Editing Chain letter (section)

===== Expert Opinions on the Japanese Phenomenon =====
Experts offered various interpretations. Shinto scholar [[Kato Takahisa]] saw it revealing underlying societal anxiety despite modernization.<ref name="へそだんご_p6"/> Psychiatrist [[Shigeta Saitō]] called it symptomatic of the times, criticizing the "self-centered" impulse to pass on misfortune compared to earlier Lucky Letters.<ref name="新潮45_26(1)_p48"/><ref name="読売新聞19701126_p12"/> Sociologist [[Mita Munesuke]] termed it the "pass the buck" (ババ抜き, ''babanuki'', like the card game Old Maid) mentality amplified.<ref name="読売新聞19701126_p12"/> Writer [[Nada Inada]] linked it to persistent superstition in modern society and the fear triggered by confronting the taboo subject of unhappiness.<ref name="読売新聞19701126_p12"/><ref name="朝日新聞19720501m_p20"/> Social psychologist [[Akira Tsujimura]] noted the unsettling effect of anonymity, the resonance with the ever-present reality of death, and its alignment with modern egoism.<ref name="大衆現象を解く_p122"/><ref name="大衆現象を解く_p124"/> Writer [[Kenichi Hatsumi]] recalled playing "unlucky letter games" as a child, suggesting a parody element existed alongside genuine fear.<ref name="ムー20191213"/> Shrine priest Ishikawa Masayasu pointed out how the letters exploit psychological weakness, trapping people between spreading harm and fearing personal consequences.<ref name="西日本新聞19910130e_p5"/>