9 Scary Japanese Urban Legends

2. Aka Manto (Red Cloak)

Aka-Manto is a ghost that haunts the last toilet stall in a public bathroom. As you’re sitting on the toilet, a voice will ask you if you want red or blue paper.

Answer “Red” and your throat will be cut and the blood flowing down your body becomes a “red cloak”. Answer “blue” and you will be strangled, turning your body blue. Choosing a third colour or answering “neither” will save your life.

3. Yuki-Onna

The “snow woman” is a spirit that died in the snow, and now only appears in the snow. this She has pale white skin, is usually dressed in white, and has long black hair. She is very beautiful, and floats along the snow leaving no footprints. In the legend, she appears to travellers and traps them in snowstorms, breathing her frosty breath on them until they die, or leads them out farther and farther into the snow so they become lost and die from hypothermia.

4. Human Pillar

It was once believed that sealing human into buildings would not only act as an offering to the Gods, but also helped the structure become stronger and more stable. One such building is the Matsue Castle. It was built in the 17th Century and for no reason, the stone wall of the central tower would repeatedly fall after construction. Builders became convinced that the only way for the wall to remain upright was to sacrifice a human.

They found a beautiful young woman dancing at the local Bon Festival (a festival to honour the spirits of the dead), tricked her into following them and sealed her still alive within the castle’s walls.

The legend says that her spirit haunts the castle and whenever a woman dances in the streets of Matsue, the walls of the castle will shake. In fact, a law was passed which prohibited dancing in public places.

When the Jamon Tunnel was damaged by an earthquake in 1968, repair workers found many upright skeletons within the foundation walls. To this day train drivers report hearing eerie noises inside the tunnel, believed to be the screams of those who were buried alive to support the structure.

5. Hanako-san

Hanoko-san is a female spirit that haunts the last stall of primary school bathrooms. To summon Hanako-san, you need to knock three times on her stall door and call out, “Are you there, Hanako-san?”

If she replies, “Yes, I’m here!”, you can push open the door to reveal Hanako-san, a little girl with short black hair and a red skirt. Depending on your luck, Hanako-san will either vanish or pull you into the toilet and kill you.

Next Page: More Japanese urban legends that will send shivers down your spine!