According to recent news, many children in Japan believe in reincarnation. Some education critics have pointed out that this phenomenon is a reflection of the effects of video games, TV programs, movies and comics (or so-called “Manga”) on kids. Stories linked to these forms of media often tell tales of many heroes or heroines who are invincible or can even be resurrected. As a result, kids who are exposed to these forms of media tend to indulge themselves in their own fantasy worlds. However, I’d say this is not a recent phenomenon. Children have always been influenced by tales of mystery and the supernatural. Half the time, they are living n a fantasy world.

In my childhood, kids were truly terrified of the rumour that they would have the possibility of coming across a woman wearing a mask with long hair. It was rumoured that this woman would ask, “Am I beautiful?” Then she would take off her mask. At that moment, you would see her mouth stretched from ear to ear! It was recommended that you should immediately answer her question by saying, “Yes!” Failure to do so would result in her stabbing you with a big knife under her trench coat!

After hearing this story, I couldn’t walk alone until the rumors had died down. While these rumors were running rampant, we heard about this woman on the news almost everyday. A student at a neighboring school was chased and cut from behind by this woman, and some saw this woman on the top of a building laughing loudly “hahahahahaha.” This legend continues to live on in the minds of kids today.
 
The next story is about a ritual widely carried out by teenagers when I was a junior high school student. Actually some schools banned this ritual because some students fell down during the initiation and were taken to hospital. The ritual was as follows… 3-4 people got together and put their forefingers on a coin placed over a piece of paper with mysterious words written on it. They cast a spell and called the name of the spirit “Kokkuri-san”, to invite him to come and answer some questions. Surprisingly, the coin would automatically start moving over the letters on the paper. Even more surprising, you could see the answers to the questions by following the movement of the coin and looking at the letters over which it passed! What are the secrets of this practice? Why were the coins moving? Probably, they had fallen into some kind of hypnotic trance through this ritual.

As we grow up, our senses or cognitive skills most likely become more focused on things that affect our reality such as common sense, social norms, economics, policies, laws, technologies, etc. So, are we losing our innate senses? My answer is no; enigmatic stories aren’t only the plot for kids. For a long time, children have suddenly gone missing from our sights. Given recent cases, we easily associate missing children with kidnappings and abductions. But in the past, and even now, some believe that spirits have taken them away. Don’t you think these thoughts are too superstitious? However, several cases have been reported in which the spirits of missing kids have made their presence felt after a long time by possessing the bodies of kids. Kids possessed by these spirits are the same age as the children who went missing years ago. Actually, the possessed kids were able to recall facts that no one but only the original person knew. Allegedly, a 5 year-old Mongolian boy acknowledges actual events that happened 50 years ago in a city in Japan. Is this reincarnation? If not, how can you explain it? Chances are that Dr. Floyd can explain it.

Due to the information intensive society we now live in, information has become a valuable asset to us. But information communicated through the media in itself has the potential to become a monster making all of us panic. The media has enormous responsibilities. But where are those stories coming from originally? Nobody knows. The true cause of our panic might be due to people’s imaginations, fears, and other anxieties since ancient times.

Last but not least, I’d like to quote these words mentioned by a prominent philosopher, Widogenshutain: “Many mysterious things surround us, but what is most surprising is my own existence.”