Hanako-san of the Toilet
The best-known Japanese school ghost story: knock on the third stall of a school toilet and call her name, and a voice answers "Yes." She became famous nationwide during the school ghost story boom of the 1990s.
Mystery Timeline｜1946–1988
Mysteries of the Postwar Showa
The UFO boom, the tsuchinoko and lake monster crazes, the Slit-Mouthed Woman, and other mysteries that captivated Japan from the postwar years to the end of the Showa era.
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1950s onward
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1957 (the word spreads) onward
Transhumanism
The idea of using science and technology to enhance the abilities of the human body and brain and to overcome aging, disease and even death. The word spread in 1957, and while it draws attention with advances in AI and medicine, it is also told in conspiracy theories that "some people are trying to remake humanity."
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Showa era (similar prewar tales)
Red Paper, Blue Paper (Aka Kami, Ao Kami)
A school ghost story in which, when you find there is no toilet paper, a voice asks, "Do you want red paper or blue paper?" Answer "red" and you are covered in blood; answer "blue" and your blood is drained until you die pale blue.
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Showa era
Akai Chanchanko (The Red Vest)
A school ghost story in which a voice in the school toilet asks, "Shall I put a red vest on you?" If you answer "yes," your throat is cut and blood runs down your back, making it look as if you are wearing a red vest.
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Showa era onward
Kashima-san
An urban legend of a spirit that appears at night to anyone who has heard its story and tries to take their limbs or body. Unless you give the right answer or chant, your body will be taken; chants such as "ka for kamen (mask)" are told.
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Showa era onward
The Moving Anatomical Model
A school ghost story in which the anatomical model in the science room comes to life at night and runs around the halls. It is a staple of the "seven wonders of the school," told alongside the skeleton and the music room portraits.
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Showa era onward
Teke Teke
An urban legend of the ghost of a woman who lost the lower half of her body, who chases people at terrifying speed on her elbows, making a "teke teke" sound. The story of a railway crossing accident in Hokkaido is famous, and the legend spread throughout Japan.
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Showa era
The After-School Music Room
School ghost stories in which piano music is heard from the empty music room after school, or the eyes of the composers' portraits on the wall move. They have been told all over Japan as a staple of the "seven wonders of the school."
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Late Showa era onward
Murasaki Kagami (Purple Mirror)
An urban legend that if you still remember the words "purple mirror" when you turn 20, you will die or suffer misfortune. It spread among children from the Showa to the Heisei era, along with words said to cancel the curse.
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Showa era onward
Merry-san's Phone Call
An urban legend in which a discarded doll named Merry calls on the phone, saying "I'm at ... now" as she comes closer and closer. It ends with "I'm right behind you," a classic school ghost story.
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1966 (song published)
Ichinensei ni Nattara (When I Become a First Grader)
An urban legend about the children's song "Ichinensei ni Nattara," which expresses excitement about starting elementary school. Because counting up the song's friends leaves one person missing, dark interpretations are told, such as "one was left out by bullies" or "someone vanished."
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1960s onward
Pyramids on the Moon
An urban legend that artificial structures like pyramids and towers exist on the surface of the Moon. Pointed shadows in photos from a 1960s lunar probe were presented as evidence, but they are thought to be the long shadows of rocks lit by a low sun.
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1967 (introduced as a Japanese song)
Green Green (The Song Legend)
An urban legend about "Green Green," a song sung in elementary school music classes in Japan. Because the later verses describe the boy's parting from his father, many dark interpretations are told: the father died in a war or accident, or it is a song about nuclear war.
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1970s
Gaia Hypothesis
The idea that Earth's living things and its air, oceans and rocks interact so that the whole Earth regulates its environment as if it were a single living organism. It was proposed by the British scientist Lovelock in the 1970s. It is also told as a mystical theory that "the Earth is alive."
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1970s onward
Moon Landing Hoax Theory
The conspiracy theory that humanity's first moon landing by Apollo 11 in 1969 was really faked by the United States in a studio. A waving flag and the lack of stars in the sky are offered as evidence, but all have been explained scientifically.
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1976
Face on Mars
A rocky mesa that looked like a human face in a photo taken in 1976 by NASA's Mars probe Viking 1. A theory spread that it was an artifact made by an ancient Martian civilization, but later high-resolution photos confirmed it was an ordinary hill.
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1976 onward
Planet Nibiru
A doomsday theory about an unknown planet orbiting at the edge of the solar system over a long period, which will one day approach Earth and cause a catastrophe. It spread from the theories of the writer Zecharia Sitchin in the 1970s, and "collision dates" have been predicted many times, but astronomers say no such planet exists.
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Around 1978–1979
Kuchisake-onna (Slit-Mouthed Woman)
An urban legend about a woman in a surgical mask who asks "Am I pretty?" and then reveals a mouth slit from ear to ear. It spread among children all over Japan around 1979.
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1982 (board game) / 1994 (card game)
Illuminati Card Game
A card game about secret societies released by an American game company. Its card illustrations are rumored online to have "predicted" terrorist attacks, disasters and pandemics. Most of these are said to be after-the-fact interpretations.
