Teke Teke — The Legless Ghost of Japanese Railways

Teke Teke (テケテケ) is a Japanese urban legend about the vengeful ghost of a young woman who was cut in half by a train. According to the most common version, a schoolgirl fell (or was pushed) onto the railway tracks and was bisected by an oncoming train. Her ghost now drags itself along on its hands and elbows, making the distinctive 'teke teke' scratching sound that gives the spirit its name, and moves with terrifying speed despite its severed lower half. If the ghost catches a victim, it cuts them in half at the waist, transforming them into another Teke Teke spirit. The legend is deeply embedded in Japanese school folklore and is often told as a cautionary tale about the dangers of railways and lingering near train stations at night. Like many Japanese ghost stories, Teke Teke draws on the cultural concept of onryō — spirits driven by such intense grief or rage that they cannot move on to the afterlife. The urban legend format, spread among schoolchildren through oral tradition, gives Teke Teke a contemporary immediacy that traditional ghost stories lack.