Terrifying Urban Legends in Japanese Schools That Will Give You Chills

It’s summer in Japan! And in Japan, summer is often said to be the perfect season for spine-chilling ghost stories! I get tons of requests for a video on this theme and it’s a little scary but I will do my best!

So today, I would like to introduce you to the Seven Horrifying Mysteries of Japanese schools. The mysteries I introduce will get more and more terrifying towards the end, so please enjoy this video till the end.

The Seven Mysteries differ depending on the region of Japan, and some people say there are actually more than 30 if you count them all. So the seven I’ll introduce today are the ones that I heard growing up as a child in Japan.

I hope you can search for more mysteries of Japanese schools if you’re interested. And also please let me know about your favorite ghost or yokai in the comments after watching this video!

In this channel, you can take a closer look at Japanese traditional culture, tips on traveling to Kyoto, and social problems in Japan. So learners and lovers of Japanese language and culture, be sure to subscribe to enjoy more content!

*The content is based on personal studies and experience
There is no intention of denying other theories and cultural aspects

[Timecodes]
0:00 Let's START!
1:38 1. The Thirteen Steps
2:21 2. Hanako-san
4:10 3. The Music Room
5:55 4. The Moving Statue of Ninomiya Kinjiro
8:09 5. The Cherry Blossoms of Blood
9:09 6. The White and Red Hands / The Red and Blue Paper
10:39 7. Teke-teke
13:18 Today’s Conclusion

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I have a new dream… It is to raise money to enroll in a school to become a Japanese language instructor (an official qualification)! I promise you that I will become the best Japanese teacher who not only teaches Japanese, but is also familiar with Japanese history and traditional culture.

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▼Who is Shogo? What is this channel about?▼

▼Related videos in this channel▼
-Yokai are NOT Japanese Ghosts
-Why Ghosts of Samurai Often Appear in Noh Theater
-Why Does the Hair on Japanese Dolls Grow?

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The perfect channel to learn about Japanese culture and history in your spare time, during your walk to school or work, and when you are cooking or doing house chores.

Not only will I be covering the topics in this main channel, but also some topics that you will only be able to enjoy in the sub-channel, like answering questions I receive, and my opinions towards some of the comments.

▼Places recommended to visit in Kyoto | "Kyoto Hidden Gems" series▼

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♪Music♪
おとわび
トーマス大森音楽工房
ぽるぽるMusic
しゃろう Sharou
MOMIZism MUSiC

♪Sound effects♪
効果音ラボ

♪Pictures♪
かわいいフリー素材屋 いらすとや

#sevenschoolmysteries #yokai #japaneseghosts #horrorstories #japanesehorror

[LetsaskShogo]

▼Please support me through Ko-fi (a donation platform like Patreon)▼
I have a new dream… It is to raise money to enroll in a school to become a Japanese language instructor (an official qualification)! I promise you that I will become the best Japanese teacher who not only teaches Japanese, but is also familiar with Japanese history and traditional culture.

Things I want to do after I get the qualification:
-Free Weekly/Monthly Japanese lessons on YouTube LIVE
-Online private Japanese lessons
etc.

▼Who is Shogo? What is this channel about?▼

▼Related videos in this channel▼
-Yokai are NOT Japanese Ghosts
-Why Ghosts of Samurai Often Appear in Noh Theater
-Why Does the Hair on Japanese Dolls Grow?

▼MY DREAM▼

“To make every Japan lovers’ dream come true, by making Japan a more secure, comfortable, and safer place for everyone to visit, study, and live in”

I will be using the profit I gain from this channel at restaurants, hotels, and cultural facilities in Kyoto to introduce them. The more you watch the videos on this channel, Kyoto and Japan will become a more exciting place, and you can support your own and others’ dreams in the future even more.

▼Join our Membership▼

●Membership benefits
-Limited behind-the-scene videos
-Weekly Zoom call or live stream
-Priority reply to comments

▼[Sub-channel] “Shogo’s Podcast”▼
Please subscribe!!

The perfect channel to learn about Japanese culture and history in your spare time, during your walk to school or work, and when you are cooking or doing house chores.

Not only will I be covering the topics in this main channel, but also some topics that you will only be able to enjoy in the sub-channel, like answering questions I receive, and my opinions towards some of the comments.

▼Places recommended to visit in Kyoto | "Kyoto Hidden Gems" series▼

▼Instagram▼
*Please ask me questions through the DM here!（⚠I do not use e-mail）

[rohankishibe]

I'm from Germany and I didn't know that our composers haunt Japanese schools. The more you know!

[thefreakmachine]

Laser eyed Beethoven, now that's a story!

[evilby]

OMG Hanako san explains an elementary school experience I had.
I had a half Japanese friend who went by Hanako (not her legal name) and used to tell me a ghost story about a toilet ghost that would pull you into the toilet forever. I thought it was just the weirdest ghost story I ever heard but now I understand.

[damianw]

Japan actually has many scary ghosts stories, interestingly most my Japanese friends seem do not believe or pretend never believe real ghost and said never experience them. On the other hand, many of foreigner claim they saw or at least experience supernatural events while visit Japan

[justinlim]

Heck yeah, I love Japanese urban legends. They have an interesting flavour to them that’s rare and enjoyable to hear about!

[KaoruMzk]

I didn’t know there were multiple “origin stories” for Hanako-San.
The one I was familiar with was the one where she was assaulted by a pervert in the school toilet.

Also, laser eyes Beethoven is now my favorite ghost story ever.

[nichochan]

Me coming into this as a Filipino who likes mythology: Eh, it's not as bad as I thought.

[a.b.cooper]

I recently found used copies of the manga Hanako and the Terror of Allegory, and it was really cool to see the origins of some of the legends that showed up in the manga.

[AdamOwenBrowning]

I learnt about the veritable amount of Japanese school ghost stories from... Ghost Stories, the anime with the hilariously terribly brilliant dub. We have them in our country too!

[dirtcop]

I think that stories like these are common in every culture. They are interesting and some may have had some truth in their origins. Either a child's active imagination or someone wanting to scare children is responsible for these legends.

[chereisiecrawford]

Growing up in Scotland, I heard hundreds of tales and warnings from my Granny. She used to warn me not to step into a circle of mushrooms. Those are fairy rings, if you step into one, the fae folk steal you to their world where you will be killed. Japans own myths and legends are as plentiful and as terrifying to learn, but fun! I found a few similar Myths between Japan and Scotland, i am utterly fascinated.

[maxsonskyyap]

Teke Teke is by far the most gruesome Japanese Urban Legends of all time that I had heard on social media.

[Yulo]

Interesting, I was actually somewhat familiar with some of these urban legends:)
I played a Japanese sound novel game called Higanbana no saku yoru ni (On the night the red spider lily blooms) and it all takes place in a school that is haunted by urban legends that are true. Like the 13th step and music room one. But in the game they are different so it was nice to see the original stories of where they took the inspiration from:)

[EliotChildress]

I work in Japanese schools but am glad to know my school has too many stairs, no north bathrooms, I never go in the music rooms, do not have that statue, and can’t go in the girls bathroom. Guess I’ll have to wait to find out about the cherry trees and will just have to watch out for teketeke. 1/7 isn’t bad odds to survive against 😁

[miken]

This is the video I've been waiting for. I love lores, urban legends and anything scary. Please do a lengthy video on each of these stories. PLEASE!!

[monicab]

SPOOKY!! There are so many ghost stories from Japan. ❤️

[guiramos]

Thank you for this amazing video Shogo ❤️🙏🏻
I find it interesting how lots of Japanese scary stories revolve around vengeance and grudges, I wonder why those concepts are so strong and prevalent in the culture.

Shogo, if you don’t mind a suggestion for either a video or podcast, as I’m a huge fan o J-Rock and some J-pop as well with my favorite band being Asian Kung Fu Generation I always find Japanese lyrics to be very enigmatic and even confusing and I never quite understood why that is and how does Japanese music/lyrics reflect their way of thinking, their perspective on life and other subjects.

[bruisedhelmet]

Thank you! Perfect topic for the perfect season - its Halloween in the USA and I love teaching my daughters about the freight from other lands.
For my family, we consider September and October Halloween season.

At my work, the stairwells change between 12 and 13 steps on each floor... so I will take that one.

[khalilahd.]

I loved this! Such a cool way to share Japanese history 😅