Kunekune: What You Shouldn't See - Japanese Urban Legend/Creepypasta

Today, we will dive into the scary creepypasta (urban legend) of “Kunekune” that was posted on 2chan.

If you see it, your mind is taken away, and you will be insane…

What is “Kunekune” In Japanese Urban Legends?

Kunekune (くねくね) is a ghost/yokai type of urban legend/character in the story.

It first appeared on the Internet around 2000. It became popular after posting on the Japanese message board 2channel (often shortened as 2chan).

Kunekune Urban Legend Story (podcast)

The original story was posted on the Japanese message board website 2chan around 2003. The story follows a young boy who went to his grandparents’ house and experienced a weird encounter there.

From here, I will describe “I” as this young boy for convenience…

↓Tap ｢+｣ to expand to read more, ｢–｣ to close each story chapter!

What’s wrong with the scarecrow?

This happened when I was a small kid and went back to my grandparents’ house in Akita.

When I arrived at my grandmother’s house, which I only visited once a year during Obon (お盆) time around mid-August, I immediately went outside to play with my brother in great excitement.

Unlike in the city, the air is definitely better. I ran around the rice fields with my brother, enjoying the fresh breeze.

The wind stopped just as the sun was rising, and it was almost midday.
Then, warm, sticky wind started to blow.

I thought to myself: “Why is there such a warm wind blowing when it’s already hot?”
The earlier freshness was gone, and I started feeling uncomfortable.

I was gonna talk to my brother, but I noticed he was looking in a different direction. In that direction, there seemed to be a scarecrow.

“What’s wrong with that scarecrow?” I asked my brother.

“No, it’s further back than that.”

White Object twisting

He looked more and more intently. I was curious, too, and looked longingly across the rice field.

From a distance, it looked like a white object about the size of a person, wiggling and twisting.
What is it? There were only rice fields around it. No people nearby.

I felt strange for a moment, but I just said to my brother

“Hey, it must be a new kind of scarecrow. I’m sure! There have never been moving scarecrows before, but someone got this idea. Maybe the wind is making it move!”

My brother looked convinced by my theory, but his expression disappeared in an instant. The wind suddenly stopped. However, the white object was still moving and wiggling.

My brother said. “Hey… it’s still moving… what is that thing?”

Perhaps because he was curious, he returned home and came back again with binoculars.

My brother seemed somewhat excited and said “I’ll have a look first, you just wait a bit!”

Then He looked through the binoculars.

Better if you don’t know

Suddenly, my brother’s face changed.
He turned blue, broke out in a cold sweat and finally dropped the binoculars he was holding.

I was afraid of his transformation, but I asked him: “What was it?”

He replied slowly. “Better if you don’t knowww…”
It was already not my brother’s voice. My brother walked back to the house in a heap.

I immediately picked up the binoculars and tried to look at the white object, too. But because of what my brother had said, I didn’t have the courage to do so.

From a distance, it was just a white object wiggling. It was a bit weird, but it didn’t cause any further feelings of fear.

I finally came to the point, ‘Okay, I’ll see for myself what object has given my brother the fright he needs!’

I took the binoculars that had fallen and tried to look through them.

That’s when my grandfather came running towards me, looking very panicked. Before I could ask, “What’s wrong?” he said, “Don’t look at that white object! Did you see it? Did you see it with those binoculars?”

I replied, “No… not yet…”, feeling a little nervous,

My grandfather said, “Oh thank goodness…” and then, looking relieved, he collapsed in tears on the spot.

Right after, I was sent back home.
When I returned, everyone was crying. Was it about me? No, no. When I looked closer, I saw that only my brother was laughing like crazy, wiggling and twisting insanely like that white object.

I felt more horror at the sight of my brother than at that white object.
My grandmother said.

“It would be easier for him to stay here. If he’s back in town, in the eyes of the public, he won’t last more than a few days there… It’s best to leave him in the house here, and after a few years, release him into the rice fields…”

When I heard those words, I just cried out loudly. The brother I once knew was no longer there.
Even if I would see him again next year in my grandparents’ house, he would be in the same condition.

Why did this happen… we used to play together just a few days ago, why…?

What you shouldn’t see

On the day I was to return to my home in town, I got into the car and left my grandparents’ house. Grandpa and Grandma were waving at me. And my brother seemed to wave at me as well for a moment.

As I moved away, I looked through my binoculars to see the expression on my brother’s face, and sure enough, he was crying. He was smiling, but it was the first and last sad smile he had ever shown me.

When I turned the corner soon after, I couldn’t see him any more, but I kept looking through the binoculars with tears streaming down my face.

“Someday… things will be back to normal…”

I just kept looking through the binoculars, and I thought, nostalgically remembering how my brother used to be.

…It was then.
I saw something up close that I knew I shouldn’t have seen.

Characteristics of Kunekune

Kunekune means “To twist” in Japanese

Kunekune, as a word itself, means “to waggle” or “to twist” in Japanese. It is a type of Japanese onomatopoeia to describe the movement of an object being twisted.

White Like Paper Twisting in an endless dance

As the word suggests above, Kunekune looks like a tall, slender figure, white as paper or fabric, writhing and twisting in a seemingly endless dance.

Haunt in Vast open spaces

Kunekune is said to inhabit vast open spaces. In the story posted on 2chan, it was in a rice field under the scorching summer sun, but some suggest sightings near the sea as well.

driving witnesses insane…And never come back

Once people witness Kunekune, their minds are taken away, and they become insane.

If you don’t see it clearly or don’t understand what it is for some reason (like when you forget to use glasses or contact lenses), you might be saved. But otherwise….

Other Variations of Kunekune’s Urban Legend

I’ve shared the most famous urban legend story of Kunekune above, but there are also some variations.

Kunekune at the sea

A boy in around the fourth grade attended a summer camp for swimming lessons near the sea. Unfortunately, a typhoon was approaching on the last day of the camp, so the attendees had to stay in a room.

While looking out the window at the raging sea, a mysterious white object moved. He wasn’t sure if it was a man or a woman, but the thing was completely white all over and moved its hands at high speed above its head in a scooping motion.

At that moment, K-chan, who was looking out the window with him, released a strange voice: “Peeeeeee!” The teachers took K-chan to the hospital, but she never returned…

This story suggests that Kunekune can also inhabit the sea. By the way, he also explained why he was saved while K-chan wasn’t: He was nearsighted but did not wear glasses.

Black Kunekune?

One day, a boy and his friends played at home during high school. While they were talking nonsense, his mother returned with the front door vigorously open and desperately pleaded with them not to go to the rice paddies. She claimed that she saw a wiggling black object there.

But the group went to the rice fields for fun. Then, they saw an unidentifiable black object wiggling its arms and legs. Tears welled up in their eyes, their knees trembled, and they ran home crying…

As I said earlier, Kunekune, in most sighting cases, is white as paper or fabric. However, like this story, it could be said that it can sometimes appear as a black object as well.

What could be the origin of Kunekune?

Theory 1: Is Kunekune Yokai?

In Japan, since ancient times, many phenomena have been associated with Yokai, a kind of ancient monster.
Some people have actually pointed out the remembrance between Kunekune and some yokai, such as “Ittan-momen” (white, floating yokai), so this theory could be the strong origin.

Theory 2: Doppelganger

Other theories include the doppelganger phenomenon.
Some similarities have also been noted, such as the fact that the doppelganger is another self and will take a life if encountered and that the doppelganger is also represented as a person in white or black.

Theory 3: Victim will become New Kunekune

The last theory here is that Kunekune is those who witnessed Kunekune in the past. In the story posted on 2chan, after the brother became insane, his family said, “After a few years, it’s best to release him into the rice field…”

The intention of this statement was not made clear in the story, but it may imply that the Kunekune witness will be returned to the rice field after a certain period of time and that he or she will later become a new Kunekune.

Try not To see what you shouldn’t see…

Most of Kunekune’s urban legend stories are short, but the horrors are very deep. This is a good, quick Japanese urban legend to experience, I would say!

Anyway, when you have a chance to go near rice fields in Japan, be careful. There could be… you-know-what.

↓Check out this related article as well to find out more about Japanese creepypastas/urban legends!