Japan has one of the richest supernatural traditions in the world: yōkai (monsters and spirits), yūrei (restless ghosts), centuries-old folk tales, and modern urban legends that spread through schoolyards and internet forums. This guide gathers every Japanese folklore episode of Stories Fables Ghostly Tales so you can press play and lose yourself in them.
Many of these myths appear in our Hyakumonogatari series, where each legend is paired with a real Japanese crime that shares its shape. For the cases themselves, see Japanese True Crime Cases.
Yōkai and ghosts
The creatures of Japanese folklore, each told alongside the real case that echoes it.
30 People. 90 Minutes. One Village. Japan’s Tsuyama Massacre & The Gashadokuro
Episode 983
Gashadokuro: a towering skeleton said to form from the bones of the dead who were never properly mourned. Paired with the Tsuyama massacre of 1938.
Sada Abe: Japan’s Most Infamous Murder & The Ancient Spirit That Never Left | True Crime Japan
Episode 982
Jorōgumo: the spider woman of Japanese legend, who lures travellers with her beauty before binding them in silk. Paired with the case of Sada Abe.
The Kobe Cannibal Got A Food Column
Episode 989
Jikininki: the hungry ghost of Buddhist legend, cursed by greed in life to feed on the dead. Paired with the case of Issei Sagawa.
The Quiet Boy Who Terrified a Nation: Japan’s Darkest Mystery & The Satori
Episode 987
Satori: a mountain yōkai that can read every thought of the traveller standing in front of it.
27 Pieces: The Unsolved Horror of Inokashira Park — True Crime Japan
Episode 986
Noppera-bō: the faceless ghost, a figure who turns around to reveal a perfectly smooth, blank face. Paired with the Inokashira Park case.
Japanese Kennel Killers — Turning Their Enemies to Dust (1993)
Episode 985
Inugami: a dog spirit bound to a family through a cruel ritual, said to bring its masters wealth, and then ruin.
The Reeds of Twilight: The North Kanto Serial Murders Japan
Episode 984
Ubume: the ghost of a mother who died in childbirth, who begs passers-by to hold her baby, and grows heavier with every step.
The Joker On The Halloween Train
Episode 994
Hyakki Yagyō: the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, when the yōkai march through the streets after dark, and anyone who sees them is doomed.
They Hid The Blood In A Vat Of Miso
Episode 996
Okiku: the ghost of the Banchō Sarayashiki legend, who rises from a well each night to count plates and never reaches ten.
Three Waters, Dark Tides: Two Myths, One Truth (Ep01)
Episode 988
Kappa and funayūrei: the river-dwelling kappa and the ghosts of drowned sailors, in an interactive “two myths, one truth” special.
Classic Japanese folk tales
Urashima Taro: The Fisherman Lad – Japanese Folk Tale
Episode 303
Urashima Tarō: a fisherman rescues a turtle, visits the Dragon Palace beneath the sea, and returns home to find that centuries have passed.
The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child – Japanese Folk
Episode 318
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter: often called Japan’s oldest surviving story, about a tiny girl found inside a stalk of bamboo who is destined to return to the moon.
The Tongue-Cut Sparrow – Japanese Folk Story
Episode 299
The Tongue-Cut Sparrow: a kind old man, a cruel old woman, a wounded sparrow, and two very different gifts.
My Lord Bag of Rice – Japanese Folk Story
Episode 297
My Lord Bag of Rice: the warrior Fujiwara no Hidesato and the giant centipede he slays for the Dragon King of the lake.
Japanese Folk Stories: The Farmer and the Badger
Episode 304
The Farmer and the Badger: a tanuki’s cruel trick and a rabbit’s revenge, from one of Japan’s darkest children’s tales.
Flesh Eater Ghost, The Faceless, Dead Secret, Ghostly Cherry Tree — Japanese Folk Stories
Episode 848
Flesh Eater Ghost, The Faceless and more: four classic Japanese ghost stories in one episode.
More Japanese folk stories
- Japanese Folk Stories: The Golden Boy & Princess Hase
- The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die – Japanese Folk
- Japanese Folk Stories: Prince Yamato Take
- Japanese Folk Stories: The Flute & The Kettle
- Lord of Death, Wishful Mallet & Omen Arrows – Fairy Tales
- Two Bloated Children & A Haunted Forest – Japanese Tale
- Four Japanese Tales: Love, Death, Rats and Cats
- Spiderwalker Dream & the Yokai Baku – Creepy Dreams
- Japanese Folk Stories with Thersa Matsuura Host of Uncanny Japan Podcast
Japanese ghost stories and modern horror
- After Dark Dancing & Chat Room 98 – Japanese Ghosts
- KageKao Part 1 – Japanese Horror Classic
- Michi’s Journey Part 3 by Kyle Brant – Fan Story
- Michi’s Journey Part 2 & I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
Japan’s best-known urban legends
These modern legends are told across Japan, at sleepovers, on school trips and in late-night forum threads. If you want the Tale Teller to cover one in full, send a request.
- Kuchisake-onna (the Slit-Mouthed Woman)
- A woman in a surgical mask stops you in the street and asks, “Am I pretty?” There is no safe answer.
- Teke Teke
- The ghost of a girl who fell beneath a train, who drags herself along by her elbows with a “teke-teke” sound.
- Hanako-san of the Toilet
- A school ghost said to haunt the third stall of the girls’ bathroom on the third floor. Knock three times and call her name.
- Aka Manto (Red Cloak)
- A masked spirit in school toilets who asks whether you want red paper or blue.
- Hachishakusama
- An impossibly tall woman in white whose strange “po po po” call marks the children she has chosen.
- Kisaragi Station
- A 2004 internet legend about a woman whose late-night train stopped at a station that does not exist.
Browse every folklore episode in the Folk Stories category, or start with Japanese True Crime Cases.