An obscure urban legend

In Japan, there are many urban legends and rituals. From the red room to Hanako-san, it is a country rich with superstitions and rife with legends.

There is, however, a more unknown ritual. Hidden in an obscure internet forum accessed by clicking on a suspicious-looking link and opening a old unused thread, there lists instructions for the "unscheduled train ritual".

Posted: 8 October 2006

Last activity: 8 October 2006

Unscheduled train ritual:

Legends say that the unscheduled train ritual is a ritual that brings the participant into the "other side". Whether that is another dimension or the afterlife, no one knows for sure. All that exists is speculation.

One theory is that while the train station of "this world" runs from 5 a.m to 1 a.m, there exists another "opposite world" in which the train only runs for 4 hours, from 1 a.m to 5 a.m. As such, the ones who end up in the other world have 4 hours to explore and can come back to this world by performing the ritual in that world.

To complete the ritual, you must:

1. Either go to the train station or stay there until 1.a.m, when the last train ceases it's activity.

2. After being fully sure that no one is there and that the trains have fully stopped, close your eyes and step on the edge of the walkway.

3. Yell as loud as you can: "leave the door open for me!" and leap forward.

4. If it is successful, you would not feel the impact on landing on the train tracks. Instead, you will open your eyes to see yourself on a train in another world.

More info:

As to how this works, some say that, for short periods between the time of 5 a.m and 1 p.m, the starting and ending of the train lines in different worlds coincide with each other to produce the most synchronicity between the alternate dimensions. The barrier between them is the thinnest, allowing you to travel to another world by boarding the first train of that world after termination of the last train in this world.

Mayumi was interested in urban legends and rituals. She actively sought them out and tried them, though never getting the results promised. This had led to her slowly getting disillusioned, maybe wondering if they were all bullshit after all.

Though, she never gave up. She figured that out of one thousand, if there was even a chance that one worked, it would have made it all worth it.

So when she got a link from a friend who knew of her interest, her heart raced as she clicked through it to find the thread and read the instructions.

"Seems interesting enough..." The 19 year old girl pushed her long black hair out of the way, looking at her phone to find the time was 12.58 p.m, "Would be worth a try."

And so she followed the instructions to the letter. She closed her eyes and leapt, expecting nothing but scraped knees and curious glances at university the next day.

But that pain never came. After seconds of anticipation, she slowly opened her eyes... To see the back of a train seat.

She gasped as she turned to survey the surroundings. The landscape with a black sky zooming past the window, the glaring led lights, the metal interior, the rumble of rushing over train tracks...

The ritual worked! Mayumi pumped her fist in excitement, only to realize that her arm didn't show the sleeves of the pink jacket she had on earlier, plus it felt a bit cold...

She looked down and blushed. She was naked! The website didn't say anything about this!

She panicked as she leaned out of her seat to look back, only to quickly retract upon realizing there were still a few passengers in this train. She wasn't alone!