Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Urban Legends: Volume Two

by Tara A. Devlin

  “20” for a household occupant in their 20s.

  “1” for a household occupant that lives alone.

  “1017” for a household occupant that leaves at 10 a.m. and returns at 5 p.m.

  There are, of course, other codes as well, and these codes are often combined. For example, a mark of “SW20 1017” on a letterbox would mean a single woman in her 20s who leaves the house at 10 and returns at 5. Kind of scary just how much information could be conveyed to other salesmen (and thieves) in just a few letters, huh?

  The best way to avoid this is to regularly check your door and mailbox when coming home, and if you do find something that shouldn’t be there, clean it off as soon as possible and alert the police. Defacing someone’s house or building, even with stickers or text, is a criminal act under Article 1 Section 33 of the Minor Offences Act in Japan. Just make sure you don’t move any stickers to a neighbour’s house, because maybe they might end up like the woman in the legend…

  Red Fundoshi

  Sagawa Express. That company that roams the country’s highways. Did you know that if you touch the picture of a postman wearing a red fundoshi on their trucks, it will bring you good fortune?

  It’s easy enough to touch the truck when it’s parked, but if you’re looking for even more luck, you need to touch the red fundoshi while the truck is moving.

  ABOUT

  Sagawa Express is one of the largest transportation companies in Japan. In the early 90s, their trucks were painted with the company’s mascot, Hikyaku-kun, or Mr Postman, a courier designed like a sumo wrestler wearing a red fundoshi, or sumo underwear. Before long, rumours started to spread amongst elementary school students, and later high school students, that touching this mascot would bring happiness and wealth. Some even went so far as claiming that touching the backside of the drivers themselves would bring you good fortune (and not a sexual harassment lawsuit…). But how did such a rumour come about?

  SAGAWA’S SCANDAL

  Rumours that touching the red fundoshi of Sagawa’s mascot started to spread in 1991. The rumours became so prevalent that Sagawa released a statement saying there was no truth to the matter. In 1992, however, Sagawa’s public image took a hit. It was revealed that Kanemaru Shin, a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, received illegal donations to the tune of 500 million yen from Sagawa Express. The then-CEO of Sagawa, Watanabe Hiroyasu, was also revealed to have longtime connections to Ishii Susumi, a high-ranking member of the Inagawa-kai yakuza gang; a man he paid to help deal with troubles during the bubble economy of the 1980s. This scandal went all the way up to then-prime minister Hosokawa Morihiro (now-18th Head of the Kumamoto-Hosokawa clan, a clan who can trace their lineage back to the emperors of old). Hosokawa was forced to resign in April 1994 after it was revealed he had also received a loan from the company.

  In order to combat the damage done to their public image, Sagawa took advantage of the urban legend proclaiming good fortune to all who touched their mascot and produced 300,000 “postman dolls to bring you happiness.” They distributed these to customers as a form of public relations, and you can still buy these dolls on the internet today.

  A short while later, the urban legend picked up steam amongst female high school students. Not only would you get good fortune, touching the red fundoshi would make you rich! After all, Kanemaru Shin received 500 million yen from the company and only had to pay back 200,000 of it before retiring! Easy money!

  A CHANGE OF MASCOTS

  Obviously, trying to touch a moving truck to receive good luck from its mascot was highly dangerous. Fearing the accidents that might occur from children trying to touch their trucks, Sagawa warned its drivers to always confirm the road was clear before taking off to avoid accidents. They then changed the design of the trucks themselves. In the late 90s, Hikyaku-kun was moved to the bottom corner of their delivery trucks while the body was painted in “galaxy colours,” a mix of blue, white, and grey waves designed to look like a galaxy. Hikyaku-kun’s red fundoshi was also removed from the design entirely, changed to red pants and a striped shirt.

  In 2005 his design was retired, and in 2007 a new mascot was brought in. This one features a simplistic delivery man in blue pants and striped shirt holding a red parcel, no fundoshi in sight. No word on whether touching his red parcel brings good luck, but probably best not to try.

  Car Guillotine

  One day, an old woman decided to go for a drive with her grandchild. It was a brand new car, so she didn’t yet understand the finer details of operating it. The child opened the window to enjoy the breeze, but that would prove to be a fatal mistake.

  The child had a phone hanging from a strap around their neck. As they stuck their head out the window to take in the breeze, the strap caught on the window switch and, without realising, began to close it.

  The old woman panicked, but was unable to figure out how to open the window again. Something crunched, and she soon realised it was the sound of her grandchild’s neck breaking.

  ABOUT

  It’s possible this legend is based on a real-life incident. In 2017, a two-year-old boy in South Carolina died after getting his neck caught in the window of his father’s truck. The father stepped away briefly and when he came back, the boy was dead from asphyxiation. The windows were operated by a rocker-type switch, and it was believed the child accidentally stood on it while sticking his head out the window. But is an automatic window strong enough to break a human neck, like this legend claims?

  Japanese TV performed various tests and discovered that most automatic windows were able to easily slice through something as thick as a daikon radish, and tests performed in the UK showed them slicing through an apple as well. However, there’s no proof that they can actually break a human neck. The real danger, as with the child above, is death by asphyxiation.

  It’s smart not to stick your head out the window of a moving car regardless, but while a closing window might not break your neck, especially for children, the danger is very present and very real. Take care and always be aware of what’s happening near automatic windows with children so you don’t end up like the grandmother in this tale.

  Yellow Ambulance

  In this world, there are special cases that sit outside the norm. Even amongst ambulances you’ll find such things. You might be used to the sight of pure white ambulances, but they say there is a special yellow type as well. This yellow ambulance is used to forcibly carry those who are mentally unstable to the hospital.

  ABOUT

  This legend also goes by the name “Yellow Pee-poh,” with “pee-poh” being the sound that ambulance sirens make in Japanese. While yellow ambulances exist in other countries, ambulances in Japan are strictly white, as designated by the Road Traffic Law. The only exceptions to this rule are brown ambulances for the army and navy, and blue ambulances for the air-force. And yet, all over the country you can hear rumours of these supposed yellow ambulances that come not to carry injured or sick people to hospital, but to carry people away for mental illness.

  Yellow is the most common colour, but depending on where you go, these ambulances can also be green, blue, or even purple in colour. The defining factor of these ambulances that aren’t white is that they are designed to carry mentally unwell people away, and according to some versions, people can even get paid 3,000 to 5,000 yen for “tipping” the hospitals off to someone.

  ORIGINS

  Psychiatrist Kazano Haruki did research into this particular myth and discovered that it has existed since at least the 1970s. It appears to exist all over Japan, from the top of Tohoku all the way down to the bottom of Kyushu, with the main variance being the colour.

  In 1973, a book written by Inoue Mitsuharu called Animal Cemetery featured a character who mentions that patients are taken to mental hospitals by yellow ambulances. This marks one of the first times the legend appeared in print, and no doubt played a part in helping spread the legend even further. A light novel written by Sakuraba Kazuk
i in 2004 called Suitei Shojo also featured a mental hospital with a yellow ambulance.

  One potential origin for the yellow ambulance myth has been traced to the movie Yabai Koto Nara Zeni ni Naru, released in 1962. One scene features a yellow propaganda car proclaiming that patients have escaped from a Tokyo mental institution. Kazano has argued that claiming this movie to be the origin of the myth is a bit of a stretch, but others still believe it to be the case.

  The American movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, released in Japan in 1976, featured patients being transferred from a mental hospital in a yellow vehicle. With how often the colour yellow has appeared in media associated with mental hospitals, people have argued that this movie also helped strengthen the myth as it first came to life.

  Others have suggested that highway patrol cars may not be the cause of the myth, but at the very least solidified it. Patrol cars throughout Japan are generally yellow, although they can vary from prefecture to prefecture, and feature flashing lights on top just like an ambulance. It’s possible that young children mistook them for ambulances and came to believe that the stories were true, spreading the legend through word of mouth and believing that they had seen the infamous yellow ambulances for real.

  Another argument suggests that the association comes from the word “yellow” itself. In Japanese, yellow is pronounced ki. There are several slang words, such as kijirushi or kichigai, that are used to describe a “madman” or “lunatic.” This use of ki in both words gives them an association with yellow, and thus, yellow ambulances designed to take “madmen” away.

  While the exact origins are unknown, the association of yellow with mental illness has come up multiple times over the years, ensuring that this legend continues to be spread until this day.

  Kokkai-gijidomae Station

  There is a subway station in Nagata-chou, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, which is called Kokkai-gijidomae Station. Just like its name states, it’s located near the National Diet Building, and it has a special function. In an emergency, it’s said that this station can also act as a nuclear shelter. Members of parliament and other bureaucrats can quickly escape, and in a worst-case scenario that sees Tokyo wiped out, they will be able to survive.

  ABOUT

  There are numerous legends about the subways and tunnels beneath Tokyo, and this one claims that Kokkai-gijidomae Station is not just a mere subway station, but a nuclear bomb shelter as well. The station is run by Tokyo Metro and runs on the Chiyoda and Marunouchi Lines. It opened on March 15, 1959, and as of 2017, saw roughly 150,000 people pass through its ticket gates each day. It also holds the record for being the deepest underground station in the entire Tokyo Metro network; it’s located 37.9 metres underneath the surface. It’s important to note that Kokkai-gijidomae Station isn’t the deepest station in Tokyo, however. That honour belongs to Roppongi Station, which is located 42 metres underground. So how and when did rumours first start circulating that Kokkai-gijidomae was doubling as a secret nuclear bomb shelter?

  HISTORY

  During the Second World War, the Imperial army began digging beneath the surface of Tokyo to construct air raid shelters. The war was over before most of this construction was finished, and the public were never informed of just where and how far construction had gone before it was halted. That alone is enough for urban legends to spring to life, but there’s more to the story.

  In 1960, Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke was pursuing a new security treaty with the United States. Many of the public, however, were in opposition with these reforms. Over 100,000 students surrounded the National Diet Building with the idea that “If the prime minister can’t get inside, then he can’t sign the new deal.” The joke was on them, however, as Prime Minister Kishi calmly appeared inside the building and signed the new treaty. How did he get in?

  He certainly didn’t enter through the outside; it was impossible for anyone to get through the massive crowd. It didn’t take long to hit upon the only potential answer; he reached the building via the underground. He had to have entered through a secret underground tunnel; a tunnel linking the National Diet Building with the prime minister’s official residence.

  The prime minister’s official residence is located directly above Kokkai-gijidomae Station. The station officially opened only a year before the protests in 1960, but construction had been ongoing for much longer. At present there is an underground tunnel that connects the prime minister’s official residence, the House of Representatives, and the National Diet. However, this tunnel wasn’t completed until 1963, three years after the prime minister mysteriously appeared inside the National Diet Building. To this day, no information has ever been given as to how the prime minister managed to get inside, but the most likely explanation lies underground.

  The tunnel connecting the official government buildings in Chiyoda Ward has gradually been enlarged and expanded upon over the years, but the original bomb shelter beneath the prime minister’s official residence was completed in 1942. It featured a tunnel allowing those inside to escape in case of an emergency, but there were plans for another tunnel connecting it to the National Diet Building at the time as well. This tunnel was designed to be built roughly 13 to 14 metres underground, but the war was over before construction was completed. Nobody knows how far construction got before the project was called off, but considering the prime minister was secretly able to access the National Diet Building without travelling above ground, it doesn’t seem much of a stretch to assume the tunnel was completed to a degree that at least allowed people to pass through.

  MODERN TIMES

  So how does all of this connect to Kokkai-gijidomae Station acting as a bomb shelter? Urban legends, by their nature, change and grow over time, adding embellishments and taking whatever information is necessary to make them seem more believable. An air raid shelter was built beneath the prime minister’s official residence during the Second World War. This much is known. A tunnel was planned to connect that air raid shelter to the National Diet Building. This much is also known. There’s a good chance it was already completed, or construction continued even after the war ended, but regardless, an official tunnel connecting the buildings was completed in the early 1960s, several years after rumours that there was a secret tunnel anyway.

  Kokkai-gijidomae Station is one of the deepest subway stations in all of Tokyo, was completed in the late 50s, and it sits right under the prime minister’s official residence. It’s not terribly difficult to connect all the dots and see why people might start talking about the station itself featuring a hidden bomb shelter.

  THE TRUTH?

  An internet writer by the handle of “Yoppy” did an interview with a Tokyo Metro employee in December 2017. Amongst various other urban legends said to exist in the Tokyo subways, he asked whether there was any truth to the rumours that Kokkai-gijidomae Station featured a secret tunnel leading to a bomb shelter that only VIPs could access. The answer, of course, was “no.” The employee claimed that Tokyo Metro had nothing to do with the government or the self-defence forces, and the rumours likely started because of how deep the station is located underground. The reason the station is located so far down is because of the topography of the area around the Chiyoda Line, and because it must also go underneath the Hibiya Line which runs above it.

  It was his belief that rumours like these started because people were able to see trains and platforms on other lines that weren’t for regular use. If they weren’t for regular use, then of course they must be for secret use, when the reality is much more mundane. These platforms and lines exist for maintenance and forwarding. Nothing more. Any secret passages, doors, and platforms were simply for maintenance workers to do their jobs underground, and to house the electricity that powers the station.

  Beneath the Research University

  Beneath a certain research university you’ll find a road. This road leads to an underground research facility in which they perform terrifying experiments around the clock. If you conti
nue even further down the path, it takes you to three separate train stations.

  ABOUT

  It’s thought this legend is talking about the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture, due to the specific mention of the nearby stations, but it could technically be anywhere, which is the point. This legend came to be because several universities now exist on ground that were used by the Imperial army during the war, so of course, there must be secret research facilities still hidden on the grounds where nefarious wartime research continues. Because they have electricity lines that run underground, they must be powering these facilities even to this day.

  Needless to say, the likelihood that any modern universities in Japan are carrying on nefarious research in underground labs built by the Imperial army is low to nil.

  Skylark Billboard

  Skylark, the popular family restaurant, features a caricature of a skylark on its billboards, but did you know that there’s actually a male version and a female version?

  It’s incredibly easy to tell them apart. The skylark with a bellybutton drawn on its stomach is the male, while the skylark with no bellybutton is the female. Some of the female skylarks are also caring for eggs, and if you mention this to the staff you will get as much free coffee as you want.

  The rarest of all is the female skylark billboard with some of her eggs hatching. If you happen to see and mention this one to the staff, you’ll receive a free slice of cake as well.