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Aka Manto (赤マント): Japan’s Nightmare in the Bathroom Stall

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The question about red or blue paper has scared Japanese students for generations now. The spirit of Aka Manto (赤マント) is still haunting the toilets of schools to this day, and is still a mystery of where the legend comes from. Was he a bloodsucking vampire? Serial killer? Perhaps an ancient god? 

You’re in a dimly lit school bathroom in the remote and old part of your school. You are the last one in the building, and you just needed a moment of peace. Then, from the stall next to you, a deep, unsettling voice asks a simple question:

“Would you like red paper or blue paper?”

You have already heard the stories and you know you’re about to die in one of the most gruesome ways possible.

Let’s talk about Aka Manto, Japan’s most murderous toilet ghost.

The Legend of Aka Manto: The Wrong Answer Could Kill You

Aka Manto: This is an artistic rendition of Aka Manto by Matthew Hoobin. Source: Wikimedia

Aka Manto is not your average ghost, but often described more of a demonic entity or yōkai who lurks in public restrooms, particularly school bathrooms. Very often it is in elementary schools in a specific stall in an older or not often dark and forgotten toilet, especially the older squat toilets. It is often the fourth stall that is the cursed one as the number four is associated with death. 

The legend of Aka Manto goes something like this:

After Aka Manto asks if you want red or blue paper, you only have bad choices. If you say “red paper” (赤い紙, akai kami), Aka Manto will slice you apart, drenching the walls in your blood. You die in a pool of your own gore, forever staining the stall red.

If you say “blue paper” (青い紙, aoi kami), Aka Manto will strangle you to death, draining your face of blood until you turn blue. Some versions say he sucks the life out of you, leaving nothing but a pale, cold corpse.

Trying to be clever and bring your own paper? Bad idea, as it will vanish mysteriously. If you ask for a different color like yellow, Aka Manto drags you into the underworld, and you are never seen again. If you try to run away? The stall door won’t budge, and your fate is sealed. If you stay silent? He kills you anyway. Basically, once Aka Manto asks the question, you’re doomed, in most cases.

Origins: Where Did This Nightmare Aka Manto Come From?

Like all great urban legends, Aka Manto’s origins are murky. He’s been around for decades, at least since the 1930s in Nara City, terrifying generations of schoolchildren and unsuspecting restroom-goers. In 1940, the legend spread to Kitakyshu and even reached the Korean Peninsula under Japanese rule because of Japanese students. At least the legend of the red paper and the blue paper was a well known legend, but when did the red cloaked man appear in the story? 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Japan

One theory is that Aka Manto was once a man—maybe even a student—who wore a red cloak and a mask. Some say he was handsome, but so obsessed with his looks that he wore a mask to keep people from seeing his face. Today, the word manto mostly means a cloak or cape and he is often depicted as this. But back when the urban legend first started spreading, manto referred to a shorter, sleeveless kimono jacket. 

Others say he was a vengeful spirit, hunting down those who disrespected him in life. Whatever the case, he died tragically—and now he haunts bathrooms, forcing his victims to “choose their fate.”

The Unsolved Murder Creating Aka Manto

In some versions he was a serial killer and Ako Manto is said to be connected to The Aogetto Murder Case in 1906 in what is today Sakai city in Fukui Prefecture. A man in his 30s wearing blue, in some variations red, came to a shop as a messenger and asked Kaga Murayoshi (30) to follow him to help his sick aunt in Shinbo village. Murayoshi trusted him and followed.

The man used the same method to lure his mother, Kiku (59) and his wife, Tsuo (25) as well. He tried to take the two year old daughter as well, but the mother had asked a neighbor to look after her. The woman refused to let him in when he came to the door, asking for the daughter. The eldest daughter was spared as well, as she was babysitting another house. 

They never returned, and the relatives in Shinbo village said they were not sick and had not asked for a messenger. Behind the Murayoshi family home, they found bloodstains in a boat by the Takeda River, finding Tsuo and Kiku’s bodies floating in the river, but never finding Kaga’s body. 

Although they believed this murderer must have had a strong hatred for the family, they could never find any motives for it or suspects. The case is still unsolved.

Was this a true murder case however? For most it’s considered a legendary one more so than a true murder mystery, as most details of the case changes every retelling as well there have been no original sources or documentation about the case. 

Inspired by Paper Doll Kamishibai Play

There is also a theory that the story of Aka Manto came from a mix of several real crimes mixed with popular media at the time.. One being the rape and murder of a young girl in Yanaka in Tokyo, although proof of a specific case has not been found. The other one comes from a harmless story from a popular kamishibai play at the time called Aka Manto by Kōji Kata. It told the story about a gentleman wizard in a red cloak that takes a shoeshine boy as his apprentice. 

Mixing these two stories together created fear and a commotion in Osaka and the kamishibai was confiscated by the police because of it. There are however different tales about what year it was confiscated, if it was in 1936 or 1940. 

Kamishibai: Meaning (紙芝居, “paper play”) is a form of Japanese street theater and storytelling that was popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s and the postwar period in Japan until television took over. Kamishibai were performed by a kamishibaiya (“kamishibai narrator”) who travelled to street corners with sets of illustrated boards that they placed in a miniature stage-like device and narrated the story by changing each image. Many think that the legend could have been inspired by this. Source: Flickr

Bloodsucking Vampire Tales from a Socialist Banker

In Ōkubo, Tokyo, the legend form tells of a vampire during the Shōwa era in the early 1900s. Corpses started appearing after being attacked by someone in a red cloak. 

This vampire theory is most likely connected to another story. Some say the urban legend is actually from a socialist banker in the 1930s to unsettle people and that he was arrested because of it. The motive is uncertain and a little bit random. If this actually happened is uncertain though, as it’s just a memory from a novel by Nobuo Ozawa. There are however real news clippings talking about a similar case about a communication employee, not a bankman. 

“Crackdown on rumours/Communication employee detained” “
In the wartime imperial capital, there have been many malicious rumors circulating, such as rumors that are disrupting politics and the financial world, and the story of the “Red Cape Hunchback” who is sucking blood that spread from Oji to the entire city, which are causing fear. The Metropolitan Police Department Intelligence Division has decided to carry out a thorough crackdown on these rumors to eradicate them from their source. On the 25th, it notified each police station under its jurisdiction to carry out strict inspections and internal investigations, while the Second Investigation Division also cooperated with this, and since the 23rd, a certain communication employee, Tomonori Tsune (38), of 3363 Oikurata-cho, Shinagawa-ku, has been detained and interrogated by Inspector Kobayashi. Since the middle of this month, he has been spreading rumors in the financial world that Prime Minister Hiranuma has been assassinated, which is said to have caused considerable shock in the banking world. Since these types of rumors are often spread for personal gain, the Metropolitan Police Department is also closely pursuing his background.”
– Published in the Yomiuri Shimbun in the evening edition of February 25th (dated the 26th) in 1939. source

Other Theories Behind the Red Cloaked Man

One theory of the ghost of Aka Manto comes from a rumor from Osaka around 1935. It said that a man in a cloak would appear in a dimly lit shoe locker in the basement. A year or two after this it spread to Tokyo and further and turned into the urban legend we know of today. A similar legend circulated in Kobe in the 70s and 80s about someone, or something, wrapping children in a red blanket and abduct them into the demon realm. 

The Toilet Ghost Phenomenon: Why Are Bathrooms So Haunted?

If you’ve noticed a pattern, you’re not alone—Japan has way too many bathroom ghosts.

Because bathrooms are liminal spaces—places where people are alone, vulnerable, and isolated. Plus, back in the day, Japanese toilets were dark, creepy holes in the ground. If anywhere was going to be haunted, it was the bathroom. There are also the cases of toilet gods from more ancient times that used to be worshiped. 

Toilet Gods from Older Days

To understand why there are so many legends of spirits haunting the toilets in Japan, we must understand the folklore that existed before the ghost stories. In Japan, as well as many other cultures, Toilet Gods and deities were popular and worshiped from the Edo period until the early Showa period. This is in large part because of the association between human waste and agriculture, therefore making the toilets a fertile ground so to speak. Toilets were often dark and unpleasant places where the user was at some risk of falling in and drowning. The protection of the toilet god was therefore sought to avoid such an unsanitary fate.

According to a different Japanese tradition, the toilet god was said to be a blind man holding a spear in his hand. The Ainu people of far northern Japan and the Russian Far East believed that the Rukar Kamuy, their version of a toilet god, would be the first to come to help in the event of danger.

Most often, it was a benevolent god, but it happened, like in Okinawa, that the God could become a place of haunting evil spirits. The fuuru nu kami, or “god of the toilet” from the Ryūkyū Shintō of the Ryukyu Islands is the family protector of the area of waste. The pig toilet, lacking this benevolent god, could become a place of evil influence and potential haunting because of the accumulation of waste matter, rejected and abandoned by the human body. This version of the spirits residing in toilets is more reminiscent of the Korean Cheuksin (厠神): South Korea’s Vengeful Toilet Goddess. 

Read More: Cheuksin (厠神): South Korea’s Vengeful Toilet Goddess 

Toilet Gods and Colored Papers

In Kyoto, it is said that if you go to the toilet on the night of Setsubun, a monster called Kainade (Kainaze) will appear who will stroke your buttocks, and that if you chant “Red paper, white paper,” you can avoid this supernatural occurrence; there is also a theory that this evolved into a school ghost story. In Makabe County, Ibaraki Prefecture, it is said that blue and red, or red and white, paper dolls are offered to the toilet. 

Such stores of a spirit and colored papers being offered in the bathrooms have plenty of old tradition in Japan.

Originally, the act of offering to the gods changed to “I’ll give you some paper, so don’t behave suspiciously,” and the toilet god became more of a yokai over time, with people asking, “Shall I give you red paper, or blue (or white) paper?” 

After the war, there were a lot of old traditions that were left behind, and created the foundation for new ones. Gods and goddesses became ghosts and spirits, and only the skeletons of the legends reminiscent the old tales. 

Can You Survive an Encounter with Aka Manto?

Aka Manto is one of Japan’s deadliest urban legends, a spirit that proves you’re never truly safe—even in the most private places. But is there an end to the legend where you actually will survive?

If asked about what paper you want, there are two choices recommended.

You say, “I don’t need any paper.”

 You say nothing and calmly leave the stall.

If you’re lucky, Aka Manto lets you go. If not… well, you’ll be another restroom horror story.

So the next time you step into a restroom, especially one with a suspiciously empty last stall, ask yourself:

Do you really need to go?

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References:

Aka manto | Yokai.com

赤マント – Wikipedia 

青ゲットの殺人事件 – Wikipedia

赤い紙、青い紙 – Wikipedia

青ゲット殺人事件――都市伝説となった事件 – オカルト・クロニクル

http://snarkmori.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-136.html 

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The Legend of Toire no Hanako-san: The Ghost Haunting School Toilets in Japan

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For decades now, students have been terrified of the encounter with Hanako-san, the toilet ghost said to haunt the bathrooms in Japanese schools. Said to have died in one of the stalls, she now lures students into their death. 

In the dimly lit bathroom on the third floor in the school building, there is a third stall believed to be haunted. No one ever uses it, but someone dared you to go to it. It’s just a game, they said, and curious, you wanted to see for yourself, if the story is really true. If you knock three times on the third door and ask “Hanako, are you there?” you will hear a faint voice answering from the inside. “Yes,” the voice says. 

The door opens and a girl with short hair and a red skirt drags you into the bathroom, never to come out again. 

Urban School Legends: Japan have a rich universe of urban legends and ghost stories set at their school, on their way to school. Many of them are the product of a specific fear in society, some are remnants of old folklore and tradition. The tale of the toilet ghost, Hanako-san looks to be a bit of both.

The Legend of Hanako-san

Hanako-san’s origins are a mystery wrapped in a horror story. There have been many versions of the school ghost story of Toire no Hanako-san (トイレの花子 (はなこ)さん), meaning Hanako oof the toilet, over the years. 

Unlike some ghosts that belong purely to folklore, Hanako-san’s story has adapted to the times. She appears in horror movies, manga, anime, and video games, keeping her legend alive and well. In fact, she’s so famous that even outside Japan, people know her name. She’s been compared to Bloody Mary, Slender Man, and even the Girl from The Ring—but Hanako-san came first, and she’s still one of the most feared spirits in Japan.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Japan

Toire no Hanako-san is often described as a young girl with a short bob and wearing red, often a red suspender skirt or school uniform with a white dress shirt, making her visual constant figure throughout the many variations of her legend and origin.

School Uniform: Although not explicitly stated, the appearance of Hanako-san is most likely a school uniform, naturally so as she was said to be a student dying in the school bathrooms. Her colors of red and white however seems to be from much older times and is the same colors they used when worshiping the ancient toilet gods.

The Victim of Bullying

The modern version of the toilet ghost in Japanese girl’s schools bathrooms paints Toire no Hanako-san as a victim of relentless school bullying. Through the many versions of Hanako-san, it seems the way she died reflects a real threat the current society focuses on and fears. Is this the students biggest fear in modern times?

Humiliated and tormented, Toire no Hanako-san sought refuge in the bathroom, where she ended her life. Now, she haunts the very place where she was last seen, waiting for someone to notice her.

The Girl Killed in the Bathroom

Another version suggests Hanako-san was the victim of a violent crime, perhaps another fear that really took hold of parents and students in the more modern era of Japan, after the war ended. Toire no Hanako-san was hiding in the bathroom from someone out to hurt her. 

In some version it was from an abusive parent and she had her hair bobbed like that to hide the scars from the beating. 

Some say that she was hiding from a deranged killer. No matter who it was, they found her. Some say she was stabbed, others say she was strangled—either way, Toire no Hanako-san never made it out alive.

The World War II Bombing Tragedy

One of the most widely accepted tales places Hanako-san’s death in the 1940s, during World War II and is perhaps one of the earliest iterations of the urban legend. In 1944, the alarm went off and she was hiding in the school bathroom during an air raid. In some versions she was too afraid to leave the bathrooms. Some say that the children were playing hide and seek and she was hiding in the toilet and didn’t even hear when the alarm went off.

A bomb hit the school building, with most children having been safely evacuated. But Toire no Hanako-san was trapped, and the bomb killed her in the stall as the school burned down. Her spirit never left the toilet.

Other Origins Stories From Around Japan

Who was Toire no Hanako-san originally? What was her true name and where does she come from? There are origin stories from all over Japan, all claiming that this is where it all started. Some say that the legend started after a young girl fell to her death from a library window in Fukushima. Or an elementary school student who fell through an open drainage hole and died. 

In a television program, 巷のウワサ大検証!それって実際どうなの会, aired in 2025 investigating urban legends, they claimed that she was a ghost by an evacuated girl who went missing in 1944 and a boy saw her ghost in the third toilet. The following year on 3rd of March snow blocked the toilet and somehow killed several students. Some say that she is buried in a garbage dump at a school in Saitama Prefecture or behind the gymnasium at a school in Tokyo.  

Hanako is also not only haunting toilets, as there is a story called Hanako of the Persimmon Tree. This story tells about a young girl picking persimmons and giving them to a nursery home. But on the way, she died in a traffic accident and became a ghost, haunting the Persimmon Tree. 

When Did the Legend Start?

The Legend has been around for a long time now, and is traced back to at least the 1950s. Along with many urban legends at that time, it gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s when children spent a lot of the time at school and an occult revival boom swept over Japan, making people particularly interested in urban legends and ghost stories. 

But what happened in the 1950s that created this legend?

The Power of Toilet Ghosts: Hanako-san Isn’t Alone

To understand why there are so many legends of spirits haunting the toilets in Japan, we must understand the folklore that existed before the ghost stories. In Japan, as well as many other cultures, Toilet Gods and deities were popular and worshiped from the Edo period until the early Showa period. This is in large part because of the association between human waste and agriculture, therefore making the toilets a fertile ground so to speak. Toilets were often dark and unpleasant places where the user was at some risk of falling in and drowning. The protection of the toilet god was therefore sought to avoid such an unsanitary fate.

According to a different Japanese tradition, the toilet god was said to be a blind man holding a spear in his hand. The Ainu people of far northern Japan and the Russian Far East believed that the Rukar Kamuy, their version of a toilet god, would be the first to come to help in the event of danger. Most often, it was a benevolent god, but it happened, like in Okinawa, that the God could become a place of haunting evil spirits. The fuuru nu kami, or “god of the toilet” from the Ryūkyū Shintō of the Ryukyu Islands is the family protector of the area of waste. The pig toilet, lacking this benevolent god, could become a place of evil influence and potential haunting because of the accumulation of waste matter, rejected and abandoned by the human body. This version of the spirits residing in toilets is more reminiscent of the Korean Cheuksin (厠神): South Korea’s Vengeful Toilet Goddess. 

Often the gods were given red or white girl dolls and flower decorations in the toilets. Today the tradition of worshiping toilet gods more or less gone, although toilets are often still decorated with flowers. This has also been a theory as to why Hanako is said to wear white and red clothes. Also her name, Hanako (花子), which consists of two Japanese letters meaning “Flower” and “Child” is said to come from this belief.

Toilet Gods: Often leaving little dolls or idols for the toilet dolls, they have also connected this tradition when the legend became a ghost story. Here from the movie, Hanako-san of the Toilet from 2013 about the urban legend. Watch here

Although most toilet gods are of a very masculine figure, there are examples of an old goddess from China that might have influenced the legend as well. The story of The Lady of the Privy, the Purple Maiden or Zigu as she is called, was said to be a concubine who was killed in the toilet, coming back as a toilet ghost. 

Read More: Zigu (紫姑): The Lady of the Latrine – China’s Most Unsettling Restroom Ghost and Goddess 

After the war, there were a lot of old traditions that were left behind, and created the foundation for new ones. Gods and goddesses became ghosts and spirits, and only the skeletons of the legends reminicents the old tales. 

Other Toiler Ghosts

Believe it or not, Hanako-san isn’t the only terrifying restroom spirit in Japanese folklore. Bathrooms, especially in schools, seem to be prime ghost real estate. Maybe it’s the isolation, the eerie silence, or just the general creep factor of public restrooms, but whatever the reason, Hanako-san has some supernatural company.

Other Bathroom Horrors in Japan:

Aka Manto (赤マント, “The Red Cloak”)

A male and malevolent spirit that appears in school restrooms and is said to preferre the last stall in the women’s toilet in school and public restrooms. Once you sit down for business you hear a male voice and asks you a simple question:

“Do you want red paper or blue paper?”

Pick red? You’re slashed to death, covering the walls in blood.

Pick blue? You’re strangled until you turn blue.

Pick neither? You can try to run, but many say he kills you anyway.

Kashima Reiko (加島礼子) or Teke Teke

A ghost with no legs who haunts school restrooms. She lost her lower half in a train accident, and now she crawls around, asking people where her legs are. She is also haunting urban areas and train stations at night, often then called Teke Teke, the sound she makes by dragging herself on her hands and elbows.

If you don’t answer correctly, she’ll cut off your legs and take them for herself.

Clearly, Japan takes its bathroom horror very seriously.

Summoning Hanako-san: A Dare You’ll Regret

In later years, a game was created around the legend of Hanako-san. If you’ve got a death wish (or just an unhealthy curiosity), you can summon Hanako-san—but be warned: not everyone who calls her walks away unscathed.

Popular Media: As a popular story, Hanako-san has been adapted into plenty of movies, animes, books and even one Japanese music artist is emulating her. This helps keep the legend of her alive. Here from the movie, Toire No Hanako San Shin Gekijyo Ban. Watch here

Here’s how it works:

Find a school restroom—specifically, the third stall of the third-floor girls’ bathroom.

Knock three times on the stall door.

Ask: “Hanako-san, are you there?” (花子さん、いますか？, Hanako-san, imasu ka?)

And then?

If she’s not there, congratulations, you live another day.

If she is there, you might hear a soft giggle, a faint whisper, or the distant echo of a child’s voice saying, “Yes, I’m here.”

If you’re really unlucky, the stall door slowly creaks open, revealing… something you should never have seen.

What happens next depends on the version of the legend:

Best-case scenario? Hanako-san just disappears. Worst-case scenario? A pale hand reaches out, dragging you inside the stall—where you vanish forever.

In some legends you can ask her to play a gay, and she agrees, asking what to play. If you say “Let’s play choking”, she will actually be choked to death… again. 

In Yamagata they probably have the most bonkers version of the legend where you call out Hanako when you leave the toilet. If she responds in a displeased voice, you know something bad will happen. They also have a variation of the legend where Hanako-san actually is a three meter long lizard that eats anyone when it lures them towards it with its girly voice. So that is that…

In Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture there is Hanako san in the girl’s toilet and a Yosuke-san in the boy’s toilet. If you walk around the toilet three times in the boy’s toilet and call out for Hanako-san, a bloody hand will appear from the toilet. If you call out his name, you have three seconds to run away, or you will be killed.

Why Is Hanako-san Still So Popular?

Despite being a legend that dates back decades, Hanako-san refuses to fade into history. She still haunts schools today, with students daring each other to summon her, and rumors of real sightings still circulating.

So, let’s be honest: if you ever find yourself alone in a Japanese school at night, standing in front of the third stall on the third floor…

Are you really going to knock?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But if you do, and you hear a soft giggle from behind the door, I suggest running. Fast.

Because Hanako-san is waiting.

And she never left.

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References:

トイレの花子さん – Wikipedia 

A-Yokai-A-Day: Hanako-san (or “Hanako of the Toilet”) | 妖怪シリーズ：トイレの花子さん | MatthewMeyer.net

Toilet god – Wikipedia 

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Teke Teke: The Terrifying Urban Legend of Kashima Reiko

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The urban legends of Teke Teke and Kashima Reiko are often so similar, they are thought to have merged or started together. Both of them warn about a vengeful spirit without legs, crawling her way to her victims, only letting you go if you can answer her riddle. 

Japan has no shortage of eerie urban legends, but few are as unsettling as the story of Teke Teke, (テケテケ), a ghostly entity known for its horrific appearance and chilling modus operandi. This tale, often shared among schoolchildren and horror enthusiasts, tells of a vengeful spirit, also classified as an onryō, whose origins are rooted in tragedy and whose presence is marked by a haunting sound—the ominous “teke-teke” noise she makes as she drags her mutilated body in search of victims.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Japan

The name given to the ghost is often said to be Kashima Reiko, although she is only one of the many variations of the legend. The urban legend has many variations and the spirit goes by many names, almost making the story of Teke Teke a type of ghostly fate for many different people across Japan. In almost all of the legends though, seeing her apparition, will most likely seal your own fate. 

Kashima Reiko: The urban legend of Kashima Reiko and Teke Teke are often told together. In 2009 a movie based on the urban legend of Teke Teke came out.

The Legend of Teke Teke

The story of Teke Teke centers around a young woman who met a gruesome fate, often said to be the ghost of a school girl. While variations exist, the most common version tells of a girl who fell—or was pushed—onto the tracks of an oncoming train. The impact severed her body at the waist, leading to her untimely and agonizing death. Being far north in Japan on a winter night, the extreme coldness made her veins freeze and the bleeding to stop. She was kept alive for a while like this, calling out for help, clawing her way up from the rails. 

In some versions she could have been helped, but the station staff and onlookers did nothing, or at least not enough and she died of her injuries. In some versions, the staff saw her and covered her with a tarp where she died slowly. 

Unable to find peace, her restless spirit is said to wander at night, often said to haunt old train stations and dark alleys. dragging her upper torso with her hands or elbows, making a distinct “teke-teke” sound against the ground.

It is believed that anyone who encounters Teke Teke is doomed to die. Many say she will appear to you three days after hearing the story if you don’t forget. She is said to move at unnatural speeds, capable of chasing down even the fastest runners and even cars. Her fingernails turned into claws she drags herself around with. When she catches her victim, she slices them in half, mirroring her own grisly demise. Some versions of the legend suggest that she carries a scythe or other sharp weapon, ensuring that her revenge is as brutal as her death.

Background for the Legend of Teke Teke

Teke Teke: (テケテケ) is a 2009 Japanese supernatural horror film directed by Kōji Shiraishi and written by Takeki Akimoto with a sequel following it. Based on the Japanese urban legend.

Teke Teke is often said to have been a school girl from Northern Japan, mostly said to be Hokkaido. Although very cold in the winter, there is no way it’s so cold to hold a decapitated person alive for a long time. Also, the way a train hits and injures a person, will most likely not result in this type of injury anyway.

It could be however, that this part of legend comes from an actual suicide at Akabana Station in Tokyo back in 1935. A woman threw herself in front of the trains and her legs were cut off but didn’t die because of how they were crushed under the train wheels. She was talking with the train conductor, but died after being taken to the hospital

In some variations Teke Teke is a school student, sometimes she is a grown woman. Often her ghost story is morphed to mirror the age and surroundings of those telling the story. Stories told about Teke Teke being a student are often connected with school bullying, and that she ended her life by leaping in front of a train. This way the legend exists as a sort of cautionary tale of bullying, although her vengeance is seemingly not only limited to bullies.  

She is often classified as an Onryō, a type of vengeful spirit of Japan that are often considered to be some of the most dangerous spirits in Japan, created out of hatred and coming back back for revenge to those who wronged them in life

Read More: Onryō — the Vengeful Japanese Spirit

The story of Teke Teke has been around for decades now in many variations and points of origin. Seemingly a merging of many stories that predates the current one. It seems like it could be inspired by, or at least connected with the tragic story of Kashima Reiko haunting public bathrooms, especially in schools.

The Connection to Kashima Reiko

Teke Teke is sometimes linked to another well-known Japanese ghost, Kashima Reiko, more connected with school bathrooms and toilets. Kashima Reiko’s story shares similarities with Teke Teke, as she is also a vengeful spirit with a severed body. It looks like the story of Kashima Reiko predates Teke Teke, although it looks like today, more people know about the Teke Teke version perhaps. Because of the bathroom connection, her story is often told together with the ghost of Hanako-san.

Read More: The Legend of Toire no Hanako-san: The Ghost Haunting School Toilets in Japan 

According to legend, Kashima Reiko is the ghost of a woman who died in Hokkaido, sometimes in Muroran, suffering a similar fate of being cut in half by a train. Most stories start at the end of World War II, or the period after. She was said to be an office worker and attacked and rape by an American soldier stationed there after the war. Some say that the attack happened in a public restroom and that 

The assault was severe, a doctor found her and saved her life, but she had to amputate her arms and legs. Her vanity made her so shocked by her new body, she jumped in front of the train to take her life. In many variants of the legend, she wasn’t an amputee, but the shame and depression after the assault made her take her life.

Today it is always told to be a woman, but when the stories first circulated, the story of the amputee was also said to sometimes be a male military veteran. This is often connected with the shrine in Kashima City where many soldiers visited to pray for victory during the war. Many yokai’s, or ghosts, are often forgotten gods and that this could be one of these instances of the war of God, Takemikazuchi. The shrine was also relocated in 1972 in Hokkaido, about the same time the Kashima story started spreading. 

There are also those claiming that Kashima Reiko is a version of the Slit-Mouth-Woman, scaring children since the 1970s and that the name of this ghost was actually Kashima Reiko. Before 1970, the story often went: A creature came knocking on the door, asking the one opening the door if they needed a leg. If you answered no, it would cut off one and carry it away. If you answered yes, an extra leg would grow on your body. 

Read More: Kuchisake-onna – The Urban Legend of the Slit-Mouthed Woman

Unlike the other variants of Teke Teke, her spirit is believed to haunt bathrooms exclusively, where she asks unfortunate victims questions about her death and where her legs are. Although not said to have died in the toilet, ghost stories of spirits haunting them are fairly big and many in Japan. 

How to Avoid Teke Teke and Kashima Reiko

In some versions, you can survive the encounter with Kashima Reiko if you answer with the phrase: “I need them right now”, where she will follow up with: “Who told you my story?” A riddle, you’re supposed to answer with: “kamen shinin ma“, or “mask death demon” which may be the phonetic root of Kashima’s name. People also say that if you answer that her legs are on the Meishin Expressway, the main way between Osaka and Nagoya.

If they fail to answer correctly, she kills them in a manner similar to her own demise. Some believe that Kashima Reiko and Teke Teke are actually the same entity, or at least different interpretations of the same tragic ghost story.

Like many Japanese urban legends, there are superstitions about how to avoid an encounter with Teke Teke. Some claim that she can be warded off if one answers her questions correctly, while others insist that saying certain protective phrases can save potential victims. In Kashima Reiko’s case, it is said that answering her question about where her legs are with the phrase “They are on the Meishin Expressway” can appease her spirit and spare one’s life.

The Cultural Impact of Teke Teke and Kashima Reiko

Kashima Reiko and Teke Teke’s legend is one of many yūrei (ghost) stories that permeate Japanese folklore, demonstrating the country’s long-standing fascination with spirits, death, and vengeance. Her story has been adapted into movies, manga, and even video games, keeping her terrifying presence alive in popular culture. Some say that if she catches you, you will turn into Teke Teke yourself. 

Teke Teke or Kashima Reiko is not just a tale meant to frighten children—she represents the fear of sudden, tragic death and the idea that spirits can return with unfinished business. Her legend continues to be passed down through generations, evolving with each retelling but always keeping the same terrifying essence: once you hear the sound of Teke Teke, it may already be too late.

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References:

テケテケ – Wikipedia

Teke teke | Yokai.com 

カシマさん – Wikipedia

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Cheuksin (厠神): South Korea’s Vengeful Toilet Goddess

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One of the most evil house deities in Korean Folklore is the spirit said to haunt the toilets. If you don’t enter respectfully, Cheuksin will wrap her long hair around your neck and strangle you to death when you are at your most vulnerable, at the toilet.

Ah, public restrooms—the universal hotspot for supernatural nightmares. If you thought Japan had a monopoly on haunted bathrooms with Aka Manto and Hanako-san, think again. South Korea has its own toilet deity, and she is angry, violent, and living in the filthiest stall with a grudge and murderous intent.

Read Also: Check out all ghost stories from Korea

Cheuksin (厠神), the goddess of outhouses and one of the most terrifying spirits in Korean folklore from a time when the toilets were darker, colder and outside of the family home. She doesn’t ask you cryptic questions like Aka Manto, and she doesn’t just make eerie noises like some wimpy poltergeist. No, Cheuksin takes her haunting to a whole new level—with murderous rage, long snake-like hair, and an explosive temper.

Feature Image: Sammi Sparke

The Legend: The Goddess of the Outhouse

Long before modern indoor plumbing, Korean households relied on outhouses—small, isolated structures separate from the main house. People have always felt rather vulnerable when sitting on the toilet, more exposed and afraid. And because old-school Korean outhouses were dark, eerie, and full of filth, naturally, something terrifying had to live there.

Enter Cheuksin, the guardian of restrooms, the queen of the latrine, and the nightmare of anyone with a weak bladder. Her worship is a minor part of the Gashin cult, and she is not the best known household deity. There were no gut, or shamanistic rituals dedicated to Cheuksin, unlike the other household deities. This was because she was said to be an evil and malevolent spirit, more like a toilet ghost than a goddess, really. 

The entity is said to have several names throughout the years and places. She was called Cheukganshin (측간신), Byeonso Gwishin (변소 귀신), Dwitgan Gwishin (뒷간 귀신), Buchul Gaxi (부출 각시), Chikdo Buin (칙도 부인) and Chigwi (치귀) among other things.

She is said to appear as a young girl, something she is said to have been once, her hair 150 cm long and she is said to spend her time counting her strands of hair, furious to be exiled to live as a toilet ghost in the outhouse. In the original texts it was said she was pictured as a concubine in fancy clothing, but today Cheuksin is mostly pictured as a ghost in white like the Korean Virgin Ghosts.

Read Also: The Korean Virgin Ghost

The bloody version: The virgin ghost has evolved into a more bloody and violent ghost than before. She is also said to be the visual image people picture when describing ghosts like Cheuksin as well. // Source: Screengrab from Hometown Legends: Gisaeng House Ghost Story.

When the toilet ghost appeared, Koreans tended to avoid the toilet for three days during the year, when the date had a number six in them. Like on the sixth, the sixteenth and twenty-sixth day in the lunar calendar. Or when someone dropped a shoe or a child fell into the pit toilet. Or even when she was just angry for some reason. 

When this happened, Koreans held a ritual called jesas dedicated to the toilet ghost, often offering Tteok, meaning dung rice cake or nonglutinous rice, all thought to banish evil spirits. This also happened when a pig got sick or when they built the outhouse. 

Jesa Ceremony: The ancestral rituals known as Jesa in Korean, have been practiced since the legendary Dangun era in ancient Korea. Today, Jesa functions as a memorial to the ancestors of the participants. Jesa are usually held on the anniversary of the ancestor’s death.

She was a dangerous Gashin, or household deities and hated children. She liked to push them into the pit toilet. If a jesa wasn’t done at once to appease her, the child who was pushed into the pit would live to grow up. 

Cheuksin was believed to embody a trip of cloth or white paper on the outhouse ceiling. She lurks above, watching and waiting for foolish mortals who dare to enter. 

When entering the outhouse, you should cough three times. Cheuksin was known to use her long hair to attack the intruder if not, her snake-like hair slithering down from the ceiling. She waited until her victim was at the most vulnerable and wrapped her long hair around the neck and strangled those who offended her to death. If she touched you with the hair, you would grow sick and die, and no mudang or shaman could help you. 

If you somehow escape her initial attack, don’t think you’re safe. Cheuksin can curse you, ensuring you suffer horrific misfortune after leaving her domain. People who mock her or forget to show respect often find themselves falling mysteriously ill or suffering from severe accidents.

Origins: Where Did This Nightmare Come From?

Cheuksin is deeply rooted in Korean shamanism and folklore, dating back centuries. She was once considered a household deity, part of the Gasin (家神), the family guardian spirits that protected different parts of the home. They each had their rites and their purpose and was worshiped for a long time. Today however the tradition is mostly died out, although there are some traces of it still lingering, mostly as ghost stories.

“Female Mou-dang (shaman) dancing for deities”(무녀신춤)

The Genshi gods is found in The Munjeon Bonpuri (Korean: 문전본풀이), meaning ‘‘Book of the Door’, and is a myth of Jeju Island regarding the deities that are believed to reside within the house. In this story, the whole lists of household deities are presented as they were once human, alive and well, until they ended up as lingering spirits.

Read Also: The Haunting on Jeju Island

And what about Cheuksin? Who did she use to be?

How a Woman Became The Toilet Goddess – The Munjeon Bonpuri

Noiljadae is the ultimate villainess of this tragic Korean folktale, and let’s be honest—she’s as cunning as she is cruel. She starts as a charming innkeeper’s daughter who seduces the gullible Namseonbi, convincing him to squander his wealth on wine and gambling. She doesn’t know it yet, but she will end up becoming the famed toilet spirit of the nation. When her lover is broke and useless, she kicks him to the curb, leaving him to go blind and starve in a filthy shack—a classic case of “used and discarded.”

But Noiljadae isn’t done yet. When Namseonbi’s devoted wife, Yeosan Buin, comes to rescue him, Noiljadae lures her to a bottomless icy lake and drowns her. She then assumes Yeosan Buin’s identity, thinking she’s about to live a lavish life with Namseonbi’s family. Unfortunately for her, the youngest son, Nokdisaengin, is no fool. He quickly sees through her lies and sets a clever trap: when she demands his liver as a cure for her fake illness, he tricks her into eating a boar’s liver instead. When she pretends to be miraculously healed, her deception is exposed, and her fate is sealed. Cornered, she hangs herself in the bathroom.

For her wickedness, Noiljadae is cursed to become Cheuksin, the vengeful toilet goddess, forever banished to the filthiest corner of the household. Being exposed by a child, field her hatred for them. Her enmity with the resurrected Yeosan Buin, now the kitchen goddess Jowangsin, creates a divine grudge match, leading to a long-standing Korean taboo: never place the bathroom next to the kitchen. Because even in death, Noiljadae’s spite lingers.

The Toilet Goddess in the Modern World

While other spirits, like the Jowangsin (kitchen god) or Seongjushin (house god), were worshiped with offerings and prayers, Cheuksin was more of a necessary evil. You didn’t worship her—you feared her.

Her job? To maintain order in the filthiest part of the house. If people disrespected the restroom, she would punish them. If they followed the rules, she would simply remain unseen.

Cheuksin has a lot of similarities with the Chinese Toilet Goddess, although the Chinese poets treated her legacy a little bit kinder. In both the stories, she was a concubine, or mistress, and died in the toilet, forever to haunt it. Except that in China, the goddess was worshiped and revered, while in Korea she was just… well. feared. 

Read more: Zigu (紫姑): The Lady of the Latrine – China’s Most Unsettling Restroom Ghost and Goddess 

But as Korea modernized and outhouses became a thing of the past, Cheuksin faded from common belief to a mere whisper of a good ghost story. Still, some old buildings and rural areas are said to be haunted by her, especially in places where old traditions still linger.

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References:

Cheuksin: The Chilling Tale of Korea’s Outhouse Goddess — The Kraze

측신 – 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전

정랑각시 – 나무위키 

Munjeon bon-puri – Wikipedia