Japan is a country full of legends, mythologies, and superstitions. In this article, we selected 5 urban legends from Japan that are completely strange and crazy. We also recommend reading our article about monsters, myths, and Japanese legends that is also quite bizarre.
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Fire pants and women, 1932
On December 16, 1932, the eight-story department store Shirokiya caught fire in Tokyo, killing 14 people. Rumors suggest that local women dressed in kimono were forced onto the roof and refused to jump into the firefighters' safety nets out of fear of exposing themselves. This is because women usually do not wear underwear when wearing kimono.
It is believed that after the incident, store management ordered all saleswomen to wear underwear along with kimono, and this practice slowly spread across Japan. Despite the legend being strong and appearing in books, this has never been proven.
Curse of the Red Room
The legend was based on a horror flash animation (swf). A popup appears on the Internet and a recording will ask “Do you like the red room?” Even if you close the popup, it will keep reappearing until the recording finishes asking the question. Shortly after, the spectator will be killed and his room will be painted red with his own blood.
The urban legend gained notoriety after discovering that the 11-year-old schoolgirl who killed a 12-year-old (Sasebo Slashing) had the Flash animation saved to her computer favorites.
Cursed Kleenex Commercial
In 1986, Kleenex released three commercials exclusive to Japan. As you can see from the ad above, many viewers found this advertisement disturbing. Because of these commercials, curses began to spread.
Rumors began by saying that the song “It's a Fine Day” was a German curse (despite being sung in English), and led to team members facing untimely deaths. The biggest incident happened to the ads' lead actress, Keiko Matsuzaka. She would die, or be institutionalized, or give birth to a child of the devil. None of this really happened.
The Curse of Colonel Sanders
According to the fans of the baseball team Hanshin Tigers, Colonel Sanders of KFC was the main reason the team did not win the championship in 1985!
That's because after the team's first championship win, fans threw a statue of Colonel Sanders into Osaka's Dōtonbori River. Since then the team has not been able to win any other championships. Fans believe the curse will end when the original statue is recovered. To this day, they haven't found Colonel Sanders' hand or glasses.
Kiyotaki Tunnel
This tunnel was built in 1927. It is 444m long (4 is a cursed number in Japan, similar to number 13 for most western people). Kyiotaki is, according to legends, cursed by all the workers who died while building it, due to the terrible working conditions of the time, which forced them to work like slaves, and by all those who died in the tunnel, victims of accidents caused by the spirits of the workers.
It is said that ghosts can be seen in the tunnel at night, and that they can even possess your car and cause an accident. It is also said that there is a mirror in this tunnel, and that if you look into it and see a ghost, you will die a horrible death. The length of the tunnel can also vary depending on the time and period you are measuring it (night or day).