A Japanese ouija board.
While paranormal phenomena have a prominent place in Japanese youth culture through manga, anime, and film, rumours are spreading like wildfire about a mysterious incident at a high school in Hyogo Prefecture today.
While last week we learned that teachers were reporting the popularity of eyeball-licking at a certain Japanese elementary school, now the hospitalisation of 18 high school girls has lead to speculations that an illness that spread through the school in a matter of hours might have had supernatural causes.
Worried teachers called emergency services as girls throughout the school started acting hysterically after one girl — rumoured to have psychic abilities — began displaying symptoms such as hyperventilation and body cramps.
From Sankei Shimbun:
Mass Panic? 18 Schoolgirls Taken To Hospital From A Hyogo High School
Kamigori High School, where the incident took place.
At around 11:45am on June 19 at the popular prefectural high school Kamigōri High in Kamigōri, Hyogo Prefecture, a first-year female student complained during recess that she was feeling unwell, saying “I feel sick”, and experienced hyper-ventilation. Other students who saw her in this state successively complained of symptoms such as hyperventilation throughout the early afternoon and a total of eighteen girls — seventeen first-year students and one third-year student — were carried to two different municipal hospitals. All of the schoolgirls were conscious, and their lives are not said to be in danger.
According to Aioi city police department, the female student who had first complained of feeling unwell was said by other students to have “supernatural senses”. The girl had been in a state of panic, wailing and crying, and police assume that this panic then spread to the other students in the same way.
According to the school, this state of panic lasted for more than an hour, and students were taken one after another to the nurse’s office. Due to the fact that there were some students for whom symptoms such as cramps grew worse, the school called 119 [emergency services] at just past 1:30pm.
Comments from Facebook:
Kaisei Yoshimura:
This doesn’t seem like simple hyperventilation. There are a lot of suspicious rumours spreading around the internet. Wonder if they’re better off calling in an exorcist?
梶山 純:
I’ve heard this kind of story many times before, but there must be some cause. Really curious.
Masayoshi Suzuki:
This kind of thing happens from time to time.
宮本 敬丈:
I guess they just sympathize?
When I was in middle school and high school, a boisterous class would just suddenly go silent for a moment for no reason at all. When I think of it now I guess that’s mysterious….
なつゆき 日記:
Huh, what’s going on? Something weird about this.
橋本 さくや:
Wow, a really hot incident at Kamigōri high (笑)
Seems like the girl who first went crazy is the rumoured girl who has “supernatural” powers.
Damn〜!
吉阪 豊:
Seems like these table-turning phenomena happen in every generation.
In my day, “fairies” were popular for a while.
But they got banned when people started going into trances and acting strangely anyway. I wonder what this phenomenon is all about…
高吉 正裕:
What the hell? Kicked off with a kid who’s got supernatural powers….is this the work of spirits?
関谷 直也:
Actually, strictly speaking this isn’t called “mass panic” but “mass hysteria”
Comments from Twitter:
TF1072007:
Honestly this is scary…It’s a pretty substantial incident when people get stuff like cramps.
銅☆萬福:
It’s concerning that there was one third year mixed up in this.
ぽんすけ@クノ情報精査中:
Hmm…well, these things aren’t unheard of.
キサキサ:
Here’s a chance for the occult research groups!!!
ryu_kanai:
Frightening
マッキー氏:
What the hell….
First time I’ve ever heard of anything like this…scary!
MROL:
I don’t suppose it’s anything supernatural, but when I was in elementary school I remember something similar to this happening in my class. One day, in the morning, one person felt sick, and by the afternoon kids kept standing up feeling ill. Guess they just get caught up in the atmosphere.
かわもん:
This is an incident for Galileo [supernatural detective on a television drama]. Bet he could do something with those electromagnetic waves he’s so good at.
ハマッ子カメラマン_Ｙ_MAEDA:
Does this kind of stuff even happen with supernatural powers…?
彗（すい):
It’s all kicking off at my alma mater www
KAY:
Evil in the air!
Hako Hosokawa:
Definitely gotta to be filed under puberty.
