Something must have gotten lost in translation. Apparently, in the third stall down on the third floor girls' room... everywhere... there is a lost ghost called Hanako. Don't go into the bathroom in that stall, because if you do, she will pull you into the toilet with her.
I would imagine that Hanako's parents would have reported her missing by now. One comment noted that the Japanese have a high-tech solution for everything and probably just push the button to flush when this comes up.
Ghosts don't inhabit boys' rooms, though. Snakes and possums and butt-eating monsters like to go there (get your post-it note out; when you scroll to the bottom of the article there are naked ladies' butts. fair warning...). When my little brother was small, he was afraid of a snake that would come up through the toilet and bite him on the rear end. My mom was mean to me and wouldn't let me tease him about it, either. She also made me give up ALL MY MONEY to my little brother after I traded him my big GOLD pennies for his little silver dimes. We were both happy with this deal until my mom TOOK MY MONEY, all of it, and gave it to my brother. It was my life savings. *sniff*
One final link: If you're travelling, you'll want to consult this website about where to find a public restroom anywhere in the world.
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Where do you get this stuff?!!
ReplyDeleteThe Hanako legend is alive and well, and even my Christian Japanese husband doesn't like to work late at his school (old creaky building) by himself at night. When I was pregnant with Miss Moppet we were thinking about the name Hana, since it would be easy for both Japanese and English speakers. My mother-in-law protested. She said that it reminded her of the school ghost!
Thankfully, we had another name that we liked even better!
I was going to ask the same thing--where do you find this stuff? I am officially a little concerned about the next time I have to use the toilet.
ReplyDeleteOh, Mrs. C, I love that we visit the same news/"news" sites!
ReplyDeleteHanako is REAL!??! I guess I just thought the Japanese were way too sophisticated for this sort of thing... though if you look closely at airplanes and large buildings you see they go from 12 to 14. Somehow.
ReplyDeleteSo... how do they build bathrooms in a place like this? Do they number the stalls 1, 2, 4? Just not build a third stall (leave a space)?
Bonnie, I was looking on google for something else and it popped up, so I thought I'd share. Glad to make your day! :P
Allison, I have to admit some of these things are ... disturbing... LOL... and then to find out it's for REAL is even more disturbing...
Not sure about the third stall question. I think Hanako only comes out at night anyway. What a relief, huh?
ReplyDeleteActually, it's the number four that's left out of buildings and such, because the pronunciation of "four" is exactly the same as the word "death" in Japanese. So, the hospital where three of my kids were born has four floors, but when you get in the elevator and go to punch the number you see 1, 2, 3, 5. You won't find any hospital room #4 either.
I think Japanese are pretty sophisticated in many ways, but the spiritual realm is a whole nuther thing. A lot of people are pretty superstitious, and it is not uncommon to hear ghost stories.
A friend was just telling me recently about having her pastor go and pray at the house of a lady she knows who "invited a ghost she discovered at work to go home with her." After she extended the invite to the ghost she and her husband kept hearing doors slam in the house, etc., when they were the only two there. After the pastor prayed the noises stopped. True story!