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Famed Ghibli character apparently couldn’t cut it making movies, seems to have resorted to busking to get by.

There’s little doubt that No-Face (known as “Kaonashi” in Japanese) is one of Studio Ghibli’s most iconic characters. He’s instantly recognizable and impossible to miss wherever you might see him, whether in another realm or playing tsugaru-jamisen in Hachinohe City in Aomori.

Wait, what?!

Yes, it seems that the internationally famous No-Face has fallen on hard times and has resorted to busking on the streets. At least, that’s the only explanation we can come up with for this image, which exploded on Twitter over the weekend.

▼ Maybe this is what retirement looks like for anime characters?

While one tweeted image of No-Face would be amusing, it would also be easy to shrug off as a one-time thing, maybe just some college kid having fun. Except that this apparently is the exact opposite — the “anime character” has been playing his instrument and attracting attention since at least May of last year.

▼ Another Twitter photo, taken in May

▼ A photo of No-Face rocking out in Hachinohe City last summer.

kaonashiKyou no uzuuzu

In fact, someone even captured a short video of the spirit-turned musician playing last July. And this isn’t some Bigfoot-shaky-camera thing either. That’s definitely No-Face playing tsugaru-jamisen…and pretty damn well at that!!

Photos of No-Face in Hachinohe City have also appeared on Instagram…

And the character turned up in another blog post in August as well.

kaonashi2Farm An

Feeling curious, we eventually turned to Google Image Search, where we found…

▼ Holy crap, Hachinohe City is officially haunted!!

kaonashi3Google Image Search

But even if Hachinohe City is haunted by a tsugaru-jamisen playing No-Face, we don’t think anyone minds. We have to admit it seems like it might even boost their tourism a bit…in fact, we’re tempted to buy some shinkansen tickets right now!

Sources: Twitter/@sake_love, Kyou no uzuuzu, Farm An, YouTube/Hatsu58
Featured image: Twitter/@sake_love