The Ghosts and Monsters of Japan
The monsters and ghosts, which for hundreds of years have been part of Japanese tradition, are still believed in by the present-day population.
The belief in yokāi (monsters) and yūrei (ghosts), are represented in Japanese films such as The Ring and The Grudge.
In Japan, it’s not only castles or gothic mansions who have a reputation for being haunted, but temples, office building and average homes can become places where the dead make their presence known.
Entities like Nopperabō (man with no face) and the Kuchisake Onna (slit-mouthed woman) are seen on the streets of Japan and reported to police by average citizens.
Sunshine 60, a mixed-use skyscraper in Ikebukero, Tokyo, is a well-known haunted site. It sits on land once occupied by Sugamo Prison, Japan's most infamous prison. It opened in 1895, and several people were executed by hanging at Sugamo, including Prime Minister Hideko Tojo. The prison closed in 1962 and was demolished in 1971. To dispel its sinister reputation the planners named the 60-story office and shopping complex, Sunshine 60. Until 1978, it was Japan's tallest building.
Land which has seen bloodshed or executions is considered stigmatized by the Japanese.
The 13-acre Aokigahara Suicide Forest at the foot of Mount Fuji, has the second-highest rate of suicide in the world after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Some say its attraction is based on its association with demons in Japanese mythology, and others think it’s just its remoteness where bodies are sometimes found weeks after the person ended their life. It is little wonder that yūrei, or vengeful ghosts are believed to traipse through the trails.
In recent years the Japanese government has stopped publishing statistics of how many people commit suicide in order to prevent more attempts.
Seppuku—a samurai’s honorable suicide—dates back to feudal times. Suicide does not carry the same stigma in Japan as it does in other countries. In 2022, suicide was one of the leading causes of death for men between the ages of 20 to 44, and women between the ages of 15 to 34.
In Japanese tradition, a ghost returns to haunt the living if it died due to serious betrayal or other powerful, unresolved emotions. Lonely deaths or kodokushi are tied to suicides and murders, and living in a house where this occurred is to tempt fate.
In the Japanese mind, a body which is not found for a length of time and stains where the person fell, acts as a portal for the ghost to come back into the world.
A lonely death has become more common in Japan, where traditionally three generations occupied the same home. In an ageing Japan where 28% of the population is over 65 years old and not enough children are being born, many die alone, and are not discovered for weeks.
Stone statues are erected to placate the dead and are called jizo. They are a guardian deity of children and travelers. They are decorated with red scarves and are left offerings of bean-curd cakes.
Tanuki statues are placed outside restaurants and bars. There are certain animals known as yōkai which is a type of supernatural shapeshifter known as Henge. The most famous is the Kitsune (fox) and Tanuki (Japanese racoon dog). In many legends they change into humans to commit mischievous acts.
Kitsune has the ability to either ward off or allow demonic and evil influences and affect the rice harvest and thus fertility in Japan. The Tanuki has more of a humorous aspect. In old Japanese stories it represents the haunting of people and was associated with bad omens, but over time it was linked to frivolity.
There is a large government apartment complex in Tokiwadaira, Japan that has become infamous for lonely deaths.
There are about 171 nearly identical white buildings that make up the Tokiwadaira complex. Most of the occupants have no families or visitors. Each year some of them die, and only the smell of a decomposing corpse alerts neighbors and the authorities there is a body inside the small apartment.
The first time it happened, it drew national attention when it was discovered a 69-year-old man had been dead for three years, and no one had noticed his absence. His rent and utilities were paid automatically from his bank account. It was only when his account had zeroed out in the year 2000 that police came to investigate. All that was left was a skeleton on the floor near the kitchen. Beetles and maggots had eaten all the flesh and tissue.
The trend of lonely deaths has spawned an industry that specializes in cleaning out apartments where human remains are found.
Many of these buildings were erected post World War II, and were sought-after homes especially with their modern amenities. The monthly wages of tenants had to be at least 5.5 times the rent, ensuring that only the most successful people got in.
As the years passed, the families moved out and others who had been original tenants had their spouses, family and friends die, leaving them as sole occupants of small spaces.
Familiar statues are the neko-chan with their waving paws or a one-legged gold toad with a coin in its mouth, however these are innocuous and meant to invite prosperity.
Japanese history is replete with reports of “ghost lights” that are seen out to sea in the wake of natural disasters, like the tsunami in the 1770s and the Fukushima disaster. Officially they are said to be escaping gas, but tradition claims otherwise.
But ghosts out in the ocean are distant and perhaps non-threatening, not like the wake-ari bukken or stigmatized properties which are to be avoided at all costs.
Japanese law has setup a criteria to avoid these “psychologically harmful” rentals. They are:
A location near a known criminal organization;
A location built by, or on ground once owned by, a cult;
A location built on top of a well, whether filled in or still open (wells feature heavily in Japanese folklore);
A location near a waste or sewage treatment facility, or a crematorium;
A location with a history of fires or flooding that caused death or injury;
A location where a suicide, murder or “lonely death” have occurred.
There are services that warn you away from stigmatized properties, but other that help you find some that are, which of course are cheaper. Some even offer an exorcism as part of their services.
Oshimaland offers real estate listings, indicating which has a history that falls within the criteria described above. For example one listed as: Hokkaido ⁇ Tada-gun Kinta-cho North (omitted) Street with a bathroom death dating back to 199?.
The yūrei are typically seen as wearing a white dress with water stains and frayed ends. A face hidden by long hair completes their appearance. There is an onryo which is bound by a desire for vengeance.
The character of Sadako Yamamura reimagined as Samara Morgan for their respective adaptations, is the main antagonist of Koji Suzuki's Ring novel series
Sadako is based on the life of the early 20th-century psychic Sadako Takahashi (1868-?) which practiced nensha which is the art of projecting images onto film by thought alone. Psychologist Tomokichi Fukurai studied her in 1931 for his book, Clairvoyance and Thoughtography. He also worked with psychic Chizuko Mifune (1886-1911) who inspired the backstory of the characters Sadako’s mother Shizuko. Mifune killed herself at the age of 24 by ingesting poison.
The Gashadokuro is a giant skeleton made from the skulls of those who have fallen in battle. It has bulging yellow or green yes, and wanders around after midnight and eats humans. A clattering sound of its teeth announces its arrival, but they can also be stealthy when stalking a human. It is indestructible since it’s made up of bones. It can be warded off by Shinto charges, and it will continue to hunt until its anger is released. Once this is done, the bones crumple and the spirit is released.
