Top 10 Anime Like Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories (Yami Shibai) [2024 List]

Yami Shibai

The mysterious, yellow-masked Storyteller is a man whose true name and origin are both unknown. He appears at dusk where children gather and recites sinister tales based on Japanese urban legends, to which his young audience eerily intakes. However, the Storyteller is no ordinary teller of tales. He incorporates a kamishibai, a traditional paper-scrolling device, to add visuals to his already demented narration.
A series of short horror stories, Yami Shibai begins with a bachelor who, after moving into a new apartment, immediately starts sensing a malevolent glare being pressed into him. A single talisman rests on his ceiling, but he has no way of knowing it is one of the few safeguards that separate him from a bottomless pit of suffering. Each story is more terrifying, more appalling, and more sickening than the last as the Storyteller's audience find themselves being sucked into the vicious world of his words.

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 闇芝居, Theater of Darkness

Genres: Present , Japan , Contemporary Fantasy , Horror , Dementia

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10. Kakurenbo

Kakurenbo

Among the ruins of the city, there is a game only children can play. It is called "Otokoyo"; a game of hide-and-seek. But whenever children play this game, one by one they would disappear into the blinds of the buildings... The story begins when a boy enters the world of Otokoyo, to find his missing sister.

Kakurenbo: Hide & Seek has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: カクレンボ, Kakurenbo

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9. Fantascope: Tylostoma

Fantascope: Tylostoma

A man who appears every 700 years.
Streaching before the man's eyes the world rusted away to monochrome and gray.
Once before the town flourished that is now in ruins.
The man now, has a chance meeting with a person, a prositute.
A story of passion curling like smoke....Tairosu Tomah's story has begun.

Fantascope: Tylostoma has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: Fantascope~tylostoma~, Fantascope Tylostoma

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8. Gakkou no Kowai Uwasa: Hanako-san ga Kita!!

Gakkou no Kowai Uwasa: Hanako-san ga Kita!!

Based on the short story "Ghost Toilet" from Toru Tsunemitsu's urban myth collection "School Ghost Stories." This was adapted into the children's book "Hanako in the Toilet: Scary Stories of Your School" (1993). Several artists then adapted this into the "Here Comes Hanako" manga; most of them also wrote the anime version, which was aired as a segment of the TV series "Ponkikki Kids." Episodes, introduced by Hanako, included "The Haunted Cinema" and "The Cursed Promise Ring."

Scary High School Rumors has finished airing and it has 35 Episodes. It is also Known as: 学校のコワイうわさ 花子さんがきた!!, Here Comes Hanako, Scary Stories Of Your School: Here Comes Hanako, Phantom Of The Toilet

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7. Kyougoku Natsuhiko: Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari

Kyougoku Natsuhiko: Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari

Tired of writing riddles for children, Yamaoka Momosuke plans on gathering spooky and gruesome stories and publishing them in an anthology called Hyakumonogatari ("One Hundred Tales"). While researching these old myths and legends he comes across a mysterious trio who call themselves the Ongyou. They are detectives who are investigating the legends to reveal their truths...and bring those in the wrong to justice. Each time Momosuke meets the Ongyou he must face horrible truths and battle with his morals, but he's seeing things he shouldn't be seeing...

Requiem from the Darkness has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 京極夏彦 巷説百物語, Hundred Stories, 100 Stories, Natsuhiko Kyougoku's Worldly Horror Stories

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6. Mononoke

Mononoke

The "Medicine Seller" is a deadly and mysterious master of the occult who travels across feudal Japan in search of malevolent spirits called "mononoke" to slay. When he locates one of these spirits, he cannot simply kill it; he must first learn its Form, its Truth, and its Reason in order to wield the mighty Exorcism Sword and fight against it. He must begin his strange exorcisms with intense psychological analysis and careful investigative work—an extremely dangerous step, as he must first confront and learn about the mononoke before he even has the means to defeat it.
The Medicine Seller's journey leads him to an old-fashioned inn where Shino, a pregnant woman, has finally found a place to rest. The owner has reluctantly placed her in the last vacant room; however, as she settles in, it quickly becomes clear that the room is infested by a lethal band of mononoke, the Zashiki Warashi. With his hunter's intuition, the Medicine Seller begins his investigation to discover the Form, the Truth, and the Reason before the Zashiki Warashi can kill again.

Mononoke has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: モノノ怪, Mononoke

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5. Jigoku Shoujo

Jigoku Shoujo

Have you heard of Jigoku Tsuushin (Hell Correspondence)? Those with a powerful grudge may only access this mysterious website at midnight, allowing them to enter anyone's name and have that person be ferried straight to hell. Ai Enma, the Hell Girl, will not judge whether or not the chosen target deserves punishment; she will merely exact revenge on them for you, provided your pain or suffering move her. Not much is known about this young girl other than that she swiftly carries out her tasks with the help of three straw dolls. There is just one catch, however—as payment for carrying out such a request, the user must condemn themselves to an afterlife in hell.

Hell Girl has finished airing and it has 26 Episodes. It is also Known as: 地獄少女, Jigoku Shojo

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4. Sekai no Yami Zukan

Sekai no Yami Zukan

The anime will be in an omnibus short format that will tell stories of the strange and bizarre in our world, including UFOs, cryptids, curses, ancient civilizations, supernatural powers, spiritual experiences, bizarre cases, different dimensions, and urban legends, told in a picture show style. The anime seeks to evoke the retro atmosphere of pulp horror stories that were popular in the '60s and '70s in magazines.

The World YAMIZUKAN has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 世界の闇図鑑, Sekai no Yami Zukan

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3. Ito Junji: Collection

Ito Junji: Collection

A collection of animated horror stories based on the works of Japanese artist Junji Itou.

Junji Ito "Collection" has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: 伊藤潤二「コレクション」, Ito Junji Collection

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2. Kowabon

Kowabon

In today's world full of wondrous technological innovation, the unnatural and mysterious sometimes appear even more horrifying than usual. But despite how far society has advanced, the fear of the unknown always remains. The unfortunate participants in Kowabon find themselves in such a predicament, experiencing the supernatural through their everyday technology. From a frightening sight caught on a parking garage camera to a video chat that takes an unexpected turn, the victims struggle to escape that which haunts them. However, what awaits these doomed souls may be a fate even worse than death...

Kowabon has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: こわぼん, Kowabon

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1. Kagewani

Kagewani

A video blogger attempts to fake cryptid sightings to boost his views, but gets more than he bargained for when his crew is slaughtered by a real monster. Elsewhere, students find themselves preyed upon by a sandworm-like beast, initiating a desperate struggle for survival on their own school grounds.
With more of these attacks from mysterious creatures occurring, researcher Sousuke Banba tasks himself with delving into the mystery. With nothing but the keyword "Kagewani" to lead him, he scours the sites of recent attacks in hopes of finding a lead to eradicating the creatures for good. However, Sousuke finds that these threats to humanity are even closer to home when the pharmaceutical company, Sarugaku, starts to encroach on his investigation.

Kagewani has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 影鰐-KAGEWANI-, Kagewani

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