Why go to a haunted house for Halloween when you can go to a Japanese laundromat?
In the United States it is not very common to hang-dry laundry, with most households instead having both a washer and a dryer for clothes. However, in Japan, you would be very hard pressed to find a home that has a dryer, as most people opt for the frugality of letting the sun and wind dry their wet clothes.
But sometimes convenience trumps all, and a trip to the neighborhood laundromat is called for when it’s mid-winter and your load of blankets won’t fit in your dinky washing machine and trying to hang-dry them in the near-freezing temperatures is out of the question.
You’ll find that, although small, Japan’s laundromats (referred to as “coin randori” or “coin-laundries” in Japanese) are kept bright and clean. They are most abundant in urban neighborhoods, where they are often used by those living in the country’s notoriously compact apartments which often don’t have a spot to put a washing machine for personal use.
Coin laundry-goers best beware though – there is a shop somewhere out there which, if entered, may take you straight to the underworld.
▼ “You probably won’t make it out alive.”
たぶん生還できない pic.twitter.com/p3Vfh4m5Q5
— 伊藤ケンジ (@Asimov0803) October 15, 2016
The creepy-looking shop entrance, with the words “coin laundry” written above the doorway in blood-red paint (or actual blood…), was found by @Asimovo803 and posted on his Twitter account on October 15. His followers were understandably creeped out.
“It looks like something is going to pop out.”
“That’s too freaky!”
“I thought it was a picture of an entryway in a horror game.”
One user even added a few finishing touches to the photo.
▼ “I had to do it.”
https://twitter.com/tongarikorokoro/status/787572882859630592There seems to be a string of other little laundromat horrors throughout the country, as other Twitterers have shared.
▼ “At the laundromat today, just a little horrifying.”
今日行ったコインランドリーが軽いホラーだった pic.twitter.com/UYamoxdETy
— いも🥔 (@a__y__u74) July 5, 2015
▼ “Poster for the coin laundry near me. Am I the only one who finds it a bit creepy?”
近くのコインランドリーのポスター
— ジェオ (@jonecan) August 31, 2013
なんか怖いのわ僕だけ?w pic.twitter.com/BjQlzslldx
▼ “Nighttime at the laundromat is scaryyyy.”
夜のコインランドリー怖い pic.twitter.com/QpGeJHToQU
— ないとー (@nightsan11) May 5, 2016
▼ “Was drying something at the laundromat when it reached closing time and all the lights shut off. So scary it’s not even funny…lol”
https://twitter.com/rb_7000/status/749981992876318720With Halloween just around the corner, it wouldn’t be too surprising if more freaky things started popping up at laundromats around the country!
Source: togetter
Featured image: Twitter/@rb_7000

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