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I'm into Japanese ghost stuff. I think Japan has a lot of ghosts. Have you ever seen the ghost pictures people send to TV programs!? Really really scary...

I think they have so many hauntings because so many people died horrible deaths throughout their more violent history. There are places that prominent psychics say are "gateways to hell", even in Tokyo there is one of these rumored gateways.

Plus there's the mysterious forests around Mt. Fuji where people go to commit suicide all the time.. and a strange force doesn't allow compasses to work in there either.

Japanese are very superstitious and it feeds into the ghost legends and hauntings in general. It's so interesting... I wish I could take a ghost picture...

The funnest things to watch are exorcisms. There is this famous exorcist who occasionally comes on the program "Kisusuma" (is that correct anyone? It's the show with that Smap guy who can't sing and the logo is a deer.... o_O).

One that I watche which I think I will always remember was this young women who was supposedly possessed. After putting her in a trance and watching her flail and moan on the floor for a while, the woman started to speak in this deep unearthly voice.. the voice of the dead? She contiuned to answer the exorcist's questions (the spirit was now talking to him, actually, not the woman) and it stated that it was a princess who was thwarted by her lover who left her with a child.

What was crazy about it was that the camera men and crew filming the exorcism were getting SICK! They were rolling on the floor in the other room and were visably sick and nausious. Now, that's quite a lot of people to be affected if anyone wants to claim that stuff is fake...

I believe in the supernatural, no matter what country.

I know about Oni , which are demons or orges thare are huge and have horns and have a blue , black or red color body they often carry a kanabou and often appear in folktales. and Kappa which are Kappa are supernatural creatures which live both on land and in water. They are as tall as a four or five year old child. They have a beak-like snout, and fins on their hands and feet. They also have a shell on their back, and a water-filled dish on their head. As long as the dish is full of water, kappa keep their supernatural powers. Kappa are known for dragging people into the water and pulling out their livers through their anuses.

Although kappa harm people sometimes, there are also many tales where they have helped people. They are very curious. They often appear in cartoons because of their lovable images.

Kappa love sumo wrestling and cucumbers
(The last part about Kappa is from a website)

There probably is . Yea I think that was the name of the forest spirit in Princess mononoke. I remember seeing them but I didn't have time to catch their name

I have a childrens story book with a few Japanese tales, every story had something to do with demons or spirits. I don't know the names of any of the demons, but I think one of the stories was called The Old Man With a Bump.....not sure though.

I read a story about this woman, supposedly real beautiful but has veil covering most of her face. She'll ask you, "Am I beautiful?" (different versions of this) If you say yes, she'll remove the veil to show a mouth thats been slashed from cheek to cheek and a twisty tongue and ask the question again, then she'll kill you eek

There's also another version where if you say "No" she'll kill you on the spot if you say "Yes" she'll kill you at your house and if you say "Ordinary" I guess you survive.

And still another version where she can run really fast and if she catches you gashes your face, I think they said like 100 meters a second. I guess I don't really have to about since I'm female, but still... eek I had nightmares when I read that, I was thinking demon lol


Another story I read is supposedly in every Japanese elementary school and goes like this:

Kuchisake Onna

In a Japanese school a girl raises her hand to go to the bathroom. Once in the bathroom she realizes she is totally alone. She goes by the stalls and starts to feel uneasy. At the fourth stall she stops and opens the door to a pair of eyes staring at her. Kuchisake Onna.

According to what I read the fourth stall is haunted because its chosen as the place for suicides. I think thats how it went. Anyone else find that interesting?

Oh oh! Another I just remembered...

One of the Japanese hitchihikers:

After a long day a taxi-driver was ready to go home as he came around a turn he saw a man standing on the side of the road. He picks him up and he asks to be taken to a village the driver never heard of. "Oh it's there he said. I'll give you directions." The driver agrees and the passenger gives him really complicated directions. After awhile the driver ends up in parts of the countryside he's never seen before. He turns around to make sure he got the right directions and is surprised to see the man has disappeared, right as he drives over the edge of a cliff! twisted