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{{Short description|1985 Japanese urban legend}}
[[File:Curse of the Colonel DSCN7774 20090921.JPG|thumb|The statue following its 2009 recovery from the river. Visible around the statue's neck is an ''[[Omamori]]'', a traditional Japanese [[amulet]].]]
The '''Curse of the Colonel''' ({{langx|ja|カーネルサンダースの呪い}}, {{small|[[Romanization of Japanese|romanisation]]:}} {{transliteration|ja|Kāneru Sandāsu no Noroi}}) is a Japanese [[urban legend]] that holds that the ghost of the [[KFC]] founder, [[Colonel Sanders]], [[Sports-related curses|placed a curse]] on the [[Hanshin Tigers]] baseball team.

The curse was said to be placed on the team because of the Colonel's anger over treatment of one of his store-front statues,<ref name="davisson1">{{cite book|first=Zack|last=Davisson|title=Osaka InfoGuide|publisher=Carter Witt Media|location=Japan|year=2006|pages=20–23}}</ref> which was thrown into the [[Dōtonbori]] River by Hanshin fans before their team's 1985 [[Central League]] pennant.<ref name="usa1"/> As is common with sports curses, the Curse of the Colonel was used to explain the team's failures in subsequent years.<ref name="usa1">{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bbw/2003-08-21-leading-off_x.htm|title=The Colonel's curse runs deep|first=Paul|last=White|date=2003-08-21|work=[[USA Today]]|access-date=2009-05-28|archive-date=2012-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218210413/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bbw/2003-08-21-leading-off_x.htm|url-status=deviated}}</ref> Some fans believed the team would never win another Japan Series until the statue was recovered.<ref name="global-post"/> They appeared in the Japan Series three more times and lost in [[2003 Japan Series|2003]], [[2005 Japan Series|2005]] and [[2014 Japan Series|2014]] before winning in [[2023 Japan Series|2023]].<ref name="2023Win">{{cite web|first1=Jason|last1=Coskrey|access-date=2023-11-05|title=Tigers beat Buffaloes in Game 7 to end 38-year Japan Series drought|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2023/11/05/baseball/japanese-baseball/hanshin-orix-game-seven/|date=5 November 2023|website=The Japan Times}}</ref>

Comparisons are often made between the Hanshin Tigers and the [[Boston Red Sox]], who were said to be under the [[Curse of the Bambino]] until they won the [[World Series]] in 2004.<ref name="usa1"/> The Curse of the Colonel has also been used as a [[bogeyman]] threat to those who would divulge [[KFC Original Recipe|the KFC recipe]].<ref name="taipei">{{cite web|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/bizfocus/archives/2005/07/31/2003265834|title=Keeping a secret secret for the Colonel|work=[[Taipei Times]]|date=2003-07-31|access-date=2009-05-28|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060113220400/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/bizfocus/archives/2005/07/31/2003265834 |archive-date = January 13, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== History ==

=== 1985 Japan Series ===
The [[Hanshin Tigers]] are located in [[Kansai]], the second-largest metropolitan area in Japan. They are considered the underdogs of [[Nippon Professional Baseball]], in opposition to the [[Yomiuri Giants]] of [[Tokyo]], who are considered the kings.<ref name="kings">{{cite web|url=http://www.japanball.com/giants.htm|title=Tokyo Yomiuri Giants|publisher=JapanBall.com|access-date=2009-05-28|archive-date=2009-03-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318131553/http://japanball.com/giants.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The fans flock to the stadium no matter how badly the Tigers play.<ref name="time1">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501030901-477975,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050113003112/http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501030901-477975,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 13, 2005|title=Hanshin's Paper Tigers|first=Pico|last=Iyer|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=2003-08-25|access-date=2009-05-28}}</ref>

In 1985, the Hanshin Tigers faced the [[Seibu Lions]] and had a surprise first victory in the [[Japan Series]],<ref name="time1" /> largely due to the efforts of their star slugger, the American [[Randy Bass]].<ref name="usa1"/><ref name="tigers-page">{{cite web|url=http://www2.gol.com/users/michaelo/History.html|title=Hanshin Tigers: History|access-date=2009-05-28}}</ref> A riotous celebration gathered at [[Dōtonbori#Ebisubashi|Ebisu Bridge]] in [[Dōtonbori]], [[Osaka]], on October 16, three weeks before the Japan Series.  Supporters yelled the players' names; with every name, a fan resembling a member of the team leaped into the canal. Lacking a Caucasian person to imitate Bass, the crowd seized a plastic statue of Colonel Sanders from a [[KFC]] and tossed it off the bridge as an [[effigy]]. Like Bass, the Colonel had a beard and was not Japanese.<ref name="usa1" />

According to the urban legend, this began the Curse of the Colonel,<ref name="davisson1" /> which states that the Tigers will not win the championship again until the statue is recovered.<ref name="global-post">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/japan/090327/the-curse-the-colonel|title=The curse of the colonel|first=Gavin|last=Blair|work=[[GlobalPost]]|date=2009-03-27|access-date=2009-05-28}}</ref>

===18-year losing streak===
After their success in the 1985 series, the Hanshin Tigers began an 18-year losing streak placing last or next-to-last in the league. Brief rallies in 1992 and 1999 brought hope to fans, but they were followed with defeat.<ref name="japan1">{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NTN/is_46/ai_108722585/|title=Tigers, Tigers burning bright: can a Kansai institution convert pennants into pennies? - Hanshin Tigers baseball team|first=Dominic|last=Al-Badri|date=August 2003|publisher=[[Japan, Inc.]]|access-date=2009-05-28}}</ref> Numerous attempts to recover the statue failed, including the use of divers and dredging. Fans apologized to the store manager.<ref name="usa1" />

===2002 World Cup===
Although the leap into Dōtonbori canal and the Curse of the Colonel is usually associated only with a Hanshin Tigers victory, in 2002, when Japan beat [[Tunisia national football team|Tunisia]] in the [[2002 FIFA World Cup|World Cup]], some 500 fans jumped into the canal as a celebration, in spite of heavy police security.<ref name="japan1" /> A Colonel Sanders statue was taken from the storefront of a KFC in [[Kobe]] and its hands were cut off, supposedly in imitation of [[Sharia law]].<ref name="japan1" />

===2003 Central League===
In 2003, the Tigers had an unexpectedly strong season. Their chief rivals, the [[Yomiuri Giants]], lost their star player [[Hideki Matsui]] to the [[New York Yankees]], while the Tigers saw the return of pitcher [[Hideki Irabu]] back to NPB after playing with the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]]. The Tigers won the [[Central League]] to qualify for the [[Japan Series]], and many newspapers speculated that the Curse of the Colonel had finally been broken.<ref name="time1" /> However, the Tigers lost the Japan Series to the [[Fukuoka Daiei Hawks]], so the curse remained intact.<ref name="davisson1" />

Fans were enthusiastic about winning the Central League, and repeated the celebratory leap into Dōtonbori Canal. However, instead of the individual leapers representing the players, over 5,300 fans plunged into the canal.<ref name="davisson1" /><ref>{{cite news | url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1032847/index.htm | work=CNN | first=David | last=Vecsey | title=Galleries | date=2003-09-20 | access-date=2011-10-07 | archive-date=2012-07-16 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716220400/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1032847/index.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Many KFC outlets in [[Kobe]] and [[Osaka]] moved their Colonel Sanders statues inside until the series was over to protect them from rabid Tigers fans.<ref name="davisson1" /> The replacement Colonel Sanders statue in the Dōtonbori KFC branch was bolted down to prevent a repeat of the incident.<ref name="davisson1" />

====Death in the canal====
[[Image:Dotonbori-Signboard1.jpg|thumb|"Dangerous! Do not dive into this river. [[Osaka]] Regional Development Bureau and Osaka-Minami [[Police station]]" sign at [[Dōtonbori#Ebisubashi|Ebisubashi bridge]]]]
24-year-old Hanshin Tigers fan Masaya Shitababa drowned in the canal during the 2003 celebration, with all reports being that he had been shoved in by the revelers.<ref name="masaya1">{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1:80375249/Japanese+man+drowns+during+baseball+pennant+celebrations.html|title=Japanese man drowns during baseball pennant celebrations|publisher=[[Associated Press|AP Worldstream]]|date=2003-09-18|access-date=2009-05-28}}{{Dead link|date=December 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (subscription required)</ref> To prevent future incidents, the Osaka city council ordered the construction of a new Ebisubashi bridge beginning in 2004, which will make it more difficult for fans to take the celebratory leap should the Curse of the Colonel be broken and the Tigers win again.<ref name="masaya1" />

=== Recovery of statue ===
The Colonel was finally discovered in the [[Dōtonbori]] River on March 10, 2009. Divers who recovered the statue at first thought it was only a large barrel, and shortly after a human corpse, but Hanshin fans on the scene were quick to identify it as the upper body of the long-lost Colonel.<ref name="japan-times-2009">{{cite web|title=Colonel stages a comeback in Osaka |work=[[The Japan Times]] |url=http://info.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20090311a3.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130218132853/http://info.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20090311a3.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-02-18 |date=2009-03-11 |access-date=2009-03-11 |first=Reiji |last=Yoshida }}</ref> The right hand and lower body were found the next day, but the statue is still missing its glasses and left hand. It was said that the only way the curse could be lifted was by returning his long-lost glasses and left hand.

The statue was later recovered (with replacement of new glasses and hand) and returned to KFC Japan. The KFC restaurant that the statue originally belonged to no longer exists, but a cardboard cut-out replica of the statue was placed in the branch near [[Koshien Stadium]] during the 2023 playoff run.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Monagan |first=Matt |date=2023-11-05 |title=Cursed no more: This team ended the Colonel Sanders hex |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/the-japanese-team-cursed-by-colonel-sanders |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=[[MLB.com]]}}</ref>

=== 2023 Japan Series ===
The curse was broken in 2023 when the Tigers won Game 7 of the [[2023 Japan Series]] for their first NPB championship since 1985.<ref name="2023Win"/><ref name=":0" /> Fans again gathered and celebrated in Dōtonbori after the 2023 title win and threw a fan [[cosplay]]ing as the Colonel into the river in reference to the curse.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.daily.co.jp/gossip/2023/11/05/0016997586.shtml |title=カーネル・サンダース「リアルでは胴上げしないでね」ツイートも道頓堀にはカーネルコスプレで飛び込み出現 |publisher=[[Daily Sports (Japanese newspaper)|Daily Sports]] |date=November 5, 2023 |access-date=November 5, 2023 |language=Japanese}}</ref>

On March 8, 2024, KFC Japan held a burial ceremony for the statue, citing difficulties in maintaining the statue's condition.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thehanshintigers.com/2024/03/19/kfc-puts-colonel-sanders-statue-to-rest/ |title= KFC Puts Colonel Sanders Statue to Rest |publisher= [[Hanshin Tigers]] |date=March 19, 2024 |access-date=March 19, 2024}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Baseball|Japan}}
* [[Baseball superstition]]
* [[Curse of the Billy Goat]] – A similar superstition surrounding the [[Chicago Cubs]] (American baseball, ended in 2016)
* [[Curse of the Black Sox]] – A similar superstition surrounding the [[Chicago White Sox]] (American baseball, ended in 2005)
* [[Curse of Rocky Colavito]] – A similar superstition surrounding the [[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians (currently Guardians)]] (American baseball, ongoing)
* [[Curse of Coogan's Bluff]] – A similar superstition surrounding the [[San Francisco Giants]] (American baseball, ended in 2010)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* Seattle Times (November 30, 2005) ''"10 great moments in baseball superstition history"''.[https://www.seattletimes.com/news/10-great-moments-in-baseball-superstition-history/ link] (#6 is the Curse of the Colonel)
* Sports Illustrated. (August, 2003) ''"An exercise in exorcism"''.[https://web.archive.org/web/20040817045055/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/writers/david_vecsey/09/17/exorcising.ghosts/ link] (News article on sports related curses, including Curse of the Colonel.)

{{Japanese Professional Baseball}}
{{Hanshin Tigers}}
{{KFC}}
{{Sports-related curses}}
{{Urban legends}}
{{good article}}

[[Category:Baseball-related curses|Colonel]]
[[Category:Hanshin Tigers]]
[[Category:Culture in Osaka]]
[[Category:KFC]]
[[Category:Japanese urban legends]]