Japanese Urban Legends: Seven School Mysteries

The Seven School Mysteries are a staple of Japanese horror, but how did they come about and, perhaps most importantly, what are they?

[stressedpanda]

I hear that if you sit in the back row of the classroom, at the desk nearest the window...




...you become the main character of your own anime series.

[lisatonkinson]

There is an adorable short Pokémon animation that features the 7 mysteries that has the ghost type Pokémon being behind these hauntings. A group of kids, including a shy and scared girl decide to investigate the school, with Gengar taking special interest in the girl. Most of the mysteries are covered sans the statue I believe. It’s on the Pokémon Japan kids tv YouTube channel and is subtitled in English (as are most of the other unique shorts).

[littledreamerrem]

The English dub of the Ghost Stories anime is a treasure, that's for sure. XD

[hannahsmith]

I first learned of the "Seven Wonders" from Kingdom Hearts II as a teen. I wondered what the inspiration was, and spent a lot of time on my school's computers trying to get around web blockers to research.

[littledreamerrem]

It wasn't exactly a mystery but more of a joke. At my school, we traditionally passed down the rumor of the pool on our school's roof to incoming freshmen and transfer students. The method to getting to it varied by person, but you could *totally* get there it if you tried hard enough, promise. The teachers just didn't want us to find it 'cause they hate fun.

Spoiler: there was no pool. Many laughs were had at gullible kids actually taking the bait. Good times...

[adellerulli]

The elementary school I went to (Ontario, Canada) had some rumours of the place being haunted due to it being beside a cemetery. One of my classmates/friends claimed that she and her family heard someone call for help from inside the school as they were playing on the playground equipment when the school was closed for the summer. Another one of my classmates even claimed to see a ghost when the lights shut off in one of the boys' bathrooms. And another one of my classmates claimed to see one of the statues in the cemetery move.

[LavishDgoat]

Seriously, people like me who have found this channel are just super lucky. These kind of channels is exactly what I love. Love from India 🇮🇳

[ticklefox]

At the school where I attended grades 7-12 (US junior high and high school) there was a genuine human skull used as a prop in the art room. This wasn't a rumor among the students but a fact confirmed by our teacher, who would encourage us not to be afraid of it/him and learn anatomy and drawing using the skull. I know we were told how the (very old) skull was acquired, but I've forgotten the details over the years. (No, our teacher wasn't a serial killer). 😅But it's weird what we would just accept unquestioningly back then.

[brickproduction]

The piano thing I feel is from a device attached to the piano that plays itself. I believe some pianos have that where they play a set of recorded playings used for practice

[jedodedo]

Omg I love the Gakko no Kaidan anime! Pls make a video of it if you have time, Tara. 😅

[BattleManiac]

The private Catholic school I went to as a kid in the Philippines was actually built on land that used to be a cemetery. The Graves were all moved and prayers done before construction, or so I've heard, but of course we had our fare share of ghost stories. Didn't help that the Church still had a few graves (as they weren't buried where the school buildings were built).

The one I still remember is that the 3rd floor of the elementary school building had a haunted girls washroom. It was quite creepy b/c the third floor *only* had that washroom and literally nothing else. I'm guessing that there is empty space up there for future expansion, just waiting for doors and windows to be cut out, but still super unsettling. It was a common test of courage for elementary students to go up to that washroom after classes were done.

[BLeDude]

schools in south east asia, on the other hand, are haunted by ww2 era japanese soldiers marching in the school field. no idea why every school have that kind of haunting, though. lol 😅

[bagandbroad]

I’m so jealous, I would have loved it if any of my schools had mysteries. The bathroom and mirror ones would have terrified me

[bsdbibliophile]

The bit about school anatomical models being made of real human remains reminded me of a detective novel by Edogawa Ranpo. In his novel The Spider Man (minor spoilers ahead for the novel), the villain kills beautiful young girls and turns their bodies into art. In the beginning of the novel, one of the girls is cut into five pieces, dipped in plaster, and then those five pieces are given to local schools to be used as art models. Now that I know that something similar has actually happened in Japan, that story creeps me out even more.

[lainiwakura]

I'm just happy you mentioned the Ghost Stories dub lmao.

[Kainlarsen]

Lol! The Beethoven story was funny. His portrait does have an intense, brooding gaze. :D

[coffeesweet]

My High School used to be a Dutch Cemetery back in the day. in the late 1960s, it was transformed into soccer field, youth sport facility (including a swimming pool) and Scout's Hall after the graves were moved to a different cemetery in the city. the local cemetery is still exist to this day, separated by a village road.
because of it's past, my high school also have ghostly stories despite being a relatively new building. the entire compound (school buildings, youth sports facility and Scout's hall) finished around the late 1970s, so it's only around 40 years old (as most school buildings in my country are around 80-100 years old, so 40s is pretty new). the stories that i used to hear back when I was in high school were the horseman in Dutch military uniform patroling around after midnight, then the lady in the biology lab and the little boy in the back stage of the school hall. I, myself, had encountered the little boy when my friend and I were practicing for an extracurricular activity in the evening. we were just finishing our practice when we heard giggle from the back stage. we never stayed late in the school hall ever again after that.
anyway, I think every school everywhere has this kind of story. it's like a part of our memory about the school.

[radishattack]

So many spooky video game and anime moments make much more sense now

[toboeStar]

Another great video! I really enjoyed this deep dive!

My school had the legend of being the hiding place for the ransom money in the infamous Oetker heir abduction. Apparently there have been some renovations during that time and the criminals used the construction site to hide their loot.

[rethundralegna]

Cool.
I wondered before if the 7 school mysteries have a standard or all staple story in all schools. But now that you mentioned it, it does make sense that different schools would have different take of it of their own.