FILM · 1998 · JAPAN
リング
- Directed by
- Hideo Nakata
- Runtime
- 96 min
- Studio
- KADOKAWA Shoten, Omega Project, Rasen Production Committee
30 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
A mysterious video has been linked to a number of deaths, and when an inquisitive journalist finds the tape and views it herself, she sets in motion a chain of events that puts her own life in danger.
30 Interesting Facts About リング
Interesting Facts (8)
- #001
- #002
- #003
- #004
- #005
When Ringu was first released, it could not open in South Korea because Japanese cultural imports were banned there. The film's Japanese production company then partnered with a Korean production company to make a Korean version of the film for the Korean market. This adaptation is known as The Ring Virus (1999).
- #006
- #007
- #008
Production Story (11)
- #009
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- #011
- #012
At the time Ringu was first released, South Korea had a ban on Japanese cultural imports; so it couldn't be released there. So the Japanese production company behind Ringu teamed up with a Korean production company to make a Korean version of the film for that market. This remake is known as The Ring Virus (1999).
- #013
Working with a limited budget, the team handled the scene in which Sadako climbs out of the well and walks into the room with a single simple effect. Kabuki theater student Rie Ino'o played a key role in developing the character of Sadako with her exaggerated, jerky movements. Ino'o was filmed walking backwards, and the footage was played in reverse to achieve Sadako's unnatural, eerie walk.
- #014
Contains a major spoiler — show
The characters of Sadako and Shizuko are named after and loosely based on two real women. Both were taken under the wing of Professor Fukurai Tomokichi and, whilst not actually mother and daughter, Takahashi Sadako did work with the professor soon after Chizuko's suicide. Neither woman possessed the gift of nensha, but another student of the professor, Nagao Ikuko, was believed to have this power. Fukurai wrote the book "Clairvoyance and Thoughtography" in 1931, which documented all his experiments with psychics in great detail. Many elements included in "Ringu" were present in his book, such as the women Chizuko and Sadako and their experiments with psychic abilities.
- #015
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- #017
Contains a major spoiler — show
Shizuko Yamamura is based on a real person, Chizuko Mifune, who was born in 1886 in Kumamoto Prefecture and was rumored to have the gift of foresight. After a demonstration in 1910, she was proclaimed a charlatan and committed suicide a year later by ingesting poison.
- #018
- #019
Contains a major spoiler — show
Sadako's haunting is inspired by the legend of Okiku, the ghost of a tortured woman that rises from a well. The real life well to which the haunting is attributed is located at the Himeji Castle in Japan. Sadako's disfigured appearance is likely based on Oiwa, another onryo legend describing a murdered woman who exacts revenge on her husband as a ghost.
Behind the Scenes (5)
Deeper Meaning (6)
- #025
At the beginning of the film's story, the videotape kills four friends from cabin B4. In Japan and some Asian countries, the numerical digit 4 is considered an unlucky number and is associated with death (due to the words 4 and death sounding similar in their native languages). The fear of the number 4 is known as tetraphobia and is taken seriously in some Asian countries that sometimes the number 4 is avoided in homes, hospitals, businesses and other properties.
- #026
The novel was originally science fiction-based and blended with supernatural horror elements. Hideo Nakata chose to remove the science fiction elements in order to create a more traditional ghost story. The sequel Spiral (1998) remained more faithful to the source material by preserving the story's science fiction portions.
- #027
Contains a major spoiler — show
Sadako's haunting is inspired by the legend of Okiku, the ghost of a tortured woman that rises from a well. The real life well to which the haunting is attributed is located at the Himeji Castle in Japan. Sadako's disfigured appearance is likely based on Oiwa, another onryo legend describing a murdered woman who exacts revenge on her husband as a ghost.
- #028
Contains a major spoiler — show
Sadako is based on the legendary Japanese ghost of the Onryo. Usually female, it is a ghost that manifests after dying in the grip of a powerful rage and materializes as a very physical spirit to seek vengeance on the living. The Ju-On series was also inspired by the same legend.
- #029
Contains a major spoiler — show
Sadako's psychic abilities in Japanese are called Nensha. It's a form of spirit photography that enables someone to burn images from their mind onto any solid surface just by thinking about them. This is also why anybody close to her can suffer nightmares and bad visions. It's ultimately how she burned her mind's images onto the video tape.
- #030
Contains a major spoiler — show
The novel was originally science fiction based, while also blending in elements of supernatural horror as well. Hideo Nakata opted to remove the science fiction elements in favor of a more traditional ghost story. The sequel Spiral (1998) is more faithful to the source material, keeping the science fiction portions of the story.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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