Yoshimuji-san

Yoshimuji-san is a creepy Japanese urban legend about a girl who uses a social networking site and is irritated by a creepy person she meets there. It is supposedly a true story and it happened on a Japanese social networking site called Mixi.

There was a Japanese girl named Miko who was a member of an online community. One day, she received a friend request from a member called “Yoshimuji-san”.

Miko clicked Accept and added Yoshimuji-san to her friends list without thinking much about it.

The next day, she got a message from Yoshimuji-san:

“Miko is 21 years old, but she is still not married?”

It made Miko feel a bit uncomfortable to be asked such a personal question, especially by someone she didn’t even know. However, she thought it would be rude to ignore it, so she wrote a brief reply:

“I am a student at the moment, so yes… I am still unmarried.”

Almost immediately, she received another message:

“Do you have a boyfriend? Where do you live? Please tell me your real name!”

This was too much for Miko. She was irritated and sent a stern reply:

“I’m not answering those questions. I will remove you from my friends list if I hear any more strange things from you.”

After that, she didn’t receive any other weird messages.

However, 10 days later, Yoshimuji-san contacted her again:

“Please change your profile image now. If you think you are watching your face by other men, you will want to kill you! Please remove all men from your friends list!”

Miko was creeped out by this. Enough was enough. She decided to remove Yoshimuji from her list of friends.

However, when she looked at the updates on Yoshimuji-san’s profile page, she got a shock.

Today: “Fireworks display”. He had written about attending a fireworks display by the river. It was the same fireworks display Miko had gone to see that day.

Yesterday: “Drinking Party”. He had written about going to a party in a bar. It was at the same bar Miko always went to. Miko had gone to a drinking party with her friends in that bar on the same day.

3 Days Ago: “The Beach”. He had written about walking on the beach. Miko had also gone to the beach with her friends on the same day.

4 Days Ago: “House”. “Because I live alone, I spent the day reading novels and doing research on the Internet.”

Miko got goosebumps. That was exactly what she had done on that day. It was like reading her own diary… except it was written by a stranger… It was frightening… With trembling hands, Miko continued to scroll down.

5 Days Ago: “Shopping”. “I went to a supermarket close to my home to buy groceries. I bought 5 kilograms of rice, natto, cabbage, kamaboko, horse mackerel, orange juice, potato chips and potato and gumi.”

Miko was shaking with fear. There was no doubt about it now… This was exactly what she had bought when she went shopping 5 days ago. She didn’t want to read any more, but she forced herself to continue…

6 Days Ago. “Discovery”. “I found the right person this time. The person I am destined to be with. I have located the house as well. Now I’ve found you, I will not let go. I will live very close to you.”

Miko was distraught. She was sick to the stomach with fear. Now, she knew he was stalking her. Moreover, there was a high possibility that he knew where she lived and had moved to be closer to her… She was terribly afraid, but she plucked up her courage and sent Yoshimuji-san an angry message:

“What are you doing??! How did you know where I would be??! Where do you live now??! Where are you watching me from?? Please stop this at once! You’re scaring me! If you don’t answer me, I will inform the police! I’m serious!”

Two minutes later, she received a reply from Yoshimuji-san:

“What are you doing??!”

> I am at your side.

“How did you know where I would be?”

> I saw every update you posted on your profile about your plans, what you were doing and who you were with.

“Where do you live now??!”

> I live in a room on the 5th floor. Same as you.

“Where are you watching me from??”

> From the closet.