kune-kune
The Kunekune (くねくね; 'wriggling body') is a Japanese urban legend about a slender, white, paper (or fabric-like) humanoid figure with wiggling arms that is said to appear in fields on hot summer days.
Although the story has a number of patterns, the most representative storyline is the one where "the narrator wanders around the countryside in the summer, near a paddy field or a river, and sees a white thing that wiggles its body in a manner far different from that of any person or living creature. He asks his companion what that thing might be. His friend uses binoculars in order to verify the actual shape of the thing, and as soon as he understands what it is, his mouth seizes up with fear and he becomes insane."
The locals know that "when you see the wiggle-waggle, once you understand what it is, it has an abnormal effect on your soul," and they regard it as taboo. In the stories, sometimes there can be a warning from the local elders who say "if you see such a thing, you should not get close; you should quickly forget you ever saw it."
The story was first posted in a 2channel thread in July 2001. At that time the creature had no name.
Reisen Udongein Inaba's appearance in Urban Legend in Limbo was based on this urban legend.
Not to be mistaken for the visually similar Hattifattener from The Moomins.
See also
External Links
- Wikipedia: Kunekune
- Tumblr: It’s better if you don’t know (English translation of original story)
