A Guide to “Tomino’s Hell,” the Cursed Poem (With Interpretation)

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Discover the haunting history behind this cursed poem

Co-authored by Carmine Shannon Reviewed by Stina Garbis

Last Updated: October 2, 2023 Fact Checked

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The Curse of “Tomino’s Hell”

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History of “Tomino’s Hell”

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"Tomino’s Hell" Poem Translation

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Interpretations of “Tomino’s Hell”

Out of all the creepy stories and poems floating around the internet, “Tomino’s Hell” is one of the best known. The 1919 poem is about a young man’s journey through hell, fueled by his sisters. No one knows for sure what inspired the poem, and it’s hard to fully make out the intended meaning, but the general consensus is that if you read it out loud you’ll wind up like little Tomino—namely, dead. While there’s a lot out there to read on “Tomino’s Hell,” many sites have gotten the translation and meaning mixed up. In this article, you’ll find the complete history and interpretation of “Tomino’s Hell,” so you can decide for yourself if reading it is worth the risk.

Things You Should Know

“Tomino’s Hell” was written in 1919 by Saijō Yaso and published in the book Sakin.
In 2004, Yamota Inuhiko popularized the urban legend that reading the poem out loud kills you.
While the poem is enigmatic, there’s a strong possibility that it’s about the experience of war.

Section 1 of 4:

The Curse of “Tomino’s Hell”

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“Tomino’s Hell” is a poem turned urban legend that’s been floating around the internet since the early 2000s. The general belief is that if you read the poem out loud, you’ll meet an untimely death. ^{[1]
X
Research source} It’s just a myth…but maybe skip the dramatic reading, just to be on the safe side.
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There are a handful of deaths widely considered to be caused by the poem. The “Tomino’s Hell” legend needs some proof to back it up, and many believers cite the deaths of a university student, a young boy, and a film director as results of reading the poem out loud. Some even think it caused the author, Saijō Yaso’s death as well. ^{[2]
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Research source}
- In reality, the stories of the university student and the little boy are just hearsay, and Yaso and the director both died years (decades, in Yaso’s case) after their involvement with the poem.
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The legend really kicked off in 2004, after a statement by Yamota Inuhiko. Yamota Inuhiko is another Japanese author and poet, born in the 50s. In his book “ Kokoro wa Korogaru Ishi no you ni, ” (The Heart is Like a Rolling Stone) Yomota claimed: “If you by chance happen to read [“Tomino’s Hell”] out loud, after you will suffer from a terrible fate which cannot be escaped.” ^{[3]
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- Another common misconception is that Yamota Inuhiko himself wrote the poem.

Section 2 of 4:

History of “Tomino’s Hell”

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1
“Tomino’s Hell” was written by Saijō Yaso in 1919. The Japanese author, Saijō Yaso, published “Tomino’s Hell” in Sakin , a poetry collection. Saijō Yaso wrote many songs and children’s stories, often in a similar creepy style to this poem. He studied English literature at Waseda University, before studying French at the Sorbonne in Paris. ^{[4]
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Research source}
- There’s some argument as to why Yaso wrote this poem. A popular story is that he came up with it after the death of a family member, probably a sister or his father.
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“Tomino’s Hell” is now a popular creepypasta. Due to the legend of “Tomino’s Hell,” it now circulates the internet as a supposedly cursed poem. It has many fan translations (unofficial translations)—some of which miss the meaning of the poem entirely—as well as made up backstories (it was written by Tomino himself, it was written by Inuhiko, etc.)
- Creepypastas are scary stories that get copy/pasted across the internet. “Pasta” is a holdover from another Reddit term, “copypasta,” which is any popular copy/pasted text. ^{[5]
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 Research source}
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3
The works of Saijō Yaso inspired the 1974 film Pastoral, To Die in the Countryside. The Japanese director Terayama Shuji was a fan of Yaso’s and made a movie very loosely based on “Tomino’s Hell.” Instead of focusing on the relationship between a boy and his sisters, however, it’s about a man and his younger self’s relationship to their mother. ^{[6]
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Research source}
- There’s a common misconception that “Tomino’s Hell” also inspired the painting “I Can’t be a Bride Anymore” by Yuko Tatsushima. ^{[7]
 X
 Research source} This painting is often associated with “Tomino’s Hell,” but more likely the long necked figure depicts an abstraction of death by hanging, the most common method of suicide in Japan. ^{[8]
 X
 Trustworthy Source
 PubMed Central
 Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
 Go to source}

Section 3 of 4:

"Tomino’s Hell" Poem Translation

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His older sister throws up blood
His younger sister spits fire,
And innocent Tomino vomits his soul.
Alone, Tomino falls into the darkest of hells
Where even flowers don’t bloom.
Does Tomino’s older sister crack the whip?
The crimson lash weighs on his mind
Beating and striking yet not breaking him entirely,
On the infinite eighth hell’s only road.
I pray for guidance in this darkest hell
To lead sweet Tomino toward the golden sheep, the nightingale.
Put all you can into the leather sack
To journey into the deepest hell.
Spring awakens in the forests and the valleys,
And to the seven twisting valleys of dark hell.
The nightingale in the cage, the sheep in the cart,
And tears in the eyes of dear Tomino.
Sing, nightingale, scream in the rainy forest,
For the beloved little sister.
The cry sounds out all through hell,
And the fox-peony opens its petals.
Around the seven mountains and seven valleys of hell,
Innocent Tomino makes his journey alone.
If they too are in hell, bring them,
The mountain of needles and pins.
The red pins don’t pierce,
But merely mark sweet Tomino.