Japan

Japan produces urban legends with unusual staying power. Kuchisake-onna, the slit-mouthed woman who asks if you find her beautiful, caused genuine school panics in 1979. Hanako-san haunts the third stall of school bathrooms nationwide. Teke Teke drags herself on her elbows, and the Red Room curse migrated Japanese fear onto the early internet. Beyond the famous names, this is the largest section of our archive: hundreds of entries covering yokai folklore, haunted tunnels and mountain passes across every prefecture, Aokigahara forest, cursed rituals like Kokkuri-san and Hitori Kakurenbo, and the true incidents behind stories such as the Inunaki Village legend. Start with the classics, then work into the regional hauntings few English sources cover.