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JAPANESE URBAN LEGENDS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! (CHECK DESC TO READ); The Doll That Grows Human Hair.
This story goes that in 1918, in Hokkaido, Eikichi Suzuki purchased for his young sister, Kikuko, a traditional Japanese okappa (bob cut hairstyle) doll. Sadly, Kikuko died from a cold, and the family kept the doll in a shrine to their daughter and named it Okiku. However, the family noticed something odd about the doll over time—its hair was getting longer.
The family believed the doll possessed the restless spirit of their deceased daughter and so looked after it until entrusting it in the care of Mannen-ji Temple. There the doll remains, slowly growing human hair.
You can visit Okiku, but photography isn’t allowed. Today, even after a few trims from the temple’s priests, the doll’s hair has grown past its knees. It has also supposedly upped its terror. The priests claim to have nightmares of Okiku and visitors say the doll’s mouth is slowly opening—and sprouting baby teeth. The Red Room Curse.
This modern urban legend started from a “death-themed” flash animation titled “The Red Room.” It became popular in the internet’s dark corners after an 11-year-old girl in Sasebo, Nagasaki, stabbed her classmate to death at school. The killer was a fan of the Red Room animation.
The curse starts with a pop-up on a victim’s computer screen when alone in a room. It has a red background with black letters asking, “あなたは〜好きですか?” (Do you like ~?) As the victim frantically tries to close the pop-up, more words appear until it reads: “あなたは赤い部屋が好きですか?” (Do you like the red room?)
The entire screen becomes red, and a list of past victims appears. Whether something supernatural comes or the victim is compelled to do the deed themselves is unknown. Regardless, they are killed, and their blood covers the walls of the room. Hence, the “red room” curse. Japan's Bloody Mary.
Speaking of toilet horror, Japan also has its own Bloody Mary urban legend. Toire no Hanako-san, or Hanako of the toilet, is a spirit summoned much like her Western counterparts. If the brave (or stupid) enter a restroom on the third floor, knock on the third stall three times and ask, “Hanako, soko ni imasu ka,” (“Hanako, are you there?”), you may get a reply.
The door will slowly creak open to reveal little Hanako in a red skirt. Her hair is done up in a traditional-styled bun. Then she grabs her victim and drags them into the toilet, never to be seen again.
In other versions, Hanako will ask children if they need a friend. Regardless of their answer, Hanako will drag the children under the stall and to their doom. Never trust a Japanese ghost, kids.
Like Aka Manto, Hanako’s origins are unclear, although folklorist Matthew Myers says her story is as recent as the 1950s. Most accounts say she is the ghost of a child who hid in her school’s bathroom and died in a bombing raid during World War II.
It’s likely just another case of school bathrooms being a lot creepier than they have any right to be. The Cursed Poem (Tomino's Hell).
Tomino’s Hell is a famed poem by Yaso Saijo. Written in 1919 after Saijo lost his family during World War I, the verse tells the story of a child who descends into hell and includes frightening and disturbing imagery.
The beginning reads:
Elder sister vomited blood, younger sister vomited fire and the cute Tomino vomited glass beads. Tomino Fell into Hell alone.
Although Saijo left interpretation to the reader, it’s believed to be about a child who murdered their parents. In the poem, Tomino descends to the lowest levels of Buddhist hell, reserved for those who murder their parents. Others interpret the poem as about war or child abuse.
If read aloud, you will suffer from a terrible fate which you cannot escape.
Regardless of its true meaning, people have claimed the poem causes headaches, illness and even death if the complete poem is read aloud. In 1974, director Terama Shuji released a movie based on Tomino’s Hell, Den-en ni shisu (Pastoral: To Die in the Country). The director later died due to liver disease, sparking rumors about the poem.
However, the likely catalyst for this urban legend was in 2004, when author Yomota Inuhiko wrote Kokoro wa Korogaru Ishi no you ni (My Heart is Like a Stone Rolling Around) based on Tomino’s Hell. There, Inuhiko wrote, “If you by chance happen to read this poem out loud, you will suffer from a terrible fate which you cannot escape.”; The Aka Manto (Red Cape). (I figured it out since I know enough Japanese)
Aka Manto (red cloak) meets victims when they are most vulnerable: on the toilet. He wears a white mask and a long red cape. There are many variations to the legend. He holds red and blue toilet paper in some stories, but he’s only in his cape in others. However, he always asks the victim to choose a color: red or blue?
Like Japan’s slit-faced woman (Kuchisake-onna) asking, “Am I pretty?” it doesn’t matter what you answer because Aka Manto kills you regardless—choosing red rewards you with a stabbing, spilling your blood all over the stall. If you answer blue, Aka Manto either suffocates you or sucks out your blood, leaving you blue-faced and dead on the floor. So your best bet is to either ignore the fiend or run away.
Every English teacher in Japan can attest to being in an eerily large yet empty school.
This legend is popular enough to appear in numerous films, video games and the 2015 American TV series Scream Queens. Some believe Aka Manto is based on a real-life murderer named ao getto (blue blanket) in Fukui Prefecture from 1906, but that is yet another urban legend.
Aka Manto’s origins are a mystery but are likely inspired by the Japanese school toilets where the grisly murders occur. In Japan, every English teacher can attest to being in an eerily large yet empty school with a bathroom furthest away from the others—old and unkempt. Moreover, who wants to answer questions while trying to take a number-two?
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