32 - School's Seven Mysteries

【学校の七不思議、gakkou no nana-fushigi】

[Another translation could be "Seven Wonders of the School", no joke.]

School--- a sacred place where many children go to learn during the day.

However, once it is past dismissal time, it is a place where no one is to be seen, and where many strange things happen. In such a school, strange phenomena are rumored to occur by the children.

These are the "School's Seven Mysteries" or "School Ghost Stories". They vary from school to school, and can include:

- The piano that plays itself at night.

- The music room portrait whose eyes light up at night.

- The staircase that gains more steps at night.

- The science room's ambulating anatomical model.

- The gymnasium where the sounds of balls, or vaulting boxes, can be heard when no one's around.

- The schoolyard statue that comes to life.

- The spirit of a woman in the mirror.

- The painting whose figure runs away at night.

- The footsteps that echo in empty hallways.

- The student looking into a classroom from outside the second floor's window.

- The hand that tries to drag swimming students under the pool.

- The corpse of a student that was sealed within the walls.

- The hand that reaches out from under the toilet.

- The spirit of Hanako appearing in the toilets.

Similar stories are transmitted to all schools, especially regarding bathroom-related rumors.

While in the toilet, a voice may be heard saying, "Would you like a red roll of paper?" If the student replies "Yes," they are killed and the inside of the stall is dyed red. A variation of this involves the voice saying "Would you like to wear a red vest?". [To be more accurate, the vest here is a "chanchanko", a padded sleeveless kimono jacket.]

There is also a ghost story about an old purple woman who comes down from the ceiling. It is said that if you hold a purple object and chant a spell, she will disappear.

Restrooms are one of the few places in a school with many students where they are placed in a space disconnected from their environs. Therefore, they are often the site of such strange occurrences.

Schools at night are dark and empty. Since the school is bustling with activity during the day, there is a big difference between these two states. Perhaps those who are drawn by the daytime's bustle appear in the night's darkness.

Finally, let me introduce one more of the Seven Mysteries.

- Those who know more than seven mysteries shall lose their lives.