Devlin - Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Urban Legends: Volume Two

Toshiden Vol. 2

Exploring Japanese Urban Legends

Tara A. Devlin

Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Urban Legends Vol. 2
First Edition: May 2019

taraadevlin.com

2019 Tara A. Devlin

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

INTRODUCTION

When I released Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Urban Legends Vol. 1 in 2018, I wasnt sure how the book would be received. Ive loved urban legends since I was a child, but how would other people feel about a book that didnt just look at the stories of Japanese legends, but their histories, their origins, and their variations? Thankfully, people took to it very well! I received numerous requests and comments asking if and when a second volume would be coming out.

Here it is!

If youve read the first volume of Toshiden , youll know what to expect here. The book is split into sections featuring urban legends not just of the supernatural variety, but also from society at large, medical oddities, dark secrets from the entertainment industry, punny jokes, and horrific crimes all straight out of Japan. All research comes straight from Japanese sources and looks at the development of these legends, how they came to be in the first place, whether they are true or not, and interesting variations you can find in different areas of Japan.

So, without further ado, get ready to feel your skin crawl. Get ready to laugh. Get ready to think. Get ready to cringe. This volume has it all! Welcome to Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Legends Vol. 2 !

Supernatural

Sukima-onna

A young man lived all alone. One day, he felt someone looking at him from within his room. He looked around but, of course, nobody was there. There was no reason for anyone else to be there but him. And yet, the feeling that someone was looking at him continued.

Worried, the young man searched his room, but he found nothing. It was possible that someone was peeping at him from outside, but his curtains were closed, so there was no way to see in. Maybe someone had installed a surveillance camera, or a listening device He got even more worried, and carefully searched through every inch of his room. Then, he found the source of the gaze.

In the thin gap between the dresser and the wall, a woman was staring right at him

ABOUT

Theres a good chance youve heard of Sukima-onna, or the Gap Woman, before. Shes a favourite of 2chan, and her popularity has spread to Western shores as well. At her most basic, Sukima-onna is a woman that peers out from the gaps in ones room. Any gaps. It can be from between the dresser and wall, as in the above story, or it can be from underneath the bed, behind the curtain, in the drawers absolutely anywhere. Theres no gap too small for her, and the only way to avoid her gaze is to make sure that every single little gap is covered. That means even the cracks in the floor, wall, or doors. Everything. Youll need a lot of tape, if the idea of her gazing at you from every nook and cranny doesnt drive you insane first.

Gaps were once thought to connect this world to the next, but where did she originally come from?

HISTORY

In modern times, Sukima-onna gained popularity when comedian Sakura Kinzo told her story to the masses on the daytime television show Waratte Iitomo . His version, called the One Millimetre Ghost or One Millimetre Woman, went as follows:

A certain man didnt show up to work one day. Worried, his colleague called him, but was unable to get in contact with him. A week passed without word from the man, and so his colleagues went to his apartment to find out what was going on.

When they got there, the man was inside. When they asked what was going on, the man informed his colleagues that he hadnt taken a single step outside all week.

Its not healthy to stay inside for so long, one of his colleagues told him.

She gets lonely, so I cant go out, the man replied.

Confused, his colleagues asked him, What are you talking about? Theres no woman here.

Then, one of the workers pointed behind the dresser in the room. Shes in there

When they looked, they found a woman in a red dress standing in the gap between the dresser and the wall. She was staring right at them.

The colleagues ran, and nobody ever found out what happened to the man after that.

Yet Sukima-onnas origins begin even earlier than this. Her story can be traced all the way back to Mimibukuro , written by Negishi Yasumori, a samurai who worked in a senior administrative position during the latter years of the Edo Period. Negishi collected anecdotes and strange stories from various people, including his colleagues and the elderly, over a period of 30 years. He then collected these stories into 10 different volumes of 100 stories each which he called Mimibukuro . One of the stories he collected is nearly word-for-word the story of Sukima-onna that we know today:

A young man lived alone, and he could sense somebody looking upon him in his room. Of course, there was nobody in the room but him. He thought he was probably just imagining things, so he soon forgot about it.

However, starting from that day, the boy felt like someone was watching him; day in, day out. He lived on the second floor, so it was difficult to think that someone might be looking in from the outside. He started to think someone was hiding inside the room, so he began his search, but of course, it was all for nothing. He thought he was going insane.

One day, when he felt himself succumbing to such thoughts again, he finally found the source of the gaze. A woman was standing in the few millimetres between his dresser and the wall, and she was staring right at him.

Sukima-onna has changed little over the years, a rare yokai that finds herself able to comfortably fit into any time period without major revisions.

VARIATIONS

Shes not without variations, however. Some tales also tell of Sukima-otoko, the Gap Man. Depending on the story, Sukima-otoko and Sukima-onna can be interchangeable, but one variation goes as follows:

The ordinary places people live are full of innumerable gaps. In those gaps resides Sukima-otoko, and its said that if you happen to meet his gaze, he will drag you off to a different dimension. You will never be able to return home again.

In other cases, someone will suddenly approach you from behind and say, Lets play hide and seek. You must hide, but when Sukima-otoko finds you, he will drag you off to another world.

In stories exclusive to Sukima-otoko, its said the middle of his forehead, the area between his brows, has been smashed open. No reason has ever been given as to why.

In other versions, Sukima-onna likes to hide in different areas of the house:

One hot summers day, a young man was watching TV at home alone. It was just past one in the morning and he suddenly felt thirsty, so he made his way into the dark kitchen. Light from the living room filtered in, so he was able to see well enough without turning the lights on.

He grabbed a can of beer from the fridge, closed the door and then he saw it.

A woman, standing in the 10 cm gap between the fridge and the wall.

He screamed, and the woman disappeared. After that, the young man avoided using the kitchen at night. Just who was that woman?

She also doesnt necessarily have to be super thin:

A man discovered a rather cheap apartment in the heart of Tokyo. Compared to nearby units, this one was three times cheaper, and when the man asked the real estate to show him around inside, he found no problems with it.