Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Urban Legends: Volume Two

by Tara A. Devlin

  The Granny Who Sells Legs

  One day after school, a young boy was approached by an old lady on his way home.

  “Do you need legs? Do you need legs?”

  The boy tried to ignore her and walk past, but she was unexpectedly persistent.

  “Do you need legs? Do you need legs?” she asked him over and over.

  “I don’t need any legs!” the boy screamed in refusal.

  “Ahhhhh!”

  A scream rang throughout the street in the dim evening light. Hearing it, several people came running, but what they saw took their breath away. A young boy was crouching on the street, his legs plucked clean off.

  ABOUT

  The granny who sells legs is a fairly typical yokai, and may bring to mind images of Kashima-san, who also asks people if they need legs. In both cases, if the answer is “no,” you’ll find your legs cut off. You did say you didn’t need legs, after all.

  This strange old lady approaches people, particularly children, on the street as it’s getting dark and asks, “Do you need legs?” as though she has some to sell. Of course, nobody wants to buy legs from a crazy old lady on the street, so when you answer “no,” she takes that the literal way and plucks your legs off. If, however, you decide to answer “yes,” then she will forcibly attach a third leg to your body. It’s probably best not to imagine how or where. As is common with yokai, neither answer ends well.

  There is only one way to escape the granny who sells legs. When she asks, “Do you need legs?” the correct answer is “No, I don’t, but why don’t you visit OO-san.” By giving her somebody else’s name and recommending she visit them, you’ll be able to escape. Of course, the person you tell her to visit shouldn’t be someone you like, because the same fate will befall them as well.

  VARIATIONS

  This legend became popular during the 1990s, although these days it’s almost faded into obscurity. There is a similar legend called “The Granny Who Gives Legs” that is essentially the same story, but with the main difference being that this granny targets children who actually want legs. Some versions also have her appearing in the fourth floor toilets of various schools, dragging a wagon behind her (presumably full of the legs she’s stolen from children).

  In some stories she also wears a large cape on her back, and underneath it she hides the legs she’s taken. This version likely came about because of the common sight of old women bent over, especially in the countryside. These women tend to suffer from osteoporosis after years of poor nutrition during and after the war, and after years of hard work in the fields. It’s not much of a stretch to see how a child might see such a woman in the dim evening light and wonder what exactly is hidden under her coat.

  Some versions of the legend even give the granny who sells legs a partner; the grandpa who sells arms. You probably don’t have to guess how that one came around.

  It’s unknown how the legend of this particular yokai (or yurei, depending on who you talk to) came about, but it’s likely she started as a joke legend because the idea of someone literally taking your legs when you say you don’t need any is both terrifying and funny.

  Kudan

  Kudan is a yokai with the face of a human and the body of a cow. Soon after it’s born it speaks with human speech, prophecising a great calamity to come, and then passes away. The kudan’s prophecy always comes true, and is never wrong. They frequently appeared in the Edo Period, predicting famines, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Before the Second World War, a kudan predicted its outbreak, and the last kudan born prophecised Japan’s defeat.

  ABOUT

  The reason this yokai is called “kudan” is because of the Chinese character that makes up its name. Using the radical for person beside the character for cow, this character is read kudan in Japan, and so the cow with a human face was given the same name.

  Kudan first appeared in the early half of the 19th century in Japan. While they are generally cows with a human face, after the Second World War, various stories of kudan with human bodies and cow faces started to appear as well. After they are born, they tell a prophecy of great misfortune to come, and then die a few days later. In some versions, they die immediately after.

  Kudan exploded with popularity during the Meiji Period, and several supposedly real stuffed kudan appeared in exhibitions around the country. Lafcadio Hearn even wrote of it in his book Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan:

  What is a Kudan?

  It is possible you have never heard of the Kudan? The Kudan has the face of a man, and the body of a bull. Sometimes it is born of a cow, and that is a Sign-of-things-going-to-happen. And the Kudan always tells the truth. Therefore in Japanese letters and documents it is customary to use the phrase, Kudannno-gotoshi—“like the Kudan”—or “on the truth of the Kudan.”

  But why was the God of Mionoseki angry about the Kudan?

  People said it was a stuffed Kudan. I did not see it, so I cannot tell you how it was made. There was some travelling showmen from Osaka at Sakai. They had a tiger and many curious animals and the stuffed Kudan.

  From this excerpt of folklore alone we can see the origins of the kudan, a popular idiom using the creature’s name—kudan no gotoshi, or like the kudan, meaning that something was an undeniable truth—and stories that travellers used them in exhibitions as they moved around the country.

  The idiom kudan no gotoshi can actually be traced all the way back to the Heian Period (794-1185). It featured in The Pillow Book, written by Sei Shonagon in 1002, and was often used at the end of official documents in Western Japan to signify “as the kudan’s promises are never wrong, neither are there falsehoods here.” But if the kudan did not exist until the Edo Period, how were they talking about it over 800 years earlier?

  It’s commonly thought today that the yokai kudan came about as a later creation in response to this phrase. The Chinese character used for the yokai can also mean “passage, paragraph, or the above mentioned.” With this in mind, another way of reading kudan no gotoshi could mean “as the above mentioned is true, no falsehood is present.” Makes a little more sense than a creature that spouts prophecies that didn’t even exist at the time, doesn’t it?

  FIRST SIGHTINGS

  The first recorded sighting of a kudan goes all the way back to 1827, on Mount Tateyama in what is now Toyama Prefecture. The creature was called “kudabe” rather than “kudan,” and some villagers who were gathering wild plants came across it in the mountains. The creature said to them, “Several years from now, many people will fall victim to a plague. However, those who look upon a picture of myself will be spared.” Rumours quickly spread, and people began carrying pictures with them of the kudabe to ward against evil.

  The oldest known example of the creature using the name “kudan” comes from 1836, eleven years later. A picture of a cow with a human face was printed on a tile block with the following text:

  December 1836, in Tango Province (modern-day Kyoto), Mount Kurahashi, a beast with a human face on a cow’s body called the kudan appeared. The kudan also appeared in December 1705, and afterwards there was an abundant harvest. Any who affix an image of the kudan will see their family become prosperous, avoid illness, and escape from all disasters, finding themselves in a most fruitful year. Truly, what an auspicious beast it is! The kudan is an honest beast, and that is why we write “kudan no gotoshi” at the end of contracts.

  During the time this tile block was printed, the Great Tempo Famine was taking place, so it’s thought this block was designed in order to lift people’s spirits. These were the building blocks for the legend as it’s known today.

  Towards the end of the Edo Period, stories of kudan became more commonplace. Instead of appearing randomly in the mountains, people’s cattle were giving birth to them. In April 1867, a tile block was printed with the title “Kudan Photo.” Alongside a picture of a kudan, it stated:

  A kudan was born in the countryside of Izumo. It prophecised, “This year will be a bountiful harv
est, however, from early autumn an epidemic will come to pass.” Three days later, it died. In order to avoid this misfortune, buy this tile and hang it within your house.

  Not a bad way for a tile block printer to make some money as the Edo Period was coming to a close.

  On June 21, 1909, a Nagoya newspaper printed a story that said 10 years earlier, a kudan was born on a farm in the Goto Islands. 31 days after birth, the creature said, “Japan will go to war with Russia,” and then died. The kudan was stuffed and displayed in the Yahiro Musuem in Nagasaki City. The museum has since closed and the whereabouts of the stuffed kudan are unknown.

  In 1930, a kudan was supposedly seen in the forests of Kagawa Prefecture. It said, “Soon a large war will break out. You will win, but a plague will spread. However, if you eat azuki rice within three days of hearing this story, and tie a string around your wrist, you will be safe.” By 1933, this story had reached Nagano Prefecture, and school children started taking azuki rice to school for lunch. The story had changed, however, and it was no longer the kudan who made the prophecy but a newborn baby with the head of a snake who was enshrined at Suwa Shrine.

  In 1943, a kudan was supposedly born to a clog shop in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. “Around April or May of this year, the war will end,” it said. In the spring of 1945, rumours spread through Matsuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, that said, “A kudan was born in Kobe. It said, ‘All who hear and believe my story, and then eat azuki ohagi within three days will avoid the air raids.’”

  HOW TO STOP ITS PROPHECY?

  Imagine, you’re out in the back paddock, doing some farm work, when you notice one of the cows is looking at you funny. You walk over and see a newborn calf lying in the dirt. “Aww, how cute!” you think, until it turns to look up at you and you see a very human face looking back at you. The abomination starts to speak, telling you of a terrifying calamity that’s about to come. It then dies. Once you’re done wondering “What the actual fu—” you’ll probably start to wonder if there’s any way to avoid the prophecy from coming true. As it turns out, there is.

  Modern versions of the kudan legend suggest that the creature is born in pairs. When a male kudan is born, so is a female. The male is the one who gives prophecies, and in order to escape from what he has proclaimed, you must find the female, wherever she is. Once you find her, she will tell you how to avoid the male’s prophecy. Easy enough, right? There can’t be that many cows with human faces around. That stuff is likely to make the news…

  THE COW WOMAN?

  After the Second World War, as Japan began to change and rebuild, stories of the kudan started to change as well. It was no longer just a cow with a human face. Sometimes it was also a woman with a cow’s face. She was called Ushi-onna, or the Cow Woman. Stories of her are said to be limited to the Mount Rokko area in Hyogo Prefecture. Tales tell of a woman with a cow’s head, dressed in a kimono, dancing in the ruins of an air raid shelter and eating the corpses of dead animals. Other versions claim her to be the daughter of Gozu, or Ox-Head, a guardian of the Underworld in Chinese and Japanese mythology.

  Yet, no matter how you look at it, these two legends differ greatly. Kudan is a cow with a human face. Ushi-onna is a woman with a cow’s face. Kudan tells prophecies upon birth, and Ushi-onna only speaks when spoken to. The only thing they have in common is their half-human, half-cow nature, and even that is reversed. While their legends may have gotten mixed up over the years, it’s important to remember that they are two distinctly different legends. Ushi-onna is not a kudan.

  Headless Rider

  It’s important to pay close attention when you’re driving through the heart of Tokyo late at night. When it gets late, the Headless Rider appears, and if the Headless Rider overtakes you, he will cause you to crash and die.

  The Headless Rider is a ghost who was attacked by violent street gangs in the past. They tied a piano string across the road which he then drove through, cutting off his head.

  To this day he continues searching the roads for his missing head.

  ABOUT

  Legends of the Headless Rider appear all over Japan, with some of the more common locations being the streets of Tokyo, Okutama City in the west of Tokyo, and Usui Pass on the borders of Gunma and Nagano Prefectures. The Headless Rider is generally considered to be a (former) gang member himself, although in some versions he’s an unfortunate soul who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He spends his afterlife roaming the streets looking for his missing head, and if he overtakes you on the road, it spells your doom shortly thereafter. Stories of headless riders all around the world aren’t new, but how did this particular one come about?

  HISTORY

  There have been stories of headless horse riders and headless warriors since at least the Sengoku Era, but in terms of the modern legend, it’s thought that stories of the Headless Rider first spread through Japan in the early 1980s thanks to the Australian movie Stone. The film features a scene where a gang member rides his bike through a piece of wire stretched across the road, cutting his head off, exactly like in the legend of today.

  The Headless Rider later featured in a special episode of Gakkou no Kaidan: Headless Rider!! The Curse of Death, a popular children’s show which aired on August 24, 2001. In this version, merely looking at the Headless Rider was enough to ensure your doom. Once seeing him, anything nearby that would be able to sever a head would attack; the environment (and not the rider) doing its best to kill you. This version of the Headless Rider only appeared on the day of his death, however, making him otherwise easy to avoid.

  On May 23, 2002, a very real incident that mirrored the film Stone took place. At 6:30 in the morning, a 25-year-old man rode his bike into a bookstore parking lot in Akita City, Akita Prefecture. He was on his way to work at a nearby construction lot, but failed to notice the seven millimetre wide, 18 metre long wire that had been placed across the parking lot entrance. The wire severed his head clean off, killing him instantly. The owners of the bookstore reported that gang members were using the parking lot at night, so they placed the wire across the entrance to keep them out. This news brought rumours of the Headless Rider back into people’s minds once more and the legend gained new life.

  REAL-LIFE SIGHTINGS?

  Not long after the Akita incident, people around Japan started claiming they saw real headless riders on the streets. One explanation given for this rise in sightings was black motorcycle helmets. Motorcycle gangs tended not to wear helmets at all, or if they did, they left the face wide open and unprotected. However, when wearing a full black motorcycle helmet at night, it’s easy to see how a quick glance at a cyclist passing by might make it appear as though they had no head. People have suggested that some riders even did this on purpose, going out of their way to appear “invisible” on the night streets and taking pleasure in people’s reactions to them. The increase of motorcyclists on sports bikes, where the rider leans forward while zooming through the streets, may also have contributed to Headless Rider sightings.

  VARIATIONS

  On Mount Hiko in Fukuoka Prefecture you can supposedly find an entire gang of Headless Riders roaming the mountain streets. Slight variations of this legend have their heads come flying at you. First you see their bikes, and then in a different location you hear their death screams as the heads come flying. Sometimes the heads are still wearing helmets, sometimes they’re not.

  Another version of the tale tells of a couple on a bike ride late at night. The woman, sitting behind the man, appears to be enjoying the high speeds and so, in an effort to please her, the man drives even faster. However, when they turn a corner, he notices a bent sign sticking out across the road. He screams to warn the woman of danger and ducks, narrowly escaping with his life. It’s not until he stops at the next traffic light and looks back to see if the woman is okay that he realises she’s missing her head. Some versions elaborate and claim that when the man returns to the bent sign, a voice from a severed head calls out
to him, “Don’t leave me here.”

  Another Headless Rider exists in Ikebukuro. Tales tell of a rider near the Sunshine 60 building who was decapitated by a falling piece of metal from a truck in front of him. The bike continued riding for several minutes after the rider lost his head, finally colliding with a guardrail. The rider’s ghost continues to haunt the area after death, looking for his missing head.

  Some versions feature the Headless Rider not looking for his head, but for the gang members that killed him. These criminals also tied a piano string across the road, which killed the rider, and then fled in a white car. If you happen to pass by that same spot in a white car, the ghost of the rider will appear, looking for those who took his life.

  You can also find tales told of community members troubled by noisy bike gangs late at night. In order to deal with the constant disturbances, the residents tied a rope across the street which ended up killing one of the riders.

  No matter how or where he was created, the Headless Rider’s legacy is sure to live on for quite some time. People do love a tragic and terrifying story, after all.