Editing Chain letter (section)

====Email Chain Letters in Japan====
With the rise of email and mobile phones, digital versions of Fukou no Tegami, known as "Fukou no Mail" (不幸のメール - Unlucky Mail), emerged.<ref name="幸福のEメール_p30"/> Early versions in the 1990s often lacked the elaborate justifications of printed letters, simply threatening death ("コロサレル," ''korosareru'') or dire consequences ("タイヘンナコトニナル," ''taihen na koto ni naru'') for not forwarding.<ref name="幸福のEメール_p30"/> By 1995, they were reported spreading within corporate email systems.<ref name="現代29(8)_p111"/> In 1999, widespread circulation via mobile phones and [[Personal Handy-phone System|PHS]] was noted,<ref name="朝日新聞19990927e_p10"/> with messages like "Send this mail to 6 people within 5 days or die," "16 people who ignored this are dead," or "You will definitely die if you read this mail to the end."<ref name="ニッカン19990914_p28"/>

Later examples reported by the [[Telecom Services Association|Japan Data Communication Association (DEKYO)]] include threats like: "My girlfriend disappeared. Forward this to 20 people to help find her. Anyone who stops the mail is the culprit and I will come kill them in 8 days,"<ref name="デ協20060515"/> "A girl named ■■ was bullied and committed suicide. Her ghost still wanders. If you don't send this to 15+ people, she will attack you,"<ref name="デ協20090501"/> or "My best friend ■■ betrayed me. I was hit by a car and lost both legs. Send this to 10 people in 10 hours, or I will come steal your legs."<ref name="デ協20100514"/> Particularly notorious were the "Kikuchi Ayane chain mail" (featuring a murdered girl's ghost seeking friends and her killer)<ref name="現代20220109_p3"/><ref name="日本現代怪異事典_p116"/> and the "Tachibana Ayumi chain mail" (claiming a friend was murdered and the sender would use phone location data to find and kill anyone who didn't forward the mail to enough people, assuming they were the culprit),<ref name="現代20220109_p3"/><ref name="ムー202304_p42"/> the latter appearing as early as 2001.<ref name="日本現代怪異事典_p228"/> <!-- {{See also|チェーンメール#橘あゆみ}} --> Emails invoking revenge or ghosts seeking killers became common from late 1999 onwards,<ref name="散歩の達人5(2)_p88"/> sometimes influenced by popular horror like the movie ''[[Ring (1998 film)|Ring]]'', leading to "Sadako mail" threatening curses from the film's antagonist.<ref name="新潮44(34)_p145"/> A lighter(?) example was the "Fukou no Takagi Boo" (Unlucky Takagi Boo) mail circulating among high school girls in 1998, claiming to reveal comedian [[Takagi Boo]]'s phone number and threatening weight gain if not forwarded.<ref name="建設月報12(82)_p82"/><ref name="散歩の達人5(2)_p88"/><ref name="新潮44(34)_p145"/>

Forwarding such emails could have legal consequences; in 2000, a university student in Yamaguchi Prefecture was questioned by police on suspicion of intimidation for forwarding a threatening chain mail.<ref name="読売新聞20000830m_p31"/>

[[File:Survey results on Spam e-mail in Japan.svg|thumb|Analysis of chain mail types received by Japan Data Communication Association's "disposal" addresses (Jan-Dec 2008)]]
In response to the prevalence of these emails, in 2005 the Japan Data Communication Association set up dedicated email addresses (advertised as a "digital trash can") where people could forward unwanted chain mails for deletion.<ref name="中日新聞20050718m_p22"/><ref name="インプレス20050712"/> Within months, they received tens of thousands of emails, the majority being superstition-based chain letters.<ref name="読売新聞20051111m_p38"/> Analysis in 2008 found that 78% of emails received fell into the "luck/unluck" category (though many contained links to dating or adult sites).<ref name="デ協_調査結果"/> These disposal addresses remain active.<ref name="デ協202204"/><ref name="小学生から知っておきたいネットのルール_p103"/> Shōzō-ji temple in Tokyo also accepts unlucky emails, printing them out for ritual disposal.<ref name="散歩の達人5(2)_p88"/>