“If you ever meet your doppelganger, one of you will die.” It is exactly the kind of line that could…
Paranormal & Urban Legends
Famous predictions, supernatural claims, unexplained stories and urban legends examined through history, evidence and skepticism. The goal is not simply to believe or dismiss them, but to understand why the stories survive.
Can the Living Become Ghosts? Japan’s Ikiryō May Not Even Know They’re Haunting You
Dead people becoming ghosts is easy enough to understand—at least by the internal logic of ghost stories. But what if…
Was Kohada Koheiji Real? Hokusai’s Ghost Actor and the Inbanuma Legend
There was once a traveling actor who was murdered at Inbanuma and dumped beneath its dark waters—or so the story…
Do Japan’s Government and Imperial Family Know About Earthquakes in Advance?
There is a persistent rumor in Japan: when a truly catastrophic earthquake or national emergency is coming, the government and…
If Time Travel Is Possible, Where Are All the Time Travelers?
Whenever time machines come up, there is one question that seems more immediate than relativity, wormholes, or equations: If someone…
Do Aliens Really Exist? What Science Says Without UFOs
Ask whether aliens exist, and the discussion tends to slide almost immediately toward UFO sightings, strange lights, blurry photographs, and…
Is the Tokugawa Buried Treasure Real? Testing the 3.6 Million Ryō Legend
Somewhere beneath a mountain in Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate supposedly left behind 3.6 million ryō in hidden treasure. If that…
What Is an Aswang? Why the Philippine Monster May Not Be a Creature
The Philippines has a monster that people have feared for centuries. Its name is the aswang. Depending on the story,…
Did McDonald’s Really Use Worm Meat? How a 1970s Urban Legend Reached Japan
Japan’s Showa-era legend: “McDonald’s burgers were made from worms” Long before social media, one strangely persistent rumor circulated among schoolchildren…