Editing Chain letter (section)

=====Fukou no Tegami (不幸の手紙 - Unlucky Letter)=====
[[File:Questionnaire on 'Fukou no Tegami' (Japanese chain letter).svg|thumb|Results of a Sankei Shimbun survey on "Fukou no Tegami", 17 November 1970]]
The "Fukou no Tegami" (不幸の手紙 - Unlucky Letter) phenomenon is thought to have emerged when the "good luck" aspect of earlier letters disappeared, leaving only the threat of misfortune.<ref name="現代20220109_p3"/><ref name="新潮45_26(1)_p48"/> Some suggest it began as a simple prank, replacing "good luck" with "bad luck" in existing templates.<ref name="ヤングレディ8(16)_p142"/><ref name="TVでた蔵20231212_p1"/> Research suggests it started trending around 1969 or 1970.<ref name="非文字資料研究センター48_p18"/><ref name="現代20220109_p3"/><ref name="歴史民俗博物館研究報告20120330_p309"/><ref name="日本現代怪異事典_p329"/> Newspaper articles from late 1970 and 1972 trace its spread from Kyushu through Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo starting around 1969.<ref name="朝日新聞19701031m_p24"/><ref name="カシマさんを追う_p172"/><ref name="歴史読本31(3)_p180"/><ref name="現代用語の基礎知識1983別冊"/> Other accounts place the start slightly earlier, around 1965.<ref name="エキサイト20140820"/>

By summer 1970, it was prevalent in Tokyo,<ref name="朝日新聞19720501m_p20"/> spreading to the Kinki region (centering on Kyoto) by November 1970,<ref name="歴史読本31(3)_p180"/><ref name="沖縄の風習と迷信_p169"/> and becoming a nationwide phenomenon that same month.<ref name="産経新聞19930403m_p15"/> A [[Yomiuri Shimbun]] article on 26 November 1970 reported receiving over a hundred complaints since early October.<ref name="歴史民俗博物館研究報告20120330_p314"/><ref name="読売新聞19701126_p12"/> Typical wording included:
{{Quotation|This is an Unlucky Letter, a death god that came to me sequentially from Okinawa. A Canadian supposedly thought of it. If you stop it with you, misfortune will certainly visit. A person in Texas stopped it and died five years later. You too, please send this letter to twenty-nine people within thirty hours without changing the text. I am number XXX.|Quoted in {{Harvnb|東|1996|p=78}}}}
{{Quotation|This is an Unlucky Letter.<br />The person who receives it must send the same letter to ten people within one week.<br />Ms./Mr. ■■ in Class 6-2 at ■■ Elementary School stopped the letter and died in a traffic accident ten days later.<br />If you ignore this, disaster will surely befall you too.|Quoted in {{Harvnb|初見|2018}}, redactions in original}}
{{External media|
|image1=[https://archive.today/9Vyjg/8fae7154a55cee93f3a0ec340374643cd9532ff5.jpg Typical example of a 1970s Fukou no Tegami] - [[Mu (magazine)|Mu PLUS]]
}}
Variations included different time limits (e.g., 50 hours) and recipient counts (e.g., 29 or 10).<ref name="ムー20181220"/> The letters often personified themselves ("I am an Unlucky Letter") or invoked a "death god" (死神, ''shinigami''), suggesting the letter itself possessed supernatural power.<ref name="モノと図像から探る怪異2017_p103"/><ref name="日本医事新報2649_p66"/> Many included instructions not to tell anyone about receiving the letter, threatening death if revealed, likely to prevent consultation.<ref name="ムー20181220"/> They were sent anonymously,<ref name="さまよう子供たち_p111"/> sometimes as letters in envelopes, sometimes as postcards.<ref name="モノと図像から探る怪異妖怪の東西_p94"/> Some 1990s versions replaced "Okinawa" with "Ōita," lacked foreign references, used Japanese names for victims, and ended with "I am also a victim."<ref name="怖い話の本_p78"/> Like earlier Lucky Letters, some invoked famous foreigners, such as claiming [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] died for not sending one.<ref name="郵政19750801_p53"/>

Recipients were often chosen randomly from phone books<ref name="大衆現象を解く_p122"/><ref name="子どもがいる_p203"/><ref name="教育実践の記録別冊1_p117"/> or sometimes from alumni or company directories, though senders often expressed reluctance to target people they knew.<ref name="ヤングレディ8(16)_p142"/> In the 1970s, before widespread access to [[photocopier]]s, recipients had to hand-copy the entire text.<ref name="ムー20231009"/>

A key difference from earlier Lucky Letters was the anonymity; Lucky Letters often included the sender's name and sometimes a list of previous senders, making the chain's path somewhat traceable.<ref name="ムー20190117"/> Fukou no Tegami's power was also portrayed as inherent to the letter itself ("this is a death god"), whereas Lucky Letters typically threatened misfortune only as a consequence of *breaking the chain*.<ref name="モノと図像から探る怪異妖怪の東西_p102"/> Furthermore, while Lucky Letters circulated mainly among adults, Fukou no Tegami spread widely among children (elementary and middle school students) as well,<ref name="ムー20231009"/> possibly linked to schools becoming hubs for ghost stories during Japan's [[Japanese economic miracle|high-growth period]].<ref name="歴史民俗博物館研究報告20120330_p314"/>

After a period of police activity led to a decline in early 1971,<ref name="現代用語の基礎知識1983別冊"/><ref name="朝日新聞19720501m_p20"/> the letters resurged in Tokyo by late 1971 and spread nationwide again by May 1972, with letters reported arriving from various regions.<ref name="朝日新聞19720501m_p20"/> The phenomenon persisted into the 1990s, adapting to use photocopiers and [[fax machine]]s.<ref name="日本の都市伝説大事典_p188"/><ref name="幸福のEメール_p25"/> Minor resurgences occurred from 1990–1992 and again in 1998.<ref name="歴史読本31(3)_p178"/><ref name="歴史読本31(3)_p180"/> In 1993, a Portuguese version circulated within Japan's [[Brazilians in Japan|Brazilian Japanese]] community, printed via word processor, mixing promises of lottery wins with threats of job loss or spousal death.<ref name="読売新聞19930925e_p10"/>