Love the creepy side of Japan? On the surface, all that people hear about Japan is their rich culture, and how weird some of their customs and inventions are. But aside from that, there is a darker side of Japan, including their unsettling urban leg...
This one is the most horrific and creepy ones yet. It has scarred me to this very day and makes me feel absolute dread whenever I hear about it. It is one of the darkest sides of Japan, and I cannot truly fathom what terror it strikes in everyone who hears about it. This one is about...
Colonel Sanders.
Okay, this one isn't creepy at all, you got me. The truth is, this one is more of a brighter side at Japanese urban legends. All of these legends so far have been all about excessive mutilation, death, ghosts, angry ladies, etc. However, while browsing the internet, this one caught my eye and I could not just simply leave it there. So, this one won't be a scary one and more of a comedic one- unless you're afraid of Colonel Sanders, the one who founded KFC (a fast food chain in case you live in a country without them).
The story of this finger lickin' curse goes as followed:
Considered the eternal underdogs of Nippon Professional Baseball, the Hanshin Tigers faced the Seibu Lions in a game of baseball. Devoted to their beloved team, fans of the Tigers flocked to the stadium to watch their team play. By the end of the game, the Tigers won, declaring them the winners of the 1985 Japanese Championship Series. Now, this was an impressive feat and made all of the fans extremely happy. Following the win, drunken fans headed to the Ebisubashi Bridge in Osaka, Japan. As everyone celebrated, they decided to do a little ceremony. As each player's name was called out, a fan who resembled a member of the victorious team leaped from the bridge into the canal. Everything went fine, and with each player's name, an enthusiastic fan jumped into the canal.
That is until they reached Randy Bass, the first baseman of the Tigers.
Randy Bass was an American that wound up playing professionally in Japan. Overall, he became one of the most powerful hitters in the history of Japanese baseball and was definitely one of the reasons the Tigers won. However, he was a Westerner, and nobody in the drunken crowd resembled him in any way whatsoever. They decided to use some good, drunk thinking and get something that looked remotely like him enough to toss into the canal.
Suddenly, they saw a plastic Colonel Sanders statue standing outside of a local KFC. Japan loves their Kentucky Fried Chicken, especially their statues of him. In fact, they even dress up Colonel Sanders in fun outfits sometimes. But on this day, this statue had an unfortunate date with destiny.
Not wanting to ruin the celebration, they abducted poor Sanders and carried him to the bridge. From there on, they tossed him off of into the river and watched him as he quickly sank. As they chanted Randy Bass' name, Colonel's beautiful face faded into the murky waters, vanishing from the light of the world. But, every year since, the Hanshin Tigers also gently fell to the bottom of the Japanese baseball league.
Ever since that chilly dip, it is said that Colonel placed some sort of curse over the team. As the years progressed, the Tigers didn't win much at all. The Tiger's best finish since then was third in 1986 and 1992, and they also finished last eight times. The fans were devastated, wondering what could've caused this... but soon they realized that Colonel and his fabulous beard might be the culprit.
Rumors started to form, claiming that if the Colonel statue was recovered, the curse would be broken. Desperate fans searched through the filthy waters in hopes to find him, yet he was nowhere in sight.
At some times, such as 2003 when the Tigers qualified for the Japan series, the fans had hope that the curse was broken. 500 fans even plunged into the canal to celebrate, resulting in the death of a 24-year-old Hanshin Tigers fan named Masaya Shitababa who drowned in the canal. It is believed that he was pushed into the canal by someone in the crowd, causing him to fall into the waters. After the tragic death, it was announced plans to build a new bridge which would make jumping into the river much more difficult in order to prevent further incidents. The construction began in 2004.
A bit later, it was discovered that the curse wasn't broken when the Tigers lost the series afterward and haven't won much ever since. And so, the downward spiral of the Tigers continued for many years. Divers were even sent in to look for the mannequin, but Colonel was never found.
That is until 2009.
Divers swam through the waters when they suddenly spotted some sort of unknown object. At first, the silhouette seemed to be some sort of corpse's torso, leaving the divers mortified. As it was dragged out further, it was quickly realized to be the upper body of the one and only Colonel statue. Through the muck and decay, his warm smile beamed through. However, parts of him were missing. The next day, they recovered his right hand and lower body and pieced him back together to reveal his final form. Well, almost. They're still looking for his left hand and glasses to this day, desperate to lift the curse by returning everything. But, for now, he's in front of a local KFC near the Koshien Stadium.
He's definitely seen better days, but at least it gives Tigers fans some hope for the future.
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I bet that creeped all of you out, didn't it? Yeah, this one will definitely give you nightmares.
