SCARY JAPANESE URBAN LEGENDS THAT WILL KEEP YOU AWAKE
Japan is a country which is known to live in the future because of its advanced thinking and technologies. The Japanese are known to be traditional people who conserve their traditions and rituals all the while accepting modernism. They pass on their cultural and spiritual beliefs from one generation to another. Japanese culture also includes many legends. These legends include samurais, wolves, foxs, spirits, demons, etc. These legends vary from place to place therefore you can hear different versions of the same legend.
Modern Japan still believes in these legends and many of them have made it up to movies, games,etc. There are many scary legends in Japan. What makes these legends spine chilling is the fact that most of them can be traced back to real life events. The ending of these legends is mostly the death of the victim which is why people still fear them. These legends sound thrilling to any horror story fan. So let’s take a look at five dreadful Japanese urban legends.
1. THE SLIT MOUTH WOMAN
Popularly known as ‘Kuchisake-onna’, s about a beautiful but vain woman who was married to a samurai. She cheated on her husband. As a punishment, her husband slashed her lips from ear to ear. The legends say that the ghost of this woman seeks revenge and roams around with a mask on her face and a pair of scissors or sickle. Most of her victims are men or children. She asks the same question from all her victims – “Am I pretty?”. If you answer “no” then you die immediately but if you say “yes” then she will remove her mask and ask -” How about now?”. If you say “no” you die and if you say “yes” then she will use her scissor or sickle to slash your lips from ear to ear just like hers. In any scenario you die. The only way to survive her is to say that she looks average or ok. This can buy the victims some time to try to escape.
2. TEKE-TEKE
This ghastly legend connected to real life incident and also known Reiko Kashima, involves a train accident. This legends says that a a young girl once fell on a railway track and a train ran over her. Her body was cut into two by train. Her spirit roams around without legs. She drags her body on her hands and elbows which create a “teke-teke” sound. She asks her victims “where are my legs?”. Inability to answer her results in getting your legs cut with a scythe or saw. The only answer to her question is “at the Meishin railway”. This answer can save your life because if you think you can run faster than a legless ghost then you are wrong. She is fast even without legs.
3. THE HAUNTED INUNAKI TUNNEL
This tunnel is situated in the Inunaki countryside of Kyushu’s Fukuoka Prefecture. This tunnel is the only access to the supposedly abandoned village of Inunaki. Legends say that anyone who dates who enter the tunnel will meet a violent end. Passersby have reported howling sounds and malfunctioning devices around the area of the tunnel. The entrance of the tunnel is blocked by huge stones but some adventurers escape and go inside it and they never come back. It is said that once a young boy was looted and murdered by a gang inside this tunnel after which it became haunted.
4. THE DOLL THAT GROWS HAIRS
In 1918, Eikichi Suzuki brought a Japanese okappa doll for his younger sister. This doll had Bob cut hairstyle. Soon the sister died. Her doll was kept by her family as a memory and named Okiku. After some time the family noticed that the hairs of the doll were growing over time and getting longer. The family believed that the doll was possessed by their daughter’s spirit and looked after it. Later the doll was given to Mannen-ji Temple. The doll still remains there and can be visited. The priest told that the hairs of the doll are still green even are trimming. He also states that the doll comes in his nightmares.
5. THE RED ROOM CURSE
This comes under modern legends and is based around a horror animation of the 1990s. This curse came into light in 2004, when a 11 year old girl stabbed her classmate. The girl was a fan of the anime and took inspiration from it. The victim of this curse die after seeing pop-ups on their computer screen which says” Do you like red room?” Then their screen is freeze and they can’t close the window. A crew chill is felt as if someone is standing behind you and then the victim is murdered. The walls of the room in which death body is found are painted red with blood.
Shruti Singh
Bsc maths
Banasthali vidyapith
