Interesting Facts! #18

18. Japanese Urban Legends!! SPOOKY!!

Japanese urban legends (都市伝説 Toshi Densetsu) are endurable folk tails usually consisting of either:

1. paranormal creatures and their attacks on (usually) innocent victims 
2. non-supernatural, widespread rumors 

-As any other culture that has urban legends, these horrifying tails from the dark side are past down through the generations. The general purpose of these tails are to scare or teach moral lessens to children and since Japan has a very superstitious culture, there are lots of urban legends.



-Years ago in japan, there was a tradition where people would gather in a room and light 100 candles . Then they would start telling scary tales an ghost stories. At the end of each story a light would be extinguished. The room would grow darker and darker after each tale making the stories scarier and scarier. By the end of the last ghost story the last candle would be turned off making the room completely dark.

-Stories rarely consist of fantasy or animistic yokai (monster) of earlier Japanese superstition. Tails are mostly focused on onryo (Japanese ghost that become vengeful spirits and take there aggression out on anyone who cross their path). More modern stories take place in schools and, similar to yokai legends, incorporate cautionary tails, warning people not to bully others , walk home late at night or talk to strangers. 

-These stories are told at bedtime, camping trips, in front of a camp fire and mostly in the summer because some believe they chill you to the bone on hot summer nights. Most are told very dramatically and is told in a way to make you believe it actually happened. Though some stories are supernatural and fiction, some are true...some actually happened and can be proven logically... so watch out..

-The more you know~