Hanako-san
Ghost of a girl haunting school toilets.
Hanako-san is a Japanese urban legend about the ghost of a young girl who haunts lavatories. The details of her origins vary widely, with accounts including death during a World War II air raid, murder by a parent or stranger, or suicide due to bullying. The legend has become a fixture of Japanese folklore, particularly in schools where children attempt to summon her.
Quick Facts
- First cinematic appearance
- 1995 film Toire no Hanako-san
- Earliest known dating
- 1950s
- Common summoning location
- Girls' toilet, third stall, third floor of a school
- Summoning method
- Knock three times and ask if Hanako-san is present
- Notable manga adaptation
- Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun (debuted 2014)
- Notable anime adaptation
- Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun (premiered 2020)
Facts from the source article.
The legend and its variations
Hanako-san is described as a yōkai or yūrei, typically appearing with a bobbed haircut and a red skirt or dress. Her origins are disputed: some accounts say she was murdered by a stranger or abusive parent in a school toilet; others claim she died by suicide there; still others hold she was a child killed during an air raid while hiding in a school toilet during a game of hide-and-seek. To summon her, one enters a girls' toilet on the third floor, knocks three times on the third stall, and asks if she is present. She may reply, and the encounter can involve a bloody or ghostly hand, being pulled into the toilet (possibly to Hell), or being eaten by a three-headed lizard for invading her privacy.
History
The legend of Hanako-san is described as dating back to the 1950s. An article described Hanako-san as having become a fixture of Japanese urban folklore over the last 70 years.
In popular culture
Hanako-san has appeared in film, literature, manga, anime, and video games. Her first cinematic appearance was in the 1995 film Toire no Hanako-san, where she is a benevolent spirit of a girl who committed suicide. The 1998 film Shinsei Toire no Hanako-san portrays her as a vengeful ghost haunting her former middle school. Later films include Toire no Hanako-san: Shin Gekijōban and Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi! File 04: The Truth! Hanako-san in the Toilet. In manga, she appears in Hanako and the Terror of Allegory as a roommate and friend of a detective, and in Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun as a young boy; the latter received an anime adaptation in 2020. She also appears in Kyōkai no Rinne, GeGeGe no Kitarō, Ghost Stories, and Yo-kai Watch (renamed Toiletta in English). The legend is incorporated into the short story "Who's at the Door?" and the manga Dandadan. A Japanese idol, 14th Generation Toilet Hanako-san, bases her persona on the legend. In the game Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II, Hanako is the first ghost faced; in Breath of Fire II, an NPC in a school bathroom exclaims upon seeing the player. The 2022 single "HANAKO" by Atarashii Gakko! features the group summoning Hanako-san, with the leader emerging from a stall dressed as her.
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