Project Kowai is an archive of Japanese internet horror and related materials, presented with academic introductions and annotations. First and foremost, it is meant as an English-language archive of primary materials as well as an introduction to Japanese online horror for international readers, both scholarly and otherwise. The archive presents reputable translations of popular Japanese internet horror, primarily drawn from matome sites collecting stories from the legendary message board 2channel and its later successors. Most of the primary sources are presented both in Japanese, in their “original” 2ch message format, accompanied by an English translation and commentary. Entries are tagged to allow navigation from not just a scholarly perspective, but also to allow for reading just for entertainment.

This is a public humanities project run by Anni Perheentupa, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Riverside. If you would like to contribute translations, annotations, or scholarly work, or send suggestions for internet horror stories for inclusion, please use the contact form below. 

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