The Japanese have always had a special attitude towards ghosts. They even created a special electronic database, which included information about all the known ghosts of this country. Employees of the Research Center for Japanese Culture in Kyoto have managed to collect and digitize information about more than 1,800 otherworldly entities depicted on ancient scrolls and engravings. But the fact is that the inhabitants of Japan believe: these spirits still live next to them to this day.
Himuro Mansion
Legend has it that this mansion, located in a rocky area on the outskirts of Tokyo, was once a massacre.
The owners of the mansion, the Himuro family, allegedly practiced occult Shinto rituals, which have long been banned in Japan. So, during one of them, a young girl was to be sacrificed by strangling her. All this was supposed to protect the family from the bad karma that hovered over the mansion (although why couldn't you just move?).
The ritual was performed every half century. When a female child was born in the family, the girl was secretly raised in complete isolation from the outside world. When she reached a certain age, she was taken to a temple located in the courtyard, where they tied ropes around her neck and limbs, after which several bulls began to pull the ropes in different directions, tearing the victim apart … The body was secretly buried, and the bloody ropes were folded into a portal in the courtyard … It was believed that for the next fifty years the family could live in peace.
But one day, the next Virgin of the Temple of the Rope (as the future victims were called) fell in love with a teenage boy whom she accidentally saw from the window. Apparently, she found a way to make contact with him, and when she was sacrificed, something went wrong. Upon learning that the victim was unsuitable, the head of the family became distraught and, in fear that now all sorts of misfortunes would fall upon him and his loved ones, he killed his entire family, slaughtering his relatives with the traditional Japanese sword katana. When everyone was dead, he himself fell on the sword and died. A total of seven people died.
All the walls in the mansion were covered from the inside with bloody handprints. After some time, they started talking about the ghosts of the murdered members of the Himuro family, that if you take a picture of one of the windows, you can see the ghostly face of a girl in a kimono in the pictures … There was a belief that spirits can attack any living person and try to sacrifice him …
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It is said that from time to time the daredevils who ventured into an abandoned building are found dead, with rope marks on their arms, legs and neck. And in the dungeon under the mansion, several corpses were found, torn into several parts.
Although, to be honest, the story of the murders is hard to believe. After all, strangers were definitely not suitable for the role of victims. Unless they were simply killed, and not sacrificed …
Taira no Masakado's tomb
In Tokyo, there is the Otemachi district, where the offices of financial institutions are located. Once there was a temple where the remains of Taira no Masakado rested. He was a fierce warrior who dreamed of becoming the emperor of Japan. Alas, he was defeated and beheaded. It happened in 940.
Subsequently, the temple turned into ruins, but the spirit of the executed warrior, according to legends, still dwells there. In 1923, on the initiative of the Ministry of Finance, it was decided to build a new building on the site of the ruins of the temple. But the construction was canceled, as in a short period of time, 14 people who were involved in this project died, including the Minister of Finance.
More than 20 years later, they tried to place a parking lot there. But this project was not destined to come true, since misfortunes also began to happen to its participants.
Taira no Masakado's grave was left alone. Today, clerks in nearby offices try to set their desks so as not to find themselves with their backs to the remains of the temple: what if the spirit of the warrior suspects that they are not being treated with enough respect and take revenge?
The cursed headquarters in Ichigaya
Ichigaya is the headquarters building for the Ground Self-Defense Forces. It was here that on November 25, 1970, after an unsuccessful coup attempt, the famous Japanese writer Yukio Mishima committed the ritual suicide of seppuku.
Since then, ghosts appear to have settled in the building. From time to time, the light goes out by itself, and from the empty rooms someone's voices are heard … The place is considered damned.
Hotel "Ryokufuso"
On the night of October 5, 2009, a fire completely destroyed this historic hotel located in the Kintaichi hot spring area in Iwate Prefecture.
Ryokufuso was over 300 years old at the time and earned the reputation of a "hotel with good ghosts."
Within the walls of the hotel, music was heard at night: as if someone were playing the melodies of children's songs on toy musical instruments. In addition, from time to time, the staff and guests observed mysterious glowing balls here. But the most important "attraction" of the hotel was the "zashiki warashi". So called in Japan spirits-brownies, which, according to legend, appear in the guise of a child. It is believed that meeting such a spirit promises happiness.
In one of the rooms of the dzashiki warashi hotel, it was allegedly seen most often. The guests had booked it for two or three years and always left toys in the room - gifts for the brownie. Many admitted that after spending the night in the "magic room" their life changed for the better.
Was the Ryokufuso fire accidental? Who knows, maybe otherworldly forces also tried …
Author: Irina Shlionskaya