My Halloween look at Japanese urban legends continues today! Yesterday we looked at Kuchisake-onna, the Slit-Mouthed Woman and the day before we saw Hanako-san of the Toilet. Today, let's look at...

Akai-Kami-Aoi-Kami (赤い紙青い紙)

That directly translates to "Red paper, Blue Paper" and it refers to toilet paper.

What's so scary about toilet paper, you may be asking. Well, bear with me and you'll see! Yes, like Hanako-san of the Toilet, this is another toilet based urban legend, because nothing is scarier than a Japanese toilet (especially a Japanese squat toilet)!

It goes something like this:

If you enters a toilet with no toilet paper (not an uncommon occurrence in Japan, especially in older restrooms) and sit to do your business anyway, if you are very unlucky you might hear a voice from the last stall asking you if you want the red toilet paper or the blue toilet paper.

It's a trick question. If you answer red, you will be sliced apart (staining your clothes red with your blood). If you answer blue, you will be strangled (your face turning blue from lack of air). Don't think about trying to be clever and asking for a different color; that will result in being dragged down to the underworld.

Some versions of this tale involve a masked man doing the killing instead of an unseen spirit as in my version. These versions may refer to the masked man as Aka Manto (赤マント, Red Cloak) or Aoi Manto (青マント, Blue Cloak).

Whichever it may be, nameless ghost or masked spirit, it is said to haunt women's restrooms more often than men's, and is usually in the last one.

In any case, the correct answer if you want to live is to tell the voice you don't want any paper. Or, y’know, just never use a public toilet in Japan again.

According to the Japanese wikipedia page this dates to 1904 and may have started as a reference to a real criminal case.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another Japanese urban legend!

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.

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