Case file · High strangeness
The kokkuri craze
In the mid-1880s a table-turning game called kokkuri-san swept Japan; in 1887 the philosopher Inoue Enryō traced it to American sailors at Shimoda and explained it as unconscious movement.
1887 CE · 34.68, 138.94 · status: explained
The account
Players rested hands on a tray on three bamboo sticks and asked the 'fox-dog-tanuki' spirit questions. A paper version with a coin and letter chart became a school craze in the 1970s.
The sceptical view
The ideomotor effect: small unconscious muscle movements move the pointer, as shown for Western table-turning and Ouija boards.