retreat in the event of the appearance of the guard, I looked at the road, expecting the appearance of accomplices. But I noticed on her only a lonely woman in a black dress, with a scarf on her head. I would not focus on the widow - perhaps there are few of them left after the war - but she suddenly made a strange maneuver, going into an impenetrable thicket of thorns. It was also strange that she walked through them, completely oblivious to the scratches, which of course should have appeared. At the same time, she walked with a confident gait and a rather brisk step. I jumped off the bench and sowed after a stranger. This behavior was extremely mysterious, and adolescent curiosity did not give rest. Running up to the beginning of the thicket, I saw her head in the distance. Gently pushing aside the thorny bushes, I followed her. The bush palpably scratched at the legs barely covered by the shorts, but I, stoically, continued to pursue the object. Looking ahead, I was surprised that the woman was not visible. "Maybe she felt bad in the sun and fell?" - I thought at that moment. Already rather quickly jumping over the thorny bushes, I moved in the direction in which I last saw the silhouette of a woman. And so, pushing aside the tall bushes, and looking at the ground, I stopped, paralyzed by fear. A head was sticking out of the ground. A huge head, larger than a human, with unnaturally bulging eyes, as in Graves' disease. I couldn't see the nose at all. I can only say that this head was not human at all. Near her lay the same black kerchief in which the woman walked when she entered these thickets. Not remembering myself from the horror that first fettered me, I rushed away from there. Not noticing no thorny bushes, no heat, no fatigue, I jumped out onto the road like a saiga antelope. Fortunately for me, my friends were waiting for me near the bench. I did not begin to tell them about what happened, because who knows what it was, and what a meeting with it promises. "
In conclusion, I will note that my father was not a dreamer and a supporter of practical jokes, and therefore, I willingly believe him.
One day while hiking in Japan, when we were setting up camp, I found a large hole, and in it - a Book with a picture cow head on the cover. It was very old and written in Japanese, so the first thing I did was translate it into English. I will warn you right away that as you read further, you may feel like you are going crazy in a very strange and frightening way - you will be lonely and all your thoughts will be focused on one cow head... Well, let's get started.
Cow head. Japanese urban legend horror story
A long time ago, in 1776, a young woman named Hasouchi and her son Masauka lived in Japan. In that very cold winter, the two of them had no money, but there was a cow, inherited from Hasouti's deceased father. He bequeathed them to slaughter the cow in such a way as to warm up and sleep in it in winter. At the same time, the old man strictly forbade him to do the same in the summer, otherwise his daughter and grandson could not escape trouble.
Masauka and Hasouchi, the lucky owners of the cow, eventually slaughtered the animal, making a neat cut with precise punches. Then they made a large hole in the cow's head, widened it through the nostrils, and pulled out the animal's eyes. After that, the heads of the mother and son could already fit inside the body of the cow. They cut off the legs and tail of the animal, cleaned it from the inside and put the fox fur in there, turning the inside of the cow into a cozy bed.
Hasouchi and Masauka lived in a very cold hut, where nothing could keep them warm except a cow. In winter, mother and son crawled inside the cow's body, where they felt warm and pleasant. In the summer, this method was usually not needed, because in Japan at this time of the year it is hot and sultry.
During the winter months, a cow helped Masauke and Hasouchi survive, and they even let their old neighbor warm up for a fee.
But one summer day, a breeze came in and made them both shiver from the cold. Mother and son, fearing hypothermia, forgot about all the prohibitions and climbed into the body of a cow. WOMAN! They passed out. When they woke up, they realized that their hut was blown away by the wind along with a huge thundercloud. Looking up at the sky, Hasouti saw the ghost of her father. “You disobeyed me and now my soul belongs to the devil !!!”, - he shouted in rage. “Now I will not be able to repay the debt to Satan !!! Terrible things will happen to you !!! ”, - the ghost raised his index finger to the sky and the response was a lightning strike, and along with thunder and lightning a small group of local residents appeared.
Hasouchi screamed and tried to hide herself and Masauku deeper into the cow's body from the advancing humans. She heard her father pointing at her and his son in the crowd. She hugged Masauka and tears rolled down her face like a hail with every step of these people, they came closer and closer until they stopped next to her. Hasouchi looked through a small hole in the skin of a cow and saw a huge man with an ax standing nearby. He smiled broadly. She covered her mouth with her hands and screamed, at the same time trying to hide away into the head of the cow. The woman thought that the man would doubt where exactly to hit with an ax, because the cow's body was large and wide. But he just looked inside the animal's head, where for a moment he saw a glimpse of eyes looking directly at him. The man lowered his ax around Hasouti's neck and chopped off her head right inside the cow's head.
Masauka was terrified of what had happened. He managed to break out through the cow's neck and quickly ran into the forest. The boy's clothes were all soaked in fresh blood.
The assembled crowd was very hungry, but that day they would have been satisfied with everything - both human flesh and beef. They were lucky because the cow was right in front of them, so they each cut off a large piece of meat for themselves.
On the same night, a man with an ax, gasping for breath, burst into his own house. He grabbed his throat and coughed endlessly. His wife raised a cry and called all his friends into the house. The newcomers surrounded the man who was dying on the floor. But he suddenly opened his eyes, while they were completely red. The man jumped up to one of his comrades and coughed a black and white ball in his face. It turned out to be a cow's head. “そ れ は 生 き て い る！ 牛 の 頭 は 生 き て い る！,” was all the victim could say. (Sorry guys, but I'd rather write like this than insert what was in the original) Everyone in the house screamed loudly.
The cow's head rotated frantically on the floor, then began to rise higher and higher into the air until it landed on the head of one of the friends who had come. He screamed, asking for help, while the cow's head turned to face him, opened its mouth and swallowed this man whole. No one wanted to be next, so everyone in the house ran outside, leaving the man alone with the ax he had recently beheaded Hasouti with.
Suddenly, the door flew open wide, Hasouchi's headless body burst inward, her hand grasping Masauku's throat. The boy heard his mother whisper: “You ran away. I loved you and you betrayed me. Why didn't you just die next to your mom? " Masauka screamed and gasped, wheezed, "I ... I didn't want to die ...".
Immediately, as if out of nowhere, an ax appeared in Hasouti's hand. “Now you will die just like me. And you will be next ... "She paused before turning to her killer." Yes, you are next, Campikocha. " Crying hysterically, the man could only ask: "How do you know my name?" “I know everything, strength cow cow gave me knowledge, ”answered Hasouti. And at the same moment, a flashing ax chopped off Masauke's head. Having done this, the woman kicked her son's head towards cow's head before tossing Masauki's body into the sand.
Cow head, jumping, approached the boy's head and swallowed it whole. After that, the cow's head began to shake and rotate until it came to a complete stop. "This is more than enough to live," croaked cow head, - "Your body will now be mine." She rose again into the air and fell on Hasouti. The dead body of the woman fell to the floor, while suddenly a replica of Hasouti appeared a little to the side of the corpse. Cow head was gone, but soon reappeared next to a revived copy of Hasouti. Then she raised the cow's head and, seeing the blood dripping from the mouth of the animal on her chest, said: "牛 の 頭 を 触 れ な い で く だ さ い ま た は 地獄 に ド ロ ッ プ し ま す." The woman flew out of the house and ascended into heaven, from where she landed in a completely different country.
She is still alive with her cow head, and one day, if you're unlucky, you will be the person who meets her again. Be careful or she will kill you with an ax.
