28 Popular Japanese Urban Legends, Ghost Stories, and Folklore

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Discover the scariest urban legends from Japan
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Ghost stories, urban legends, and other folklore play an important role in Japanese culture. Many of these legends are frightening tales of supernatural creatures, while some are based (at least somewhat) on real events. If you’re looking for some spooky tales to keep you up at night, keep reading—we’ve gathered 28 of the best Japanese urban legends to share with you.

Common Themes in Japanese Urban Legends

Urban legends expert Brittney Crabb says many Japanese legends focus on supernatural figures like Red Cloak (Aka Manto) and the 8-ft-tall woman (Hachishakusama). Others center around cursed places or objects, like haunted forests or deadly poems. Like all urban legends, these stories are told as if they were true.

1

Aka Manto (The Red Cloak)

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  1. Known for wearing...
    Known for wearing a red cloak and mask, he is said to haunt schools and public restrooms, with a preference for the last stall in the woman's room. When you sit in the stall, a male voice will ask if you want red or blue paper. If you say red, you’ll meet a bloody end, and if you say blue, you will be suffocated until you turn blue. Do not attempt to say another color, or you’ll be dragged to hell.[1]
    • The only way to avoid being killed by Aka Manto is to refuse to answer and run away as quickly as possible.
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2

Kuchisake-onna (The Slit-Mouthed Woman)

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  1. Kuchisake-onna is a ghost who was killed by her husband.
    According to legend, in the Heian period (794-1185), there was a beautiful woman married to a samurai. The woman was unfaithful, and when her husband caught her cheating, he killed her by slashing her mouth and said, “Who will think you’re pretty now?” Her vengeful spirit now wanders in dark alleyways, covering her mouth with a mask. She asks her victims if she’s pretty, and if they say yes, she takes off her mask to reveal her bloody face. She repeats the question and then slashes her victim ear-to-ear regardless of their answer.[2]
    • To survive an encounter with Kuchisake-onna, give an ambiguous answer like “You’re all right.” This will confuse the spirit and give you time to escape.
3

Teke Teke

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  1. Teke Teke is the ghost of a woman killed by a train.
    Some legends say Teke Teke was a grown woman, while others say she was a schoolgirl. In both versions, she fell on a railway line and was cut in half by an oncoming train. Angered by her untimely death, her spirit now haunts train stations and urban areas. Because she no longer has legs, she drags herself on her hands and elbows, making a “teke teke” sound.[3]
    • If you see Teke Teke, you must run away as quickly as possible. Despite not having legs, she is very fast, and if she catches you, she’ll cut you in half with a scythe.
    • In some versions of the story, Teke Teke will ask you where her legs are. You must reply “Meishin Expressway” to survive.
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4

Toire no Hanako-san (Hanako-san of the Toilet)

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  1. Hanako-san is a ghost that haunts school bathrooms.
    According to legend, go to the third stall of the girl’s bathroom on the third floor of a Japanese elementary school and knock on the stall door 3 times. When you open the door, you’ll see a little girl with bloody hands—Hanako-san. She’ll then drag you into the toilet, which in some versions of the legend, is a portal to Hell.[4]
    • There are several origin stories for Hanako-san. Some say she died during an air raid in World War II while playing hide and seek in the bathroom, while others say she committed suicide.
5

Okiku Doll

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  1. The Okiku Doll is a doll possessed by the spirit of a little girl.
    Unlike many Japanese urban legends, the Okiku Doll is based on a real doll that resides in Mannen-ji Temple in Hokkaido. In 1918, a boy bought the doll for his little sister. The girl loved the doll but soon passed away from an illness. To honor her, the family placed her doll on an altar, but quickly realized the doll’s hair was growing. They believed the doll was inhabited by the girl’s spirit and eventually donated it to the temple, where it remains on view to guests.[5]
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6

The Red Room Curse

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  1. The Red Room is an Internet curse popularized on forums.
    The origin of the Red Room Curse is unknown, but according to legend, Internet users will randomly get a red pop-up on their screen with a sinister voice that says, “Do you like the Red Room?” No matter how many times the user attempts to close the window, it will keep appearing. No one knows exactly what happens to victims, but they’re always discovered with mangled bodies and blood covering their walls.[6]
7

Hachishakusama (The 8 ft Tall Woman)

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  1. Hachishakusama is an 8 ft tall spirit who kidnaps children.
    Hachishakusama is a yurei (a Japanese ghost) who stands at 8 ft tall and has long, black hair. She announces her arrival by making a “po po po” sound. Hachishakusama stalks children for a few days or months before kidnapping them.[7]
    • In one story, a young boy saw Hachishakusama while playing in his grandparents’ garden. When he told his grandparents, they consulted a witch, who told them the boy must stay locked in his room and never open the door to Hachishakusama. That night, the boy heard the “po po po” sound and his grandfather’s voice telling him to open the door. He refused and survived the night. However, Hachishakusama does not give up that easily, and the boy later saw her again on the road.
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8

Rokurokubi (The Long-Necked Creature)

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  1. The rokurokubi is a Japanese yokai with an impossibly long neck.
    The rokurokubi is one of Japan’s most famous yokai (supernatural entity). While most yokai are born monsters, the rokurokubi is born human. When a woman (or her father or husband) does a misdeed, she appears as a normal human during the day but becomes a long-necked creature at night. Rokurokubi do not typically harm humans, and most women aren’t even aware that they’ve become one.[8]
    • One well-known rokurokubi story follows Enshu, a monk who murders his sick wife so he doesn’t have to pay for her medication. He goes on to stay the night at an inn, sharing a room with the innkeeper’s beautiful daughter. In the night, the daughter becomes a rokurokubi and her face transforms into that of Enshu’s wife, condemning him for murdering her. The next day, he is guilt-ridden and confesses to his crime.
9

Tomino’s Hell

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  1. “Tomino’s Hell” is a poem that will kill you if you read it aloud.
    According to one Japanese urban legend, the poem “Tomino’s Hell” by Saijou Yaso causes anyone who reads its lines out loud to die. The poem is said to evoke the condemnation of a young boy who committed heinous acts.[9]
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10

Hitobashira

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  1. Hitobashira refers to an ancient human sacrifice ritual.
    Until the 17th century, human sacrifice was performed in parts of Japan to preserve buildings and prevent natural disasters. People were often buried alive or walled up in bridges, temples, or castles in a rite called Hitobashira (“human pillar”). In one legend, a woman named Oshizu agreed to be sacrificed in exchange for her son becoming a samurai. However, the others did not keep their promise, and because her son never became a samurai, her tears have flooded the castle moat at Maruoka Castle ever since.[10]
11

Kiyotaki (The Legend of the Cursed Tunnel)

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  1. Kiyotaki is a cursed tunnel in Japan.
    The Kiyotaki tunnel, which connects Arashiyama to Sagakiyotaki, began construction in the early 20th century under atrocious conditions. Many workers died from exhaustion or various accidents, and their souls are believed to haunt the tunnel. People often report seeing a white lady or other ghosts that cause traffic accidents.[11]
    • The tunnel is also 444 meters long, and 4 is a cursed number in Japan.
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12

Gozu (Cow Head)

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  1. Gozu is an evil spirit with the head of a cow.
    The story of Gozu (or “Cow Head”) is supposedly so terrifying that anyone who hears it will be frightened to death—literally. The story itself is fictional, with no evidence that it ever existed, though it is rumored to be an unpublished piece by science fiction author Sakyo Komatsu.[12]
    • In one legend, a teacher decided to tell the story of Gozu to calm his students on a school trip. Gozu then possessed his body, and by the time the teacher finished the story, the school bus had crashed and all the students were lying in agony.
13

Inunaki Village

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  1. Inunaki is an isolated village with no laws.
    According to legend, Inunaki is a ghost village in Fukuoka Prefecture that is completely isolated from civilization. The village has no laws or faith, so murder and crime run rampant. Supposedly, no electrical appliances work in Inunaki, but the legend of the village has never been confirmed because no one who visits ever returns.[13]
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14

Aokigahara (The Suicide Forest)

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  1. Aokigahara is a haunted forest where people go to kill themselves.
    Located near the bottom of Mount Fuji, the legend of Aokigahara is based on fact—there have been a large number of suicides reported in the forest. Because of the large number of deaths, Aokigahara is supposedly the most haunted place in Japan, and people brave enough to go in often don’t come back out.[14]
15

Miminashi Hoichi (Hoichi the Earless)

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  1. Miminashi Hoichi was a priest who had his ears ripped off by spirits.
    In Japanese folklore, Hoichi was a blind priest known for his lute-playing abilities. One day, he was asked to perform for a powerful daimyo (lord) but disappeared in the dead of night. Another priest found him playing the lute for the dead. To protect him, the priest covered him in holy text, but forgot his ears. When the spirits came to fetch Hoichi, all they saw was a pair of floating ears. They ripped them off, but because Hoichi did not cry out, they left him alone. Hoichi went on to become famous and wealthy.[15]
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16

Oiwa-san

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  1. Oiwa-san is a character in the famous ghost story Yotsuka Kaidan.
    In the story, Oiwa is in an unhappy marriage with a cruel samurai named Iemon. After Oiwa bears a son during a period of financial hardship, Iemon meets Oume, the granddaughter of a neighboring doctor. Oume instantly falls in love with Iemon and has the doctor give Oiwa an ointment that disfigures her face. Iemon, disgusted by her appearance, leaves her for Oume. When Oiwa sees her ruined face, she kills herself, and her spirit goes on to haunt and torment Iemon, eventually driving him insane.[16]
    • When Oiwa first appears before Iemon, he tries to attack her with his sword but ends up killing Oume instead.
17

The Corner Game

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  1. The Corner Game is a game that summons a supernatural entity.
    This game requires four people and a dark, empty room. When each person enters the room, they must shout their name 3 times. Each person stands in and faces a corner, and one person will tell them to move. The players will then switch corners, moving in a clockwise direction. Throughout the game, players may disappear or a fifth supernatural player may join.[17]
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18

Kunekune (The Wriggling Body)

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  1. Kunekune are spirits that appear in rice fields on hot summer days.
    According to legend, people working in rice or barley fields report seeing white objects that resemble tall strips of paper shimmering and wriggling in the distance. Anyone who tries to get a closer look either goes insane or dies when they touch it. The legend may be based on stories of scarecrows coming to life at night.[18]
19

Living Dolls

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  1. Living dolls develop their own spirits as children play with them.
    Unlike other legends of haunted dolls, living dolls in Japan are not usually possessed by spirits. Instead, they grow their own the more they are played with. If a doll is discarded or mistreated, it may seek revenge against its owner.
    • One story is that of Licca-chan, a three-legged doll that was left deformed and discarded in a public toilet. A woman found it and threw it aside in disgust. The doll then cursed her, causing her to go insane and eventually die in a mental hospital.
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20

Kokkuri

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  1. Kokkuri is a game similar to the Ouija board.
    Popularized in the Meiji era, Kokkuri is a game in which players ask Kokkuri-san different questions. Players write down hiragana characters and place their fingers on a coin, which Kokkuri-san is supposed to move to reveal their answer. Legends say Kokkuri-san reveals the day the players will die and that players must say goodbye before ending the game.[19]
21

Kisaragi Station

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  1. Kisaragi Station is a supernatural train station.
    The legend of Kisaragi Station began in 2004, when a woman named Hasumi shared a story on 2channel, in which she awoke on a train with all other passengers asleep. She later got off at the deserted Kisaragi Station and used a phone booth to call her parents. However, they couldn’t find her as the station appeared on no maps. Hasumi then began to experience many weird things, like hearing an ominous bell and seeing a man with one leg vanish into thin air.[20]
    • Frightened, Hasumi ran to the end of the tunnel where she encountered a man who offered her a ride to safety. Together, they returned to the station and boarded a train, which continued into the Japanese Alps. As soon as they boarded, the man grew silent and refused to acknowledge Hasumi.
    • At the end of her post on 2channel, Hasumi said she was going to make a run for it and then disappeared without a trace.
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22

Jinmenken (The Human-Faced Dog)

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  1. Jinmenken are dogs with human faces.
    These creatures are said to appear at night in urban areas. They run along highways at extremely high speeds, and when they overtake cars, the drivers can see their human faces. Stories about jinmenken are often humorous, as individuals often encounter them digging through the garbage. In some stories, jinmenken can speak.[21]
    • Some explanations say that jinmenken are genetic experiments, while others say they’re the ghost of a human who got hit by a car while walking a dog.
23

Inokashira Park Curse

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  1. Couples who visit this park are cursed to break up.
    Inokashira Park in Tokyo, Japan, contains a statue of the goddess Benzaiten. The goddess is often jealous of young couples who visit the park, and it is said that if they row out onto the lake together, their relationship will end prematurely.[22]
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24

Ghost Taxi Passengers

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  1. Many taxi drivers report picking up ghost passengers.
    This urban legend dates back to the Taisho period, though there was a resurgence after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Japanese taxi drivers report picking up drenched passengers who disappear into thin air before reaching their destination. They often leave behind a puddle, glove, or occasionally fare for the ride. Ghost passengers often want to visit relatives, and some are unaware that they’re dead.[23]
25

The Curse of the Colonel

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  1. A baseball team was cursed when fans threw a KFC statue in the river.
    In 1985, the baseball team Hanshin Tigers won their first and only victory in the Japan Championship Series. In their excitement, the team’s fans threw a statue of the KFC mascot Colonel Sanders in the Dotonbori River. For several years after the incident, the team never won the championship again. Some fans believed the team was cursed and wouldn’t win unless the statue was recovered.[24]
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26

The Cursed Kleenex Commercial

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  1. Kleenex supposedly released a cursed commercial in the 1980s.
    In the 1980s, Kleenex released 3 commercials in Japan, each featuring a woman in a white dress and a child dressed as a Japanese ogre. The song “It’s a Fine Day” by Edward Barton and Jane accompanied each one. Viewers began to complain that the commercial was unnerving and that the song sounded like a German curse. False rumors spread that those involved in the filming of the commercial all met untimely deaths.[25]
    • Other rumors claimed that the actress who played the woman in the white dress, Keiko Matsuzaka, had a mental breakdown and was institutionalized or that she became pregnant with a demon child.
27

The Sony Timer

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  1. The Sony timer theory claims Sony plans when their devices stop working.
    Originating in the 1980s the Sony timer theory (or Sony kill switch) is an urban legend that the brand Sony puts timers in all their electronics that cause them to fail soon after their warranties expire, forcing customers to buy a new device. This theory has never been proven, however.[26]
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28

The 1932 Shirokiya Department Store Deaths

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  1. 14 women supposedly died in a fire because they refused to jump to safety.
    On December 16, 1932, a fire broke out in the Shirokiya department store in Tokyo, Japan. During the fire, saleswomen in kimono were forced onto the roof of the building and were meant to jump into the firefighters’ safety nets. However, because women traditionally did not wear underwear in kimono, the women refused and died because they did not want to expose themselves to the firefighters.
    • This urban legend has since been denied, but the rumor gained attention as far away as Europe. It is said that after the fire, the store’s management team required all women to wear underwear under their kimonos.

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References

  1. ↑ https://www.cognitionandculture.net/wp-content/uploads/Aka-Manto-Wikipedia.pdf
  2. ↑ https://yokai.com/kuchisakeonna/
  3. ↑ https://horrorobsessive.com/2021/01/05/teke-teke-the-vengeful-ghost-of-modern-day-japan/
  4. ↑ https://themorbidlibrary.com/legend-has-it-hanako-san/
  5. ↑ https://www.curiousarchive.com/okiku-haunted-japanese-doll/
  6. ↑ https://theghostinmymachine.com/2019/03/27/encyclopaedia-of-the-impossible-the-red-room-curse-akai-heya-haunted-pop-up-japan-urban-legend-computer-internet-sasebo-slashing/
  7. ↑ https://warsandhistory.com/legend-of-hachishakusama/
  8. ↑ https://www.curiousordinary.com/2023/06/rokurokubi.html
  9. ↑ https://horrorobsessive.com/2024/10/03/tominos-hell-the-cursed-poem-not-meant-to-be-read-out-loud/
  1. ↑ https://yokai.com/hitobashira/
  2. ↑ https://theghostinmymachine.com/2017/07/12/haunted-globetrotting-the-many-spirits-of-kiyotaki-tunnel-japan/
  3. ↑ https://monster.fandom.com/wiki/Gozu
  4. ↑ https://www.grimoireofhorror.com/the-yurei/urban-legend-the-ghost-of-inunaki-village/
  5. ↑ https://www.aokigaharaforest.com/
  6. ↑ https://yokai.com/miminashihouichi/
  7. ↑ https://www.artic.edu/artworks/47403/oiwa-oiwa-san-from-the-series-one-hundred-ghost-tales-hyaku-monogatari
  8. ↑ https://theghostinmymachine.com/2016/05/09/the-most-dangerous-games-the-corner-game/
  9. ↑ https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Kunekune_(folklore)
  10. ↑ https://urbanlegend.fandom.com/wiki/Kokkuri
  11. ↑ https://theghostinmymachine.com/2018/02/28/encyclopaedia-impossible-kisaragi-station-train-japan-urban-legend-2chan/
  12. ↑ https://urbanlegends.fandom.com/wiki/The_Jinmenken
  13. ↑ https://unseen-japan.com/couples-breakup-spots-japan/
  14. ↑ https://japaninsider.com/japanese-taxi-drivers-frequently-report-ghostly-encounters/
  15. ↑ https://www.thehanshintigers.com/team-history/top-10-infamous-moments/the-curse-of-colonel-sanders/
  16. ↑ https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/watch-a-cursed-japanese-kleenex-ad
  17. ↑ https://www.wired.com/2010/01/sony-kill-switch/

About This Article

Brittney Crabb
Co-authored by:
Brittney Crabb
Paranormal and Horror Content Creator
This article was co-authored by Brittney Crabb and by wikiHow staff writer, Raven Minyard, BA. Brittney Crabb is a paranormal and horror content creator based in Toronto, Ontario. With over 17 years of experience creating content, Brittney shares all things paranormal and horror, including haunted places, urban legends, ghost stories, and more. Brittney has over 580k followers with over 149 million views on her YouTube channel @BrittneyCrabb, where her lifelong passion for the paranormal and video creation shines through. She is also a TV host, TV personality, and interviewer with vast experience in the entertainment industry and interviewing celebrities at premieres and other events. This article has been viewed 12,352 times.
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Co-authors: 5
Updated: September 11, 2025
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