Japan is Flush with Ghosts
/Japan is known worldwide for a lot of things: culture, cuisine, anime. It’s also known for some twisted horror stories. For some reason, a lot of Japanese urban legends are set inside of public restrooms and they are quite disturbing. You might piss yourself before ever reaching the toilet should you encounter any of them.
Screenshot from Corpse party: Book of Shadows
game created by team GrisGris
When thinking of a scary bathroom, I automatically think dirty, smelly, and dank, with dim lighting and questionable substances on the floor, not sitting on the toilet and receiving assistance for a tricky number two.
So here’s some toilet horror for you. Every one of these tales varies in each telling, but here’s the gist of things.
Aka Manto
“Aka Manto” literally translates into “Red Cape”, and this entity usually seems to haunt the fourth stall in elementary school restrooms. Should you enter its stall, you will be asked one of these questions the moment you sit down: “Red cape or blue cape?” or “Red paper or blue paper?” Regardless of the wording, answering “red” will get the skin flayed off of your back, and you will be strangled to death if you answer “blue”. The trick to this is to not answer at all. Just do your business and get the fuck out.
Photo Courtesy of WallpapersBrowse.com
Hanako-san
Have you ever played “Bloody Mary”? This is Japan’s version. Hanako-san haunts the third stall of the third story bathroom in schools. To summon her, knock three times on the stall door and ask her if she’s in there. If she answers you, I suggest you run. Hanako-san has no qualms about dragging her summoners into the stall and killing them.
Kashima Reiko
WARNING: IF YOU HEAR THE TALE OF KASHIMA REIKO, SHE WILL APPEAR TO YOU WITHIN THE MONTH. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Kashima Reiko is the spirit of a woman whose legs were cut off by a train. Despite dying on the tracks, for some reason she chooses to haunt bathrooms. She asks every person who encounters her where her legs are. There is no right answer to this — she will cut your legs off no matter what you tell her.
The Akaname
These little creatures aren’t dangerous, but they’re pretty disgusting. Akaname are goblin-like demons that live in old bathrooms and bathhouses, surviving off of the dirt and grime these places have accumulated. Apparently, they also like to lick human feet. So don’t be alarmed if a red tongue darts across your toes. Or freak out, because who knows what their tongues have picked up.
So there you have it — three ways to die with your pants around your ankles (and a gross experience). Have fun trying to relieve yourself in Japan.
Michelle A.
Michelle is a second-year student in the Professional Writing program. She doesn’t know what she’s doing with her life. She hopes she’s doing something right. She is a great person to talk to; doesn’t talk much herself.
