Heard about Tomino’s Hell? It’s a poem from Japan with one rule: you’re better off reading in your head, not out loud. Trust me, it’s for the best. Before I get into my interpretation, along with my thoughts on the story, take a look if you dare! But remember, don’t read it out loud!
Tomino’s Hell
The elder sister vomits blood, younger sister’s breathing fire. While sweet little Tomino just spits up the jewels. All alone does Tomino go falling into that hell, a hell of utter darkness, without even flowers. Is Tomino’s big sister the one who whips him? The purpose of the scourging hangs dark in his mind. Lashing and thrashing him, ah! But never quite shattering. One sure path to Avici, the eternal hell. Into that blackest of hells guide him now, I pray to the golden sheep, to the nightingale. How much did he put in that leather pouch to prepare for his trek to the eternal hell? Spring is coming to the valley, to the wood, to the spiraling chasms of the blackest hell. The nightingale in her cage, the sheep aboard the wagon, and tears well up in the eyes of sweet little Tomino. Sing, o nightingale, in the vast, misty forest he screams he only misses his little sister. His wailing desperation echoes throughout hell—a fox peony opens its golden petals. Down past the seven mountains and seven rivers of hell the solitary journey of sweet little Tomino. If in this hell they are found, may they then come to me, please, those sharp spikes of punishment from Needle Mountain. Not just on some empty whim is flesh pierced with blood-red pins: they serve as hellish signposts for sweet little Tomino.
As a kid, I was always the eccentric one out of the bunch. The creative, introverted child with an uncanny obsession for horror. To me, horror meant—and still (as an adult) is—a somewhat unpleasant excitement of emotion. Not only that, but it also triggers a fear from within and brings curiosity out of me, which is why I am always eager to experience and search for more. That is to say, whatever would be considered ”too scary to handle” for someone else, whether that is being in the pitch-black dark, summoning an evil spirit like (bloody Mary) in the mirror, or talking to the dead people through a vintage, badly curved ouija board, I am the first to explore it.
A few weeks ago, I was lucky to stumble across a Japanese poem called “Tomino’s Hell” released in 1919 and recorded in the poetry collection Sakin. Rumor has it that if you read the poem out loud, you will either die or your soul will suffer eternally in hell. If you are wondering who was behind the creation of such a dark, witty, and eerie urban legend, his name was Saijō Yaso.
If you are not familiar, Saijō was a known Japanese poet who worked on children’s nursery rhymes and popular song lyrics. I wanted to do further research on the artist himself, but there was not much about him in English. I did come upon a possible inspiration behind the poem and the age he was when he created it. It is said that “Tomino’s Hell” was created when Saijō was 27 years old, and the inspiration came after experiencing a great loss of either his father or sister, nothing more than that. I was a bit confused about what I discovered about the poet, but, surprisingly, there is a vast amount of information about the cursed poem. Apparently, there have been multiple reported incidents regarding the poem, and one was the death of director Shūji Terayama.
There was no secret that Shūji so highly admired “Tomino’s Hell” that he created a film inspired by it. The movie Den-en ni shisu (Pastoral: To Die in the Country, also known as Pastoral Hide and Seek) was released in 1974, and Terayama died a few years later at the age of 47 from cirrhosis of the liver. Strangely enough, some skeptics believe otherwise. They believed it was the poem that killed him. In another case, a female college student died a week after reading the poem out loud while participating in a daring prank. Other cases include illnesses, car wrecks, and the feeling of an evil presence lingering around.
The way I feel about the ”death rumors” regarding the poem is that I am a bit superstitious about it, but, in some way, but I beg to differ. I am a strong believer in the law of attraction: what we constantly think about will eventually manifest into our lives. Don’t you agree?—and if you’re asking what do I mean by that, in other words, if you truly believe that something will happen to you, then it will. We are all made of energy, the positive and the negative. Another scenario: if you think positively, your energy will attract good things to you, and if you think negatively then…you get my drift. But regardless of what I believe, I initiated a further review to see what was the mystery behind the meaning of the story.
As I was reading through the poem, my thoughts were that the composition style of the story was indecipherable but quite fascinating. The poem was originally written in Japanese, which (in my opinion) made the English translation difficult to understand. One thing that I did notice repeatedly throughout the entire poem is it only mentioned his two sisters. Nothing pointed towards Saijō’s father. So, there could be a possibility that the inspiration behind the poem is referring to his sister, but it is still unclear whether it is regarding the elder or younger sister.
I wonder, could “Tomino’s Hell” be about Saijō’s secret childhood that is unknown to the public? The meaning behind the story is still a mystery. It also had occurred to me that there could be an open interpretation of whatever you think the story is about to you. While some readers interpret the poem to be a metaphor for war, and so on, I view it in another way by thinking outside of the box.
As complicated as the poem may seem, my easy way of coming up with an interpretation is that I analyzed the story metaphorically. My interpretation may not be exactly what the story is about, but it is just my way of being imaginative, which I feel what makes the poem even more intriguing. At the beginning of the story, it was obvious who was all involved, but no names were attached other than Tomino.
Elder sister vomits blood,
younger sister’s breathing fire
while sweet little Tomino
just spits up the jewels.
Figuratively speaking, what it means to “vomit blood” is to be frustrated and stressed about a particular situation. To “breathe fire,” or what I’ve imagined it to be, is a person who is holding back and keeping things unspoken. “While Tomino spits up the jewels”: I’d say he is keeping a secret about something or someone—and the short phrase (jewels) could be referring to “family jewels.”
After breaking down the beginning of the story, I believed that his elder sister was frustrated about a situation pertaining to her younger brother, Tomino. While her younger sister, on the other hand, could possibly be the ”family member” who is involved or is aware of Tomino’s secret.
Tomino is feeling all alone in the situation. He can’t speak of it to anyone because he is fearful that while having these sinful thoughts about someone in the family, his punishment would be that his soul will suffer eternally in hell where he’d never see broad light and the flowers bloom again.
Which now I suspect that Tomino is fearing these sinful thoughts about his elder sister. “Is Tomino’s big sister the one who whips him?” That is where I question, could his elder sister be abusive towards him and the younger sister?
Lashing and thrashing him, ah! But never quite shattering. One sure path to Avici, the eternal hell. Into that blackest of hells guide him now, I pray—to the golden sheep, to the nightingale.
It seems that Tomino is reliving a moment where his elder sister became angry at him or possibly towards both his sister and himself. The word shattering means very shocking or upsetting—but while it mentioned “never quite shattering,” I feel that the situation with his elder sister was not a surprising one, that it had become a constant situation between the two. In Buddhism, Avici means the lowest level of the Naraka or “hell” realm. So, it tells me that Tomino could have entered into a deep dark depression, praying that he heals the pain that lies beneath his mind.
The poem is a metaphor for his painful thoughts. Tomino travels through the different dimensions of hell in the misty forest as the sheep carry the wagon. The caged nightingale sings along the way while he nervously awaits upon his arrival. He screams out in desperation, sounds of wailing, and echoes throughout the forest for his younger sister.
When he arrives at the “golden petal,” which could be referring to the gates of hell, Tomino sees a spirit animal or what I call “spirit guide,” who guides him to see the light at the end of the tunnel (an end of a difficult situation). Yet he goes further deep through the mountains (depression) and into the darkness of hell, alone. Then the confusion came in towards the ending, which led me to put the whole story together to get a potential outcome.
A possible conclusion: I think the poem was written in a metaphorical sense. It’s like stepping in the mind of a person who is being paranoid and delusional. Maybe it could be referring to a young boy (Tomino) who is experiencing some kind of mental illness such as schizophrenia (when a person interprets reality abnormally and may result in some combination of hallucinations or delusions), a definition which I think complements the story very well.
It was also obvious that the love and bond he had shared with his younger sister was stronger than the bond with the eldest, which brought to my attention that maybe he didn’t have a great relationship with her at all. I did sense that there was some kind of abandonment, and without the story mentioning anything about Tomino’s parents or anyone else besides his two sisters, I feel that the elder sister was in charge of watching over Tomino and the younger sister.
Throughout the poem, it talked about punishment. His elder sister could have also been very abusive to both of them and, because of that, the anger that Tomino felt against her was unbearable. He feared that if he had sinful thoughts and feelings against his elder sister that his soul will burn eternally in hell. It was not stated if Tomino was religious, but there were a few sentences that spoke of Buddhism.
I read that Buddhists believe that suffering is part of life that is to be expected and that if a person experiences pain calmly, without becoming emotionally distressed, he can attain greater states of being. In this case, I feel that it was difficult for Tomino to do that. Maybe he was aware of being on a spiritual journey, going through lessons, and trying to find his way to surrender the pain and guilt that he felt regarding the situation with his elder sister.
Either way, the logic behind the story is still unknown, and after discovering more interpretations swarming around the internet of “Tomino’s Hell,” I can ironically say that my thoughts are mutual.
Noting happened they are just playing with mind
i read this peom yesterday, but i dont belive that this poem is cursed. But i love horror stories and when i knew about this poem so i read it, but i dont think that this poem is really horror lol.
I read this poem loud yesterday, but nothing happen
i aint dead i read it 3 times not anything bad is happening😎😎:)
Okay this won’t affect because you guys are reading in english. Try reading it in Japanese and see what happens xDDDD
I read it out loud…..Am i dead ?
I felt Itches all over my body while reading it(Not out loud) It felt like i was getting heavy and like i was getting puffed up more
I read it in my mind hope I don’t DIE
You will if you read it out loud Reply if you are alive
The best way to get gacha suicidal
let me if any thing further happens to u tell me, k?
we will keep in touch with each other. I am a big believer, Bloody Mary used to kill me in my dreams when i was 7 over and over again. have you got anything like that happen to you Spooked By Looks.
I read just the first part of the poem and I just got a bloody nose and after it stopped I coughed up blood
get a doctor u could be very sick
not kidding ifeel sick
sorry posted it twice 😉
but actually what the name of his dad?
I think this is about Saijō Yaso’s dads childhood and the spirit in this could be his dad. did we even get his dads name?
i think the spirit could be his dad and that Tomino is his dad. so the poem is about his dads childhood. did we even get the dads name?
காண்பது பொய் இங்கு எதுவும் நிரந்திரம் இல்லை ஆக மரணம் என்பது உண்மை என்றால் இவையால் வருவது எனக்கு மகிழ்ச்சி….. ஆனால் என்னுடைய வாழக்கை இவையால் முடியாது என்பது எனக்கு தெரியும் ஆக இது பொய்யாக இருக்கலாம்
நான் தீபன்…. I am ghost…
You alive??
Honestly I don’t get scared by things like this, but I’m not an idiot so I didn’t read it out loud. I’ll prolly get scared tonight tbh lol
IDK what is so scary about this poem. it felt all normal while reading it. i read it like twice, one in mind and once out aloud it is probably a legend. but id say the poem is beautiful
nothing happens. Fake
I read it loud but nthg happened to me it is just an imaginary thing that suffers by tomino he saw that and he came from hell it is all one dream, nthg bad happens to others if you stop thinking. If you think about anything deeply it affects your brain more which shows you some negative energy.
i read it out loud and im fine lol i read it out loud twice
Guys.. it might be true.. there is something touching me on my shoulder while I read it in my mind and I see nothing.. it said if u read louder u might not die but u been lucky enough.. then if u do it again or already done it u might get bad luck and things while happen to u.
I read it aloud and now I feel like vomiting
Hmm I think that im having a headache..
ALL OF YOU WILL DIE!! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! ALL OF YOU WILL DIE IN HELL!!
Astaghfirullah, i hope u know that everybody knows this such of stuff is fake:)
ew tomino wanna be
No one is going to die mf
Hahaha, i just read it out loud, i hope im still safe but can you guys reccomend me some cursed things like this..
i wanna know if anyone died from reading this
Yikes! I wanted to read it out loud but don’t wanna take risks … Read it in my mind..
I read it loud … Well I m alive hahaha..nothing happened so farr..well is just fak
Are you alive?
i read it in my brain what will hapen
i read it out loud 4 times like 2 months ago, and i’m still here. Never believe these such of poems, they are fake, and they just want to scare you. Stay safe y’all!
Did u feel anything when u read it?
Nothing, it’s fake! They want to scare you.
yo momma fake <3
I read it out loud but nothing is wrong is it Bc I’m young and 9…?
no i read it like 2 yrs ago im fine
this poem proves that there is a difference between outloud and in your head
True!
Meanwhile im 12 and im paranoid abt this
Nice poem
i heard about this last night on a Shane Dawson video,
i’m too chicken to read it out loud, can someone that has read it tell me what happens after? i’d be very Proud, and I will Bow.
Hey, i read this aload and i’m still alive and good. It can’t kill the human, humans are too strong to be killed by this. Sorry for my bad English, i’m only studying this language.
Nothing didn’t happened to me yet cause I read today
I Haven’t Read It Yet But I Have Seen The Comments And They Aren’t Very Scared Like I Thought They Would Be But Im About To Read It Right Now So…:)
I will never read this poem in my all life
@boo yes! You can only read it in your mind.
what if out loud? i did it 4 times
you dead
Is it ok to read the poem in your mind?
I just read it out loud, I feel like I’m going to vomit,
personally i think if you actually believe in dark magic curses sprits and etc. this would work. by my personal experience i believe in this stuff because what if there is a sprit or an actual curse tied to it and maybe the deaths were because they angered the sprit or someone planned it and maybe it is the aura that causes it to become real, you will never truly know. but i was always told never mess with the devil but that my experience i don’t know about others.
I think so it’s not true because it’s just a poem and I won’t believe it that when we read it loud we’ll die bla bla bla just they wanna make attraction on this and I’ve read it louder last week and I’m now here and what you are saying is truly right that always think positive because what you are thinking is going to happen so always think positive 😊
I readed it loudly but nothing is happening to me it’s just a fake rumor 😂
OMG wtf i read it out loud and believe me guys i’m dead now 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
How are you sending a comment then ???
they didn’t reply back so they’re probably dead already…
Once again, I’m alive people! I wrote this article but I did NOT read the poem out loud. 😏😏😏😎🤭🤭🤭💁🏾♀️
are you still alive?
I read this 12 days ago nothing happened yall are just to scared from an online article
yup its 100% fake i readed it 3months ago. infact my life is better now
Good boy
I think reading the poem loud won’t kill but if you truly understand the poem and feel how Tomino feels you might just have depressing thoughts
Which could be death or worse
Is there anything worser than death
living
Damn i want to read it out loud and not at the same time now i dont know what to do
DAMN
Yes, living with depression.
i said it and i did not sleep at night lamo
Nice poem i have read this a loud 2 times but iam fine i don’t believe in such a way that she is dead she is suffering from this form many years so sad but i dont now why people say when we read thise we will dae dont belive in thise things be positive tq😎
you only die about a few days after reading it aloud therefore giving you plenty of time to read it twice
yes i have readed this peom 3 months ago loudly but see i am fine
I survive
Uh, oh! Be careful guys! 😉
I read it and I got a headache, strange because its rare for me to get headaches.
Wsh c la même chose mais après j ai eu mal à la gorge putain faut vraiment qu on ne le lis pas à voix haute . De tt façon. Les légendes ecttt je l est crois pourquoi¿ car tous est possible le monde est grand la galaxie aussi l océan et l univers donc tous est possible
i just read it out loud hope i dont die 😀
DID YOU DIE
i think he died- ignore my username LMAO
Just read it
DID HE
I’ve read it out loud like 2-3 years ago and nothing happened and I’ve read it again today.
As the owner said, it will happen if you believe it will happen whether it’s negative or positive.
Are you alive?
I still stand by that belief
The hell…..they don’t even reply… I’m scared now
Okay, so I read the above interpretation of “Tomino’s hell” out loud about 20 minutes ago, and I am still alive. Besides the fact that I believe you probably must read the poem in Japanese in order for the curse to be effective, because, as I said, we are only reading the interpretation of the poem. But, even if I was fluent in Japanese, and read this poem in the original Japanese in which it was written, I do not believe in curses or incantations. I feel completely confident in the fact that my fundamental Christian beliefs and spirituality would protect me from any alleged curse. Additionally, after writing this, another 20 minutes or so have passed by, and I still am not experiencing any headaches, and I am also very much alive (verified by two distinct individuals who happened to be sitting here with me as I type this comment, 1 of whom I read the above interpretation to). I am hopeful that I may be coming back to horrorobsessive.com to read any possible comments about this poem, but in all likelihood that will probably not occur.
bro im scared
same
I read it out loud?
I said the poem out loud, don’t really believe anything bad will happen.
Are you dead? Because you said it out loud.
lol he didnt reply so maybe he is dead
ye ye
rip
Not so funny That’s death you are laughing at you know that right?
true ur very wise
Damn…is this real… it’s been 2 fckking years but no reply from that dude!!
Yes, I am alive guys! But I did not read this out loud, of course! 😉
4 months ago sheeeesh
I’ve heard rumors about this poem all over the internet. Facebook, YouTube, tiktok etc. I did some research about the poem. I also thought it was a joke but after i heard a lot of ppl died because of. That’s when i decided not to read it out loud. Seeing a lot of ppl dared to read the poem out loud knowing it costs their life just breaks my heart. I hope y’all don’t read this out loud because this poem, gave me intense goosebumps
I read it loudly… let’s see what happens… I don’t believe in these fake news😅😅
Same here bro i read it from two days and I’m alive that too loud!!!
Tekh
Hey yoooh you still alive?😂🤣
hi are you ok, alive??
Yes Buddy I’m fine I’m Still Alive
i got a huge headache after reading it out loud
Ngl i want to read it out loud but i have long live to live still
Read it when you are old.
You alright bro
SAME
I did too wtf.. every time I took a break to breath while reading my side started hurting too
I wrote this poem in the wall of my Neighbour’s wall and he is missing since 5 years
it’s funny when i read the part where you said “5 years ago” because in reality, it’s actually a long time ago according to google that this poem was made in 1919. so what you are saying is 100% fake
Same. I got it it my left eye
i am fine but i didn’t read it out loud
you are ok?
Are you alright? Cause like am someone who kind of believes these urban legends sooo um , are you really fine!?
Oo my i read it out loud lets see what happens ?? Wish goodluck for me guys!!😚
U alive
Shoot I am in my middle school and read this poem loud
Haha. So great, guys! I’m afraid to say the poem out loud as well.
I was actually mouthing the words and shut my mouth quickly. I wasn’t even going to RISK mouthing it.
🤐
I got scared and I didn’t even read it out loud
Thats basically the point
Nah I read it loud just right now nothing has happened, but yeah if I don’t comment here on this website again in 1 week then be sure that I’m dead.
My online name :- KRD66778
cool he died
you still alive mate?
murio
I read this poem out loud 👍🏻💀👍🏻
Hello are you there
Ha
I read this out loud right now because I was so curious I’m probably gonna read it’s in another language maybe it works!
No interest story
I read it out loud?
R u alive
U alive
i did
Are you alive?
alive 🥺
I have read this pome but not loud
sorry bro
I like hearing a good Japanese Urban Legend, but for this one… It’s just, I’m speechless… This kind of reminds me of Bloody Mary, and Candyman. And speaking of: “The elder sister vomits blood, The younger sister breathes fire”, I actually have mild emetophobia! And No, I did not read this yet, Never will.