ghosttaxitour

Japan, as we’ve noted before, is allegedly full of ghosts. Now you may or may not believe in such things, but plenty of people in Japan are sure they exist, from the ghosts of murder victims to the spirits of seafood. In fact, there are numerous shinrei (ghost/spirit) spots, where unearthly apparitions are believed to appear regularly throughout the country.

Many of these spots have been identified and information about their locations can be found online. One might assume that this is to help people avoid accidentally going to a place filled with spooks — but that’s not entirely the case! In fact, some want to go to the shinrei spots — and a new taxi tour in Yokohama will gladly to take you on the night ride of your life!

Called the “Shinrei Spot Junrei Tour,” or the “Ghost Spot Pilgrimage Tour,” this new tour will be available for a limited time this summer. Running from July 24 to September 4, the tours will be conducted by the taxi company Sanwa Kotsu and will depart from Shinyokohama Station at 9 at night and will last for 90 minutes — getting back to the station in time to catch the last train home! If you make it back at all.

The tour goes to five stops in total, though Sanwa Kotsu’s website cleverly hides the exact locations — presumably to keep the fright at maximum levels. The operators have, however, provided some information about the kind of places you’ll be visiting: a tunnel, a pass under a railway bridge, an abandoned hotel, the site of an “incident,” and a garage.

▼ Blurry photos of the locations to be visited

ghosttour

The tours will be carried out only on 13 specific days — all Fridays and Saturdays, presumably to give the cops time to find your body before Monday morning. And the company isn’t mincing words either — Sanwa Kotsu clearly states on the site that the company “has no idea what will occur” at the purportedly haunted destinations. They also say that they accept no responsibility for anything that happens, which is probably just a clever marketing ploy. We hope.

The tour will cost 6,000 yen (about US$48.92) including tax per taxi, though you’ll need between two and four people per taxi. You can apply on their website, though bear in mind that it is Japanese only. If you’re not feeling confident in Japanese abilities, you’ll want to get a brave Japanese-speaking friend to go with you!

The taxi company has not provided any guidelines for what to do if you do see a ghost or a spirit, but we think step one is pee your pants. Step two is probably pass out, but definitely follow any instructions your driver gives you.

Sadly, we have not yet received word as to whether or not the Discovery Channel will be making this into their new reality TV show, but we reckon they have a good chance.

Sources: Sanwa Kotsu via ITMedia
Images: Sanwa Kotsu