You might hear the word ‘Urban Legend’. Basically it often consists of fictional stories & of course without proof. But these myths are coming from generation to generation. You will find different stories from different locality. When you will hear them they might sounds scary & authentic. Today we’ll know about some Japanese urban legends.

 

Noppera-bō

Our first legend is noppera-bo which is renowned as faceless ghost. They disguise themselves like a human but have no face. Just imagine someone is standing in front of you without face! How scary it might be. But don’t worry they are harmless that means they will only scare you.

Kappa

This legend is quite unusual. It also known as river boy (kawataro), horse puller (komahiki), river tiger (kawatora) or water tiger (suiko). They are said to live in ponds or rivers. They have green skin, hands & legs like human, a shell on the back like turtle. They can be quite evil they lured swimmers to their death along with horses and cows. They have a small dish type thing on their head with liquid and if this is damaged or liquid is lost they might die. So be careful when you are swimming in the water.

Nuribotoke

It also known as painted Buddha, ‘Lacquered Buddha’ for their black lacquered skin color & resemblance to Buddha. It has a long tail like a catfish and the most scaring part is its eyes that dangle out of its sockets. They look terrifying but they are harmless.

 Aka Manto

In English aka manto (red cloak) means the red cape. Legend says aka manto is a masked spirit who wears a red cloak and appears to the people using toilets. It basically asks the occupant of a toilet a tricky question. Guess what the question might be! Does it ask what toilet paper you want the red one or the blue one? If your choice is red you end up bleeding out on the floor and for blue, you get strangled to death. So if you want to live do not answer the question and run from there.

Chōchin-obake

In English, it means the paper lantern ghost. The chochin-obake in particular was created from a chochin lantern composed of “bamboo and paper of silk”. They are portrayed with “one eye, and a long tongue protruding from an open mouth”. There is a theory that they were created as a kind of fiction for entertaining children. In an old story from the Yamagata Prefecture, at a shrine with an aged chochin, a chochin-obake would appear and frighten humans, and the obake would no longer appear after the chochin was put away.

The ghost of okiku (KuneKune)

The ghost of okiku is also known as kunekune. It is said that the kunekune looks like a paper mannequin that is long slender white and shape like humanoid. It is said that during the hot summer days during lunchtime the being can be found there. Most of the time it hangs around wide extended rice fields or acres but in some cases, they are very rare it can be found over the open sea. If someone touches it or comes too close it might kill them but if you do not make contact kunekune will ignore you.

Teke Teke

Teke teke is one of the most famous urban legends of Japan. It is said that a young woman or school girl was fallen onto a railway line and was cut in half by a train. People say that it is a vengeful ghost or spirit. It is very dangerous and travels on her hands or elbows. If it finds you alone at night it will chase you and rip or cut your legs off. So be careful when you travel alone at night.

Nure-onna

Nure-onna is also famous as a snake woman. It is said that this snake woman is reputed to haunt shorelines and trap fishermen & swimmers. Nure onna sucks blood from her victim’s body and with her long tongue she lures her victims with a small bundle to resemble a baby. If the victim offers to hold the baby she will let them live but if they try to get rid of it the bundle becomes incredibly heavy and they become unable to escape. There is also a different story that they just want to wash her long hair peacefully and if anyone interrupts her she will attack her.