Hanako-san, or, is a Japanese urban legend about the spirit of a young girl named Hanako-san who haunts school bathrooms. Like many urban legends, the details of the origins of the legend vary depending on the account. Legends about Hanako-san have achieved some popularity in old Japanese schools where children may challenge classmates to try to summon Hanako-san the spirit.
The legend and its variations
According to legend, Hanako-san is the spirit of a young girl who haunts school bathrooms, and can be described as a yōkai or a yūrei. The details of her physical appearance vary across different sources, but she is commonly described as having a bobbed haircut and as wearing a red skirt or dress. The details of Hanako-san's origins also vary depending on the account; in some versions, Hanako-san was a child who was murdered by a stranger or an abusive parent in a school bathroom; in other versions, she was a girl who committed suicide in a school bathroom; in still other versions, she was a child who lived during World War II, and who was killed in an air raid while hiding in a school bathroom during a game of hide-and-seek. To summon Hanako-san, it is often said that individuals must enter a girls' bathroom, knock three times on the third stall, and ask if Hanako-san is present. If Hanako-san is there, she will reply with some variation of "Yes, I am." Depending on the story, the individual may then witness the appearance of a bloody or ghostly hand; the hand, or Hanako-san herself, may pull the individual into the toilet, which may lead to Hell; or the individual may be eaten by a three-headed lizard.
History
Author and folkloristMatthew Meyer has described the legend of Hanako-san as dating back to the 1950s. Michael Dylan Foster, author of The Book of Yōkai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore, has stated that Hanako-san "is well known because it is essentially an 'urban legend' associated with schools all over Japan. Since the 1990s, it has also been used in movies, so it became part of popular culture... not just orally transmitted or local folklore". In 2014, an article published by NPR described Hanako-san as having "become a fixture of Japanese urban folklore over the last 70 years".
In popular culture
The Hanako-san character has appeared in films, manga, anime, and video games. She made her first cinematic appearance in the 1995 filmToire no Hanako-san, directed by Joji Matsuoka, in which she is depicted as the benevolent spirit of a girl who committed suicide, and who haunts the bathroom of a school. She was later depicted in the 1998 filmShinsei Toire no Hanako-san, directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, in which she is portrayed as a vengeful ghost who haunts the middle school that she attended before she died. She was also depicted in the 2013 film Toire no Hanako-san: Shin Gekijōban, directed by Masafumi Yamada. Hanako-san appears in the manga seriesHanako and the Terror of Allegory, written and illustrated by Sakae Esuno, as the roommate and friend of Daisuke Aso, a private detective who investigates urban legends. Hanako-san has also been depicted in the manga series Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun by Iro Aida, in which the character is portrayed as a young boy. An anime television series adaptation of Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun by Lerche which premiered in early 2020. Other anime series which feature the Hanako-san character include Kyōkai no Rinne and GeGeGe no Kitarō. Hanako-san also appears in the anime and video game franchiseYo-kai Watch.
