著者

渡辺 良智

出版者

青山学院女子短期大学

雑誌

青山學院女子短期大學紀要 (ISSN:03856801)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.56, pp.151-182, 2002-12-10

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A rumor says that at Tokyo Disneyland some children were about to be kidnapped by foreigners for organ trafficking. From where did this horrible rumor originate? To answer this question, some similar rumors were considered. These rumors are American urban legends, the rumor of lady kidnapping at Orleans, the baby parts story, the rumor of adult organ snatching, the rumor of child kidnapping in 1750 Paris and stories of the Jewish ritual murder of children in medieval times in Europe. After analyzing the story structure of these rumors, some common components were discerned; they were child kidnapping, anesthetic, organ or blood snatching and ethnic prejudice toward foreigners. The conclusion is as follows: the story of the Jewish ritual murder is the origin of these rumors, and the rumor of child kidnapping at Tokyo Disneyland was imported from American urban legends and warns of the danger of child kidnapping at a fantastic place. As organ transplantions are now in operation, but the demand of organs always exceeds supply, so rumors of this kind will thrive.