Thrills and Chills in Japan for Halloween

A few years ago, I told you I ain’t afraid of no yurei after researching some tales about spots in my region of northern Chiba Prefecture that are said to be haunted in my effort to read more in Japanese. A tried and true way to improve your Japanese language reading skills is to read what you’re interested in, and what could be more intriguing than tales of the mysterious locations right outside your door?

A friendly ghost in Noda City

In this spooky Halloween season for entertainment and expansion of my vocabulary of the macabre, I’m reading yet more haunting stories I can share with both my Japanese and foreign friends who are up for a fright. In another time, these tales were probably passed from person to person over the light of an irori or in the schoolyard. But these days, there are many websites that collect tales of terror.

The website 全国心霊マップ, Ghost Map Japan, aggregates reports of places with mysterious histories including 背虚 haikyo abandoned buildings, 都市伝説 toshi densetsu, urban legends, and 心霊スポットshinrei spotto, haunted spots. The coverage is so broad you're likely to find somewhere close to home with a spectre. Maybe too close. Our Noda City beauty spot, Shimizu Park, has a number of apparitions and mysterious happenings. 

An atmospheric slope in supposedly haunted Shimizu Park

A quick perusal 心霊スポット Shinrei Supotto, another online repository of Japan’s supernatural places of interest, turned up a handful of hauntings in Kasukabe City where I work. The city's claim to fame is Crayon Shinchan, the cheeky perennial kindergarten boy, celebrated at an amusement park at the local mall. Little did I know that there are spooks in this Tokyo bedroom community.

While many of the tall tales of spooky places are meant to titillate - a scary abandoned hospital or a desolate landscape are recounted in detail to scare the daylights out of you - some have redeeming and socially significant outcomes. Two stories come to mind.

In Kasukabe City, the underpasses that carry pedestrians below the Tobu train lines were gloomy spaces that acquired ghost lore over time. In an effort to allay the fears of children who crossed under the tracks, a project to transform the spaces arose. Today, these underpasses are now decorated with murals of aquatic landscapes and fanciful characters. They’re worth a visit when you pass through Kasukabe City.

Another one that startled me was a shocking grassroots campaign to promote safety at a level crossing, also on the Tobu line, in Nagareyama City. A local person, frustrated with the dangerous crossing and mounting injury toll at the crossing commissioned manikins and hung them by the tracks. Train drivers reported the ghostly female figures and the incident raised the issue of level crossing safety in the city.

Have you heard some hair-raising tales where you live? Have you seen anything extraordinary? Give us a scare for Halloween!