The teketeke is an urban legend from Japan about a girl whose body was cut in two when she was killed in a railroad accident during the winter in Hokkaido. According to stories, her ghost roams through Japan, dragging her top half along using her claw-like hands while making a weird "teke-teke" sound.

Is there really an incident like this happened in Japan's history?

Railroad accidents are a fact of life, people act careless around them all the time. I know this to have happened multiple times in North America so it likely happened in Japan as well.

Such a being is more sad than scary. One would want to help her somehow.

As Falcon said, it wouldn't be unheard of to have an accident like that, especially as trains are the main transport here (can't speak for Hokkaido pref. though). I've been studying youkai and stories like this since I got to Japan, and this is the first time I've heard of it. Perhaps 'cause it happened (if it did) in Hokkaido, it's probably only limited to Hokkaido, despite the information above. I haven't been to Hokkaido, so I can't speak to the trains and such, nor this legend.
This was the only thing I could find (kinda busy with exams so I can't translate it for those curious, but... if you can read Japanese, go for it) : http://blog.livedoor.jp/hirock1980/arch ... 40793.html
Her name was Kashima Reiko apparently, and she's also called "Sacchan", and there's several different versions - but basically, it says at the end that the people in Hokkaido don't think it's a realistic story.

I know that railroad accidents are common but there’s something weird on the girl’s case. She didn’t die instantly after being cut into half instead her upper body was somehow still alive for 10 minutes.

Thanks for sharing Yamazaki, stay strong over there regarding those exams... Let me know how they turn out when you get the chance. Still excited for you.

As to the reality of this story... the girl might not have stayed alive for ten minutes when cut in half. I can't see how she could have without medical intervention. I personally would like to go to Hokkaido and see if I could see Teketeke. I could see how the energy of the event, and then people talking about it could either create a thought form, or how the confused spirit of the deceased could stay behind, or the confused spirit could combine with that energy to become Teketeke.

In any case, I certainly would not wish to be Teketeke... Would hopefully keep children from being careless near the tracks though...

Perhaps, for those that feel like a horror and youkai-based movie, TekeTeke and TekeTeke 2 (2009) are a good watch. It looks at the "origin" of the story and how it manifests, with a typical cinematic twist obviously that some purest may not like. I happened to watch it when at a friend's place for her birthday, and thought I'd mention it.
I know we haven't spoken on it for a while, but if anyone was looking for information, this might be helpful (and a bit more entertaining that reading information) - there's English-subbed versions around. Warning you though, they go a little over the top with the TekeTeke attacks ^^;

If you watch the trailer, you'll have an understanding of the "teketeke" sound too - i.e. it's a scuttling sound.

Thank you for the information Yamazaki! I'll try to look for a copy of that movie.

Yes actually, it would help to ask kami to care for her. Living in a very haunted town, most of the ghosts here, are stuck here for two reasons. 1) The town is located smack in a vortex, it does NOT like to let go, nevermind that the mountain we're at the foot of has a direct connection over to Fuji. 2) They are forgotten about due to the time they have been here, so their graves are untended, and in some cases cause of death was even actively covered up.

Other methods would be giving offerings to the teketeke in return for pacification, or the brave one might offer compassion and assistance to crossing over.

For the brave, I take it that could be even just having a conversation and trying to befriend?