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spirits

That time our reporter’s classmate became possessed by a dead child at school

Kokkuri-san is a Japanese ouija board that shouldn’t be messed with.

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Does Tokyo’s “breakup shrine” really have the power to end relationships?

We set out to dispel rumours about the shrine’s mysterious power…but it ends up biting us in the butt.

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Cursed sites of Tokyo: A love shrine with 7 mysteries and a vengeful samurai ghost

Dark details you won’t find in travel guides to Japan. 

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Samurai’s severed head moved in Tokyo, earthquake occurs at his body in Ibaraki

“More care than a nuclear weapon” required to restore the burial mound dedicated to Japan’s most vengeful spirit.

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We visited an ultra stylish coffee stand on the streets of downtown Fukuoka

We found a great way to experience Fukuoka culture in an easygoing way.

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Our Japanese language reporter P.K. offers a spooky tale, advice to protect yourself from spirits

It’s best to be ready for the Halloween season!

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One man’s mission to record the stories of Tohoku survivors “revisited” by lost loved ones

What happens after we die? Is it possible to communicate with loved ones after they are gone? And if not, how can we explain the stories of those who claim to have done so? These questions are pertinent to the work of journalist Shuji Okuno, who researches the yūrei banashi, or ghost stories, of relatives bereaved by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Over 18,000 people were killed in the disaster in March 2011, most by drowning; including 2,601 bodies that were never recovered. Okuno has been researching and recording the stories of Tohoku people bereaved by the disaster who say they were visited by the spirits of their deceased family members, often at the exact moment of their passing.

But reporting on ghost sightings in a disaster zone is controversial work. In an interview with Tohoku-area newspaper Kahoku Shimpo this week, Okuno spoke about the stories he has uncovered and the criticism he continues to face.

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