A ghost story passed down through the generations in schools, first rumored among elementary schoolers in the 1980s, an explosive boom in popularity soon followed.
The details of the rumors vary from region to region, but many claim that if one were to knock three times on a particular door of a school restroom and call for "Hanako-san", a response would come back from inside, even though no one was in the toilet.
Hanako-san is a red-clad elementary-school-aged girl with bobbed hair, said by some to be the spirit of a girl who was killed in a bathroom or committed suicide.
There also seems to be a regional variation in the way Hanako-san is invoked, or if the invoker is attacked by her afterward, but originally it was simply a matter of hearing a reply.
Toilets are isolated, enclosed spaces that evoke psychological anxiety, and since ancient times they have been the site of various apparitions.
Unfortunately, Hanako-san's rumor was not further fueled by the subsequent media coverage and visualization, and rapidly lost its momentum.
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