J-Horror Rises Again: Unraveling the Heart of Fear, Japan Style
Japanese horror is seeing renewed popularity nearly 30 years after Sadako crawled out of a television screen in Ringu, sparking off a first global boom. Here we take a look at how Ringu and the novel it was based on created an iconic vision of terror.
In January 2026, Japan's satellite station dedicated to domestic cinema launched a special series called Yomigaeru Kyōfu J-Horror Serekushon, which focused on terror films from the 1990s and 2020s. The series began with Ringu, directed by Nakata Hideo and based on Suzuki Kōji's novel. Ringu led to a string of successful J-horror films, including Ju-On, One Missed Call, and Howling Village.
This revival in the 2020s was driven by internet-based horror stories, urban legends, and mockumentary style filmmaking. However, the origin of the iconic ghostly woman in Ringu, Sadako, remains enigmatic.
Two of the earliest J-horror films, Psychic Vision: Jaganrei and Honto ni atta kowai hanashi, featured ghostly women, but they lacked the haunting visual impact that Sadako possessed. Both films also predated Ringu by several years. In addition, Nakata Hideo and Takahashi Hiroshi's earlier work, Don’t Look Up, also featured a ghostly woman with long black hair and a white dress.
Despite these precedents, the specific visual representation of Sadako seems to have come from a more recent origin, suggesting that J-horror's resurgence in the 2020s owes much to the blend of modern internet culture, urban legends, and the legacy of classic J-horror films.
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