Culture

Real Haunted Places in Japan

Uncover the most haunted places in Japan, where restless spirits linger—from Tokyo's eerie whispers to the chilling tale of Inunaki Tunnel.

By Rachel Crane Aug 26, 2024 5 min read

In Japan, spooky ghost stories that cause goose bumps are traditionally how people “cool off.” What better way to get spine-tingling chills than in real haunted places in Japan? Known as shinrei supotto, literally “ghost spots,” haunted places in Japan are often shrouded in urban legend. Stories range from tragic folk tales to the shadows cast by very real crimes and creepy mysteries within living memory. A trip to a haunted spot is almost always a brush with the darker elements of Japanese history, and it’s little wonder people who go there report having creepy experiences.

Visiting one of these haunted places is often considered a kimodameshi (test of courage). Are you brave enough to visit one of these six haunted places in Japan? Who knows? You might sense a presence from the other side.

Toyama Park (Shinjuku)

By day, Toyama Park is a nice place to enjoy some greenery away from the hubbub of central Shinjuku. But some say the area is haunted by its own disturbing history.

After Japan’s surrender in WWII, Toyama Park became a dumping ground for the remains of prisoners of war. These dead prisoners had been used in gruesome human experiments conducted by Unit 731, the Imperial Army’s biological weapons development division. In the intervening years, the bones of over one hundred victims have been unearthed.

Nowadays, there are occasional sightings of hitodama (will-o’-the-wisps) in the park after dark, and it is said that if you climb to the top of the hill known as Hakoneyama, you may hear the anguished sobs of a male ghost echoing through the night.

Sunshine 60 (Ikebukuro)

Ikebukuro was once one of the largest wartime prisons in Japan.

Sunshine 60, located in Ikebukuro’s popular Sunshine City, is rumored to be haunted by wartime ghosts. Before constructing this sixty-story office and retail complex, authorities used the site for Sugamo Prison. After WWII, U.S. forces imprisoned more than two thousand Japanese war criminals there. They executed seven class-A war criminals, including wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo.

Since the mid-1970s, construction workers and visitors have reported seeing ghostly apparitions, experiencing accidents, and hearing strange noises in and around the building. Some even claim to have seen floating fireballs at night, making Sunshine 60 possibly the most haunted skyscraper in the world.

Doryodo Temple Ruins (Hachioji)

Doryodo, meaning “end of the road temple,” was established in 1873. Its name has taken on a darker meaning due to the gruesome murders that occurred there. Far outside Tokyo’s bustling center, the temple’s serenity was first shattered when a temple worker was brutally robbed and murdered; her body was left abandoned near the sacred grounds. Whispers of a curse began to spread. Then, a teacher murdered his lover and student and coldly disposed of her body at the temple.

The abandoned temple grew dilapidated, eventually becoming only ruins and echoes of tragedy. These days, visitors claim to hear the voices and cries of the murdered women.

Kiyotaki Tunnel (Kyoto)

Tunnels are often associated with urban legends in Japan.

Tunnels often appear in Japanese urban legends, and the Kiyotaki Tunnel in Kyoto stands out as one of the most infamous. Locals claim the tunnel measures 444 meters in length, a number linked to death in Japanese culture. In Japanese, the number four is considered unlucky because it is pronounced “shi,” the same as the word for “death” (死). This connection has turned the number four into a symbol of bad luck and death.

The spirits haunting the tunnel are believed to be those of slaves who died during its construction in the 1920s, along with others who were murdered or committed suicide in the nearby bamboo forest. Those who enter the tunnel have reported hearing shrieking voices, feeling their cars shake, and seeing handprints appear on their windows. A recurring figure is a mysterious woman in white who either stands at the tunnel’s end or suddenly jumps onto passing cars.

Oiran Buchi (Yamanashi)

Oiran Buchi, meaning “courtesans’ abyss,” is a gorge in Yamanashi Prefecture, where locals say the ghosts of fifty-five brutally murdered women still linger. According to legend, during the warring states period, the Takeda clan secretly mined gold in the area. They brought in fifty-five courtesans to entertain the miners. Once the gold ran out, the clan killed the women to keep the mine’s location a secret.

The clan gathered the women on a platform above the gorge for a performance. As the women danced, the clan deliberately destroyed the platform, sending them plunging to their deaths. The waterfall below swept their bodies away. Today, visitors claim to hear the echoes of the women’s final song and their screams as they fell.

Inunaki Tunnel (Fukuoka)

The Japanese urban legend of the Inunaki Village tells of a remote community hidden in the shadow of Mt. Inunaki, Fukuoka, that will murder any outsiders who discover it. The name Inunaki itself is evocative; it literally means ‘howling dogs.’ While the village is almost certainly fiction, its supposed entryway, the Inunaki Tunnel, does exist and has its own all-too-real history of violence and death.

In December 1988, a violent gang abducted, tortured and burned alive a 20-year-old man inside the Inunaki Tunnel. Authorities later sealed off the tunnel, and entry is now prohibited. However, reports persist of electronic and vehicle breakdowns near the tunnel. Those who pass by the moss-covered bricks of the former entrance often describe hearing eerie canine howls and human screams from within.

The legend is so prominent in Japan that it inspired a 2019 horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu (Howling Village), a 2016 anime television series (The Lost Village), and The Story of the Mysterious Tunnel manga by Junji Ito.

Have you ever had a ghostly experience at a haunted place in Japan? Let us know in the comments.