Along with my passion for the paranormal and all things strange is my interest in Great Britain's history and mythology. I'm going to piece together many of the vintage tales and occasionally post these collections. Here is the link to the 1st post - British Monsters and Boogeymen. If you have a venerable narrative or anecdote that you'd like to share, please feel free to forward to me.
London's Phantom Hounds
A black hound was seen during the 1960s on the Wandsworth Road. Researchers attributed the form to the ghost of an animal killed on the road. The hound would often been seen disappearing into 523 Wandsworth Road. The haunting occurred for more than four months.
Similar harmless ghost dogs have been seen along the Thames. Phantom dogs are said to prowl a stairwell at Hampton Court, the Anchor Tavern on Bankside and the Spanish Galleon pub in Greenwich, which is apparently haunted by a large mastiff hound.
However, the lore of the black dog usually concerns more sinister beasts. At St Michael’s church, Cornhill (date unknown), a giant black hound appeared during a thunderstorm, entering via the south window, leaving claw marks scorched into the stone. A dog resembling a dachshund is said to haunt an area of Baker Street also.
But London’s most famous phantom hound is that which resides at the former Newgate Prison, a slithering, ominous spook which gives off a nauseating odor. Legend of the beast dates back to the reign of Henry III during a period of extreme famine when prisoners often fed upon one another. One victim of cannibalism, who was rumored to be a sorcerer, claimed vengeance upon the inmates when a frightful, red-eyed phantom hound materialized in the vicinity. According to legend, the evil beast ripped many of the felons limb from limb, its blood soaked jaws dripping onto the icy floor. Other prisoners simply died of fright, terrified of the oncoming sound of padded feet in the corridors.
The phantom hound was said to haunt the prison up until its demolition in 1902, yet sightings and strange odors are still reported, suggesting that this harbinger of doom is not confined to the dank annals of folkloric horror.
For some, black dogs are connected to dark deeds, appearing before a death or crisis whether in the form of extreme weather or disease. Many sightings occur on old roads, once believed to be ‘corpseways’ where funeral processions may have proceeded, and also near churchyards. Age old legends paint grim pictures of these beasts as the guardians of the gates of Hell. - paranormaldatabase.com
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The Phantom Horses of Windsor Park
I've often been intrigued by reports of phantom animals, especially horses when they are seen to be leading a carriage through some misty back road of a night. What perplexes me most is the fact that if inanimate objects have no souls, then why should the coach appear alongside the horses? And, if the horses never died together or with the coach, then why should they appear coupled in the ethereal void? Have there ever been sightings of a stagecoach drawn by nothing, or spectral horses drawing an invisible carriage? It seems not.
The huge gates of Black Horse Yard, at Windsor, are situated on the main Windsor to London road, which is flanked by houses built during the eighteenth century. It is here that one particular apparition is said to appear, ominously before the death of a monarch. A ghostly coach, and horses, is said to roar from the shadows where an old inn used to stand, and gallops towards the Windsor Park gates at great speed. Of course, no-one knows where the procession goes because it often fades into the gloom of night before its destination.
Rumor has it that the phantom carriage, pulled by two magnificent black horses, also consists of a third ghost, that being of a royal physician who was tending to King Charles II before his death. Although no relatively modern sightings of the spectral coach have been reported, its last appearance certainly suggests that, as a spirit, it is indeed an omen of death, because it was Edward VII who appeared gravely ill the last time the manifestation took to the streets.
However, this leaves the researcher with many unanswered questions. Does the spectral coach, the horses and the ghostly physician display some kind of intelligence beyond the comprehension of science and understanding? Or is the spooky scenario simply a continuous playback, embedded in the fabric of time to forever play back when a tragedy is about to strike?
These type of hauntings may suggest a mere recording of a past event, but if so, how on Earth does an historical gaggle of ghosts know when someone is going to die?
Whatever your belief, these historical enigmas continue to operate outside of their own timeline suggesting something, possibly in the human brain, triggers their existence. - Phantoms and Monsters
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The Ealing Horror
In the borough of Ealing, West London a photographer, keen to set up his own studio, moves into a half-derelict house. He brings with him his staff, who although slightly unnerved by the setting, settle in comfortably. Until that is, the noises start.
It wasn’t the studio that had such a hideous history, but it was the studio that succumbed to the activity. The peculiar noises coming from unoccupied rooms, the shifting of furniture when no-one was around, members of staff beginning to sense a presence, an unseen hand which tapped them on the shoulder or tugged at their garments, and those spectral voices from within the walls soon made this an awkward place to reside.
The photographer had a strong interest in the paranormal, as had many of his staff, and so, one evening, as darkness drew in, they decided to hold a seance, at least in the hope of communicating with some unknown form. To their delight, in some instances, they did indeed contact a spirit, but the eerie presence spoke of unrest in the neighboring building, a place that had seen much evil within its walls.
A lady and her very young child had been butchered in the property, and a man, belonging to one of the forces, was accused, found guilty and hanged for his crime. It was during this detail that the photographer began to feel sore around his neck, and felt that the spirit in contact with them was indeed the alleged murderer, and this was confirmed when the spectre pleaded its innocence.
Whether such an apparition was cast from the property we’ll never know, only persistent rumour or further experiences could shed some light on as to whether the property is still in turmoil. - ealinggazette.co.uk
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The Faceless Phantom of Langmead Street
The puzzled police stationed outside the house in Langmead Street couldn’t find an answer. They couldn’t explain the strange buzzing noises heard by 26-year-old Cecil Greenfield. They couldn’t find a suspect to arrest for the weird banging noises which kept the family awake every night. The family of eight were tormented by an unseen assailant who dragged furniture about the West Norwood residence. And then, at 2:15am on a warm July night in 1951, Dennis and his wife Gladys got the shock of their life when they entered their home and were confronted by a tall, grey figure without a face.
Inspector Sidney Candler was extremely skeptical of the fiasco until he heard the thumping noises coming from the attic, and was unnerved as a picture flew from the wall and smashed on the floor. Cutlery seemed to rattle in the drawers.
The house attracted many locals, some simply intrigued by the local haunted house, others more skeptical who howled abuse at the residents, shouting “Get your heads examined!” Even the relatives of the family were embarrassed by the situation and refused to aid the troubled family.
Father Alfred Cole of St. Matthew’s Church was called in to exorcize the building. It was the last resort for the family who’d been plagued by the noises all day, and every night. A group from the Church of the Nazarene held a vigil throughout the night, deep in prayer in hope of cleansing the house of its evil. And yet the activity refused to subside. If anything it increased.
The radio turned on by itself. Peculiar lights whizzed across the living room. A mattress lifted up and appeared to bend, and poor Dennis was accosted by an invisible intruder who tore his shirt.
The family had reached the brink. They fled. They were not followed by the spectres within.
A couple with four children moved into the property, fully aware of its reputation. They were never troubled by the phantoms, and the house on Langmead Street returned to normal. - gothamist.com
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Although the following narrative is not of a haunting or spectre, it depicts the fear in the streets of mid-late Victorian London:
London’s Garrotting Ghouls
London’s sinister folklore is peppered with tales of elusive killers, perverse slashers and stabbers, and all manner of peculiar assailants. These kinds of individuals, or groups, and their fiendish acts, often result in local panic and terror. Such creation of urban hysteria becomes legend. Take for instance the rumor that between 1856 and 1862, phantom garrotters were prowling the city streets.
These sadists were said to apprehend the victim, always from behind, bringing a forearm across the throat area of the prey. As the victim struggled, choking in horror, a vile companion would rob the accosted of all they owned. Victims never raised an alarm or pursued their attackers because this attack would often leave them semi-conscious.
In his fascinating book The London Monster, author Jan Bondeson writes: “…July 17, 1862, Mr Hugh Pilkington, M.P., was garrotted and relieved of his watch by two ruffians as he was walking from the House of Commons to the Reform Club.”
Of course, the fact that a leading citizen had been attacked by these mere rumored assailants, put the streets on high alert. Panic was in the air. Such sadists were perceived by the London press as some kind of inhuman race, said to lurk in the dingy shadows of dank alleyways, eager to feast upon their evil crimes, looting bodies as they lay almost choked to death.
Town folk brave enough to venture out after dark took to arming themselves with pistols and also home made weapons. Many believed that the garrotters were convicts who at the time were being released from prisons early for good behavior. If by some chance a garrotter was apprehended, there were immediate calls for the guilty to be hung or transported.
The spectral garrotters never truly existed but like so many other social panics, they emerged by way of society and its fears. Scaremongering emerged as local people feared the streets would become inhabited by criminals, released by overcrowded prisons. And as news spread about the liberal prison reforms, it was clear that any crime that hit the streets could be blamed on the alleged inadequacies of the prisons, as town folk boarded themselves in their homes for fear that London would be taken over by a multitude of stabbers, hackers, garrotters and repulsive rotters. - londonist.com
According to legend, the Rhineland town of Wittlich is said to be the last place in Germany where a werewolf had been killed.
Thomas Johannes Baptist Schwytzer, a supposed deserter from Napoleon’s army and a veteran of the disaster at Moscow, is fleeing to his homeland in Alsace, France. With him are a group of Russians, also deserters. While passing by the village of Wittlich, the hungry soldiers earmark a farmhouse and decide to take what they want. In the midst of their scavenging they are discovered by the farmer, whom they promptly murder along with his sons.
The farmer's wife, witnessing the foul deed, lets out a wail and curses Schwytzer.
"From now on at each full moon you will change into a rabid wolf!" she screams in her anguish.
Schwytzer relieves her suffering by crushing her skull.
As times goes on, the curse starts to take hold. Gradually a change comes over Schwytzer...his personality becomes harder and without inhibitions. He robs, rapes, and murders at his pleasure. He soon departs from his fellows who have had enough, and takes up with bandits and highwaymen. The ruffians are appalled at Schwitzer's excesses, so the ex-soldier flees to the sanctuary of the deep forests.
There the tales of a wolf that walks like a man spreads throughout the countryside. At night men and cattle are brutally slaughtered by the beast.
One night Schwytzer observes the beautiful daughter of a local farmer. Her name is Elizabeth Beierle, and in his carnal lust he rapes her.
Days later, while by his campfire in the woods, Schwytzer is discovered by a group of villagers who take him for the werewolf. They give chase and corner the fugitive near the village of Morbach. Promptly dispatching Schwytzer, the villagers bury him at a crossing. There a shrine is erected where a candle will burn continually. As long as the candle is lit, so the legend goes, the werewolf will not return.
Nine months later, a son is born to Elizabeth Beierles, whom she names Martin. To this day the descendants of this bastard child are a respected family in the vicinity of Morbach, and show no sign of the curse of their infamous ancestor, Thomas Johannes Baptist Schwytzer.
That is until 1988.
Hahn AFB
Canine stationed at Hahn AFB
One evening a group of Air Force personnel are returning to their base at Morbach. Passing the old shrine they notice the candle is out. They begin to laugh and joke about this, for all have heard of the legend of the werewolf.
Later, at the base, automatic sirens peal into the night...sensing someone or something has activated the perimeter fence. While investigating, a security guard detects a large creature, similar to a wolf, standing on its hind legs. It gazes at the soldier for a moment and then flees, clearing a 3 meter fence with ease.
A police dog is brought to track the beast, but upon arriving at the spot where the werewolf was seen, the canine cowers and howls, refusing to go further.
The candle at the shrine is relit, and the creature has been seen no more. - D. L. Ashliman - November 16, 1998
Thomas Johannes Baptist Schwytzer's burial shrine
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PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
I was stationed at Hahn from 1988 to 1991, and I worked at the Morbach depot a lot from 88-90. It is a very large area, and at the time it had only perimeter lighting and lights on some buildings near the front gate. It was true that there were several areas, mostly on the east side, that were heavily wooded, but for the most part the area was a tangle of open roads and steep, grass-covered burms.
We joked about the Morbach Monster, but usually only to scare the new guys. I worked with several people who had been there since before the 1988 incident cited above, and none of them ever mentioned it to me. The only stories I had heard were about one of the wild boars that the local Forstmeister kept in the area getting loose and chasing someone up a light pole. Not freaked out dogs, no fence jumping.
If you have never seen a german wild boar, they look like a 4 foot tall brazil nut with tusks and legs. They are dark brown and stinky and hairy and big and could easily be mistaken as some sort of supernatural beast.
Not to be a wet blanket, but I don't believe the story about the 88 sighting at all. It would be just too hard to keep quiet, and there would be plenty of people who would be just too scared to ever work there again. That place can be creepy enough at night as it is. - CyKa
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I was stationed at Hahn Ab. In 1992. The tale of Morbach is true to the villagers. The munitions site is actually where the village used to stand according to the legend they moved the town since they could not get rid of the werewolf menace. Also the candle was to keep the werewolf from coming to the new village.
I honestly think there is a big animal in that wooded area I have responded to many and I mean many calls by the munition workers about a large animal roaming the area. This has occurred both day and night. The only large animal that inhabits that area is a wild boar. Morbach is heavily wooded. The woods are so thick some parts are not passable even on foot and the munition site is 15 square miles. I have seen on three occasions that our fence was torn from the ground level coming into the site which is home to a ton of deer so I think this animal feeds on deer due to the fact I have seen many dead deer in that area. Well that is my two cents on Morbach. I do not think it is a werewolf but a big cat. - Venom012
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I was an Security Policeman ( SP ) at Hahn from 86 - 90 and spent a lot of time at Morbach. I heard all of the werewolf stories too, but never seen anything that would indicate to me that a werewolf actually was there. I walked that area all the time at night, and sometimes by myself. It was always fun to scare the new guys with stories of the werewolf, and then make them do a security check of the perimeter on foot ( the perimeter road was only accessible by foot). One of our K-9,s was this big black bovier with bloodshot eyes. We would always send that dog handeler to the backside of the area to meet the new guys with that dog. there was also reports of a German WW-2 soldier that roamed the area. - GMAC
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I was stationed at Morbach 91-93... My buddy and I saw something in the bomb dump on night that looked like a cross between a bull dog and a monkey... and it did NOT like us shining the lights of the VW 6-pack truck on it. It was hairless and muscular and it bared its teeth at us and then ran up over one of the Igloos (hardened storage unit) We didn't think it was a werewolf, but when we told one of out our local friends about it, they laughed and said that the animal was just a fairy tale and that we should stop drinking at work! - Shane
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I was stationed at Hahn AB from 83-90 and did many mid tours at Morbach as an SP. We called the monster MO-MO and yes I firmly believe there is something out there. Could have been a large dog, possibly, but many times we heard movements deep in the woods, and loud yowling. It was very spooky and I was very thankful for my M16. The whole place was just damn strange at night. - Kayne
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I was stationed at Hahn A.B. from 1987 to 1990 had the time of my life in the area. I think we had about 8 to 10 SP's at the munitions storage area at the time. One night about 6 of us SP's along with 2 K-9 dogs decided to take a walk in the area without weapons we left them in the tractor trailer we had as Central Security Control. We first went to the pig pen that was in the storage area just to take a look the pigs were there and the gate was secure so we went walking down the road. About 100 yards from CSC we went off the road way into the forest that was in the area. Walking along the dogs stopped we and they heard some noise in the brush the dogs yelped they did not want to go any further we heard something in the brush again like if we were being shadowed. Then came the type of howl you could not duplicate nor have ever heard it seemed that it was just 20 or 30 yards or closer. My hair I remember on my arms stood and my body tingled all over, we all ran the heck out of there to CSC and locked ourselves in. I can not explain what I heard, I have spent 20 years trying to justify or explain what I heard. (What I think this could be is the towns people over the years they have mastered this wolf gig) - Albert G.
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I was the first commander of the Munitionslager Morbach in 1956. We moved our inventory into the area outside the village of Morbach and our airmen were quartered at nearby Hahn Air Base.
Our unit was the 7372nd Ammosuppron Det #1 and our mascot was a very old dog of doubtful antecedents named Ammo P. Ammunition. We had a complete service record compiled for the dog. His record was exemplary until we arrived at Morbach.
Deer would clear the perimeter fence and then be found deceased shortly thereafter. Ammo was named as the murderer and was about to face a courts martial, when I decided to investigate. I viewed the body of the most recently departed deer and found a 30 caliber slug in the animal's head. As Ammo was not qualified to use either the M-1 or M-2 carbine, I promptly dismissed the charges. This over the protests of several airmen who said that they had had to shoot the deer to "put it out of its misery".
I reported the demise to the local Jaeger who promptly took possession of the carcass (which conveniently been found field dressed).
There were no further incidents of this nature.
This was my only encounter with the Morbach Werewolf - L. P. McCormick
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I was stationed at Hahn Air Base from 1986 to 1989 as an SP. I was assigned as the flight chief for "Charlie" Flight security. We posted people at the MUNNS site more commonly known as Morbach each night. I, too, heard the stories of the Werewolf. Were they real, I don't know, but I do say this, a couple of my long timers who were there since about 82 or 83 swore they saw the werewolf. Were they with Jake, I don't know. But they told me the same story. That they observed a "person" jump the fence, which was the standard 7 foot chainlink fence with the 18 inch outrigger. When it jumped the fence, the "thing" took off on all fours. They also said that when the K-9 unit was brought in, it was taken to the place where the "werewolf" jumped the fence, and the dog became very nervous. I walked the area where this happened. It is very dimly lit, the only lighting was perimeter lighting facing toward the outside. The lights were not very bright. It was a bit spooky being out there. On a lighter note, the newbies who were assigned to the area were always taken to the spot where the "werewolf" jumped the fence, and were told the story. One one occasion, one of the prankster SP's decided to hide under some leaves. When the new troop came by, the prankster reached out from under the leaves and grabbed the young guy by the leg. Screams were heard through the night, and the sound of a round being chambered into an M-16. Fortunately the other cop who was there grabbed the rifle before it was used for its intended purpose. This prank was never played again, at least so I was told. - MSgt "C"
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I was stationed at Hahn 82-84 with the 50thSPS. I along with 4 others were sent for a security watch one night to the NATO ammo dump. The 5 of us watched (1 pair of night vision goggles) from a side of a hill the fence line in the near distance below. We watched what we thought was a person run to the fence, then right over and then the person or animal ran on all fours like a large dog. We were all spooked and chucked it up to a large dog.The whole incident lasted under a minute. I don't believe in legends, but this was very unusual. - Jake
Sources: www.unexplained-mysteries.com www.buzzle.com www.monstropedia.org www.pitt.edu "Das Monster von Morbach: eine moderne Sage des Internetzeitalters" - Matthias Burgard nightbringer.se
The following story was forwarded to me a few days ago. Since then, I have talked to the writer in order to ease the guilt and worry that she still retains:
Hello Sir - your email was forwarded to me by a relative who thought you or your colleagues could help answer some questions regarding an incident I witnessed a few years ago. You have my permission to use this story but I do ask that my name be left out. Since I no longer live in the area where this occurred you may use those details. I would ask that you call me first. (NOTE: I did call and talk to the writer and was given permission to add other facts to her account...Lon).
It was the summer of 2004. At the time I was selling real estate in Warren County, Virginia but mostly in the Front Royal, Virginia area. The vicinity is known more for the Shenandoah Valley as well as it's history during the American Civil War. It seems that most of the older property has a story behind it and it's usually tied to the Civil War.
I moved there in 2000, not long after I graduated from college. Real estate sales was not my first choice for a career but I was doing well, so I decided to see how far I could go.
In March 2004 a house with many acres of farm property was listed for sale. The former resident had recently passed away and the family was selling it. From what I gathered, none of the relatives wanted to take over the property and it was decided that it be sold as soon as possible.
On the day I first toured the old place it was obvious that the previous owner took very good care of it. It was quite a nice house with a barn, a smokehouse and a large greenhouse. A nephew of the former owner accompanied me during the inspection. He assured me that there would be no attempts by any family member to impede a sale and that everything in the house was to be sold 'as is.' All furniture, appliances, tools, etc. were to be included in the sale. I explained to him that they would most likely realize more profit if the items were removed for sale in an auction but he insisted it must be sold 'as is' and that the buyer would be responsible for the contents. I thought this was quite odd, but I promised that I would do as the sellers wanted.
To my surprise, the property was listed for only 3 weeks. The overall housing market was starting to get very tight and large properties were difficult to sell. But, in fact, I made the sale to a couple from Washington D.C. who was the second party that showed interest. They made a counter-offer which was quickly accepted by the sellers. Everything went quite smooth though the day of settlement was a bit strange. The nephew and his sister were representing the sellers. Their demeanor was very distant and cold during the entire procedure. At one point, the buyers asked the nephew if there was any property in the house that he would like to keep. The nephew gave them a glaring look and told them that he 'didn't care if they burned it all.'
Several weeks later the new owners invited me for dinner in their new home. They were quite proud and wanted to tell me about the history of the place. It was once owned by a former British officer who had defected and fought with the colonists during the Revolutionary War. Later it become a working farm and remained so until the 1950’s when it was purchased by a Baptist preacher and his wife. The couple was considered quite eccentric and the preacher never had a large congregation. The new owners were told by an attorney who lived nearby that the preacher held worship services in the barn because there was never a church. There were many rumors of strange rituals being performed during these services.
It was a very enjoyable evening and we agreed to get together again. I really did like this couple. They were very intelligent and quite polite. The husband worked for the Federal government and the wife was a pharmaceutical representative. They had grown tired of the urban lifestyle in Washington D.C. and wanted a home where they could relax. One thing I did notice was that much of the furniture and appliances left in the house remained and was being used by the new owners.
On the July 4th weekend, the couple invited me to join their cookout. My boyfriend was staying with me for the week so he decided to come along. I hadn’t seen the couple in over a month and was very interested to know the life in their new home was going. When we arrived, instantly I knew something was wrong.
We started walking towards the back of the house and noticed that no one other than the couple were there. I asked if we were the first to arrive and was told that none of their friends accepted the invitation. We sat down in the lawn chairs and started to talk. They both looked worried though I didn’t understand what was going on. I’m a very direct person so I asked if there was anything wrong. The wife looked at me and explained that none of their friends would come to the house anymore and that they had all had bad experiences when visiting. She started to get more specific and said that they thought the property was haunted. I tried not to laugh but the smile quickly came to my face. I looked back at both of them. They were deadly serious and not smiling.
They said that something tried to push people down the stairs and that a bad odor would permeate the living room for a few minutes then fade away. They also heard screaming sounds outside at night and thought it may have been coming from the barn. As well, they were both having dreams about dead bodies buried in the greenhouse and barn. I had never experienced anything paranormal while on the property so I simply dismissed it.
The day went by without an incident and, in fact, it was quite enjoyable. It was starting to get late and I needed to get up early the next morning so we thanked them for their hospitality and drove home. I really didn’t think much about what I was told and quickly went to sleep that night.
The next morning I woke early and got myself together because I had several homes scheduled to show that day. I needed to first stop by the office so I could pick up the newest listings. When I arrived at the office, I noticed a police car in the parking lot. I walked into the office and was immediately approached by the office manager and told that the authorities wanted to talk to me.
I introduced myself to the police officers and asked what was going on. One of them handed me a photograph of the couple. They were lying on the ground, side-by-side and obviously dead. They were both very pale, like all the blood had been drained. I acknowledged that I had sold them the property and that we had socialized the previous day. He explained that their bodies were found by a police officer the previous night after a 911 call was placed for a disturbance and that they were found laying in the barn as seen in the photo. The only information I could provide was what they told me and that they thought the property was haunted.
The next day I was told that they both died from natural causes and that there would be no further investigation. That’s all I was ever told and that’s all I would ever find out. I asked a physician if it was possible that two people could be scared to death at the same time. The look he shot back at me was of utter bewilderment, which was followed by laughter. He said that it was practically impossible to scare a person to death, let alone two people at the same time.
Since that incident I moved to the west coast and no longer sell real estate. I know their deaths will haunt me for the rest of my life. I wouldn’t feel so bad if I hadn’t dismissed what they said so quickly and so out-of-hand. I feel that something on that property frightened them so bad that it resulted in their deaths. J.L.
NOTE: I had an associate check the circumstances described in the story. I told the writer that I was going to do this and she agreed just so her name was left out of the post. There was a death of a couple in the area at the time described. Since there was no investigation and the deaths were determined to be of natural causes the only information available is on the death certificate...Lon
The recent devastation in Japan once again proves how vulnerable humanity really is when facing Mother Nature's wrath. The one factor that ties our species together is the genuine emotional unity that is expressed when one of our own confronts diversity.
The Japanese may have been mortal enemies to several nations a mere seventy years ago but because of human exoneration and compassion, these former adversaries are now embraced as friends and allies.
As well, each culture has it's own degree of strangeness and oddities. Because of it's tradition and mindset, Japan's uniqueness prevails independently from the rest of the world.
The following posts are previous submissions I have made over the past several years:
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I received an email from a reader in Japan recently who asked if I had any knowledge of actual cryptid / humanoid encounter reports or activity in his country. He stated that there were hundreds of spirit sightings and ghost legends...but he rarely heard of people encountering unknown creatures. It was an intriguing challenge...so I promised to conduct some research and post my findings. The following anecdotes and stories are a few interesting accounts:
A FOREIGN WOMAN IN THE HOLLOW BOAT
Tokagawa Shogunate, Japan - February 22, 1803
Possibly the first written account referencing alien symbols and a possible humanoid encounter is a story in Japanese folklore. The story takes place on February 22nd in the spring of 1803. Offshore from a beach called Hara-yadori in the territory of Ogasawara Etchuu-no-kami (4000 koku'), who occupied a position named "Yoriai-seki" of Tokagawa shogunate at that time, a kind of boat was observed from the beach. People approached this boat using their small boats and eventually caught it. They towed it to the beach.
The boat was round and resembled a kind of kou-hako (a box used to burn incense). Its diameter was more than 3 ken (5.45 in). On the upper part of the boat, there were glass-fitted shoji (windows with lattice) and they were shielded by chan (a kind of waterproofed putty made from pine-tree gum). The bottom of this ship was reinforced by separated iron plates. This structure may protect the boat from destruction by sunken rocks. Since the glass-fitted shoji was transparent, the people could see the inside the boat, where they found a woman with strange features. Her hair and eyebrows were red, and her face was pink. It seemed that long white hair was added to her original hair.
This foreign woman held one square box whose size was about two shaku (60 cm) in her hands. It seemed that this box was very important to her because she held this box constantly, and she prohibited anyone from approaching it.
The objects found in this boat were investigated by the people. There was about two shou (3.6 liters) of water in the small bottle. There were two pieces of carpet, cake-like food, and kneaded meat. While people discussed what to do about this boat, the woman observed them peacefully.
Another similar description of an incident was found:
On March 24, 1803, a strange boat drifted ashore on a beach named Haratono-hama in Hitachi state in Japan. The boat was hollow and its shape was similar to a rice-cooking pot. It had a kind of rimmed-edge at the center-level part of the boat. In the part above this edge, the boat was painted in black and had four small windows on four sides. All shoji (windows with lattice) were shielded by chan (a kind of waterproof putty made from pine-tree gum). The lower part of the boat was reinforced by steel bars. These bars looked to be made of Western-made iron of the highest quality. The height of the boat was one jyou, two shaku (3.64m) and its diameter was one jyou, eight shaku (5.45m).
A woman (or girl) was found inside this boat and her age appeared around twenty. She was about five shaku (1.5m) tall and her skin was white as snow. Her long hair vividly hung on her back. Her facial features were incomparably beautiful. Her clothes were strange and unrecognizable and her language was not understood by anyone. She held a small box in her hands and prohibited anyone from approaching this box.
JAPANESE CRYPTID WOLVES
Reports of small wolf-like canids came out of the Chichibu district of Japan in 1998. At least seventy people reported wolf howls in 1994, and there have been at least twenty-six claims of wolves seen from 1908 to 1978, all in the Aomori and Oita regions in northernmost Japan, not to mention prints, howls and scat. Several sightings have also been made on the Kii peninsula. In 1936a man in Hongu supposedly captured a wolf pup, but released it in case a parent attempted to retrieve it. The Honshu wolf (Canis lupus hodophylax) a dwarf subspecies of wolf just over a foot tall and deemed extinct since 1905 due to a rabies epidemic, fits the general description. Attempts to record wolves howling, by playing wolf howls to prompt them in 1995 were unsuccessful. Possibly these sightings are just misidentification of feral dogs. However, though Japan is heavily populated, its mountainous terrain would make it possible for a hidden population of wolves – in this case, small wolves - to survive without public acknowledgment. - Cryptid Canids
THE KAPPAS
SLIMY FOOTPRINTS
At around 11 PM on August 1, 1984 in the town of Tsushima in Nagasaki prefecture, a squid fisherman named Ryu Shirozaki was walking home from the local pier after work. As he passed near the Kuta river, he came upon a small group of children playing at the water's edge. While it was not entirely uncommon to encounter people fishing in the river at night, it was rather surprising to see youngsters there.
As Shirozaki approached the children, he was struck by how bizarre they appeared in the moonlight. He could make out swarthy faces, unusually spindly arms and legs, and glistening skin. Suspicious, Shirozaki called out to them as he neared, but they seemed startled and quickly disappeared into the water.
The next morning when he returned to the same spot, Shirozaki discovered a set of moist, teardrop-shaped footprints on the nearby pavement. The prints, which appeared to consist of a slimy substance that had begun to coagulate under the hot morning sun, stretched for about 20 meters. Each footprint measured 22 centimeters (about 10 in) long and 12 centimeters (5 in) wide, and they were spaced about 50 to 60 centimeters (about 2 ft) apart.
Shirozaki and a few curious onlookers immediately suspected the footprints belonged to a kappa. People began to gather around as the news spread quickly through town, and all agreed the prints belonged to a kappa. In the minds of many residents, the footprints confirmed the existence of the river imps they knew through local legends.
When police forensic investigators arrived on the scene, they determined that the slimy footprints consisted of an unknown secretion. They took a sample to the lab for analysis, but the results unfortunately turned out to be inconclusive because the sample was too small. The police eventually dropped their investigation, and the mystery of the slimy footprints was never solved.
THE UNCLEAN GUEST
Another recent kappa encounter occurred on June 30, 1991 in the town of Saito in Miyazaki prefecture, when an office worker named Mitsugu Matsumoto and his wife Junko returned home for the evening. Upon opening the front door, the Matsumotos were confronted with a strange smell inside their home. Inside, they found dozens of small, wet footprints around the front door and in the hallway, bathroom, and two tatami rooms. At first they suspected a burglar, but they soon realized nothing had been stolen.
The police briefly surveyed the house, but found nothing except a floor soiled by 30 footprints, each measuring about 7 centimeters long and 6 centimeters wide, and having 4 or 5 toes. To Matsumoto, the footprints did not look human, nor did they appear to belong to any animal he could imagine.
Later that night, as Mrs. Matsumoto was putting laundry away, she discovered an unusual orange stain on some clothing. The next morning, as Matsumoto inspected the house more closely, he discovered a deposit of orange liquid on the portable stereo in the tatami room. He took a sample to the local public health center for analysis, and the results indicated the liquid had an extremely high iron content and a chemical composition resembling spring water.
Troubled by the incident, Matsumoto decided to visit a shaman. After listening to Matsumoto's story, the shaman encouraged him not to worry, explaining that the kappa indigenous to the nearby swamp enjoyed playing the occasional prank on local residents. The kappa were harmless, the shaman told him.
Harmless, perhaps, but Matsumoto found the kappa difficult to clean up after. He tried using detergent, paint thinner and gasoline to remove the footprints and orange stains, but nothing seemed to work. Sources: Shin-ichiro Namiki, "Nippon No Kaiki Hyaku", 2007
TSUCHINOKO - THE CRYPTID SERPENT
In 2000, Yoshii, Okayama, Japan was in the news, as people were flocking to the region to hunt for the tsuchinoko, a chirping reptile-like cryptid bearing at least some resemblance to a snake or a long, thick lizard. A 20 million yen reward from the Yoshii Municipal Government was the source of all the excitement.
Tsuchinoko fever hit Yoshii on May 21 after a farmer cutting grass swore he saw a snake-like creature with a face resembling the cartoon cat Doraemon slither across his field. The farmer slashed the creature with his weed whipper, but it fled into a nearby stream and escaped. Four days later, 72-year-old Hideko Takashima was talking with a couple of friends in Yoshii when she found what she thought was one of the creatures lying dead next to the stream a tsuchinoko reportedly had dived into to escape from the farmer. She picked it up and buried it.
Yoshii Municipal Government officials heard the rumors of a tsuchinoko and headed out to look over the local woman’s find. They exhumed the body and forwarded it to Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare to be examined. Kuniyasu Sato, the professor who analyzed the reptile, said that the animal may indeed have been the tsuchinoko, but “scientifically speaking, it was a kind of snake.”
Meanwhile, Mitsuko Arima, an 82-year-old from Yoshii, says she saw a Tsuchinoko swimming along a river on the morning of June 15.
“I was surprised. I just pointed at it and asked ‘Who are you? Who are you?’ It didn’t answer me, but just stared. It had a round face and didn’t take its eyes off me. I can still see the eyes now. They were big and round and it looked like they were floating on the water,” Arima says. “I’ve lived over 80 years, but I’d never seen anything like that in my life.” - The Top Cryptozoology Stories of 2000 NOTE: there are a few links that may also be of interest Zuiyo Maru Cryptid and The Yamapikarya – Japan’s Mystery Cat Also, below is an interesting humanoid report that I thought I'd throw in here...Lon
THE FANGED HUMANOID
Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan - February 23, 1975
Between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., two seven-year-old boys named Kono and Yamahata watched a luminous orange UFO approach Kofu, Japan while making a "ticking" sound. It landed on three ball-shaped legs in a nearby vineyard. The object was a domed disc, five meters in diameter and six feet high. The boys got very close to it, and discovered the surface of the object was silver colored and had strange characters embossed on its surface.
A ladder extended out of the craft down to the ground, and a humanoid creature slightly over four feet tall disembarked. It wore a silver uniform and carried something that looked like a gun. His skin was dark brown and he had large pointed ears, but his large head had no facial features: no eyes, nose or mouth. It merely had wrinkles on the "face" and three silvery two-inch long "fangs" where the mouth should be. Both boys could see one more smaller humanoid in the cockpit. The being that had emerged reached out and touched one of the boys, patting him twice on the shoulder and uttering words "like a tape recorder running backwards." The boy who had been touched sat down, paralyzed either by the touch or fear, but his companion took him on his back and carried him from the vineyard. They then ran to one of the boy's homes and informed their parents, who could at first see the orange light pulsating in the vineyard. Then it disappeared as they watched. Two concrete posts were found pushed over at the landing site.
Sources: CUFOS files; APRO Bulletin; David F. Webb & Ted Bloecher, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports, case 1975-10 (A1391), citing Hayashi Ichinan and Yoshihiko Honda
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The Aokigahara Forest
“The thought of suicide is a powerful solace: by means of it one gets through many a bad night” - Friedrich Nietzsche
mentalfloss - It’s perhaps the most obvious setting for a horror movie imaginable — and it’s real. And incredibly grim. There is a thick, in places nearly impenetrable forest around Mt. Fuji, and it’s the most popular place for suicide in Japan. It’s the second most popular spot in the world behind the Golden Gate Bridge. From Vice, who sent a video crew there:
The Aokigahara Forest is the most popular site for suicides in Japan. After the novel Kuroi Jukai [The Black Forest, written by Seichō Matsumoto in 1960] was published, in which a young lover commits suicide in the forest, people started taking their own lives there at a rate of 50 to 100 deaths a year. The site holds so many bodies that the Yakuza pays homeless people to sneak into the forest and rob the corpses. The authorities sweep for bodies only on an annual basis, as the forest sits at the base of Mt. Fuji and is too dense to patrol more frequently.
If you’re sensitive, you might want to skip this fascinating but hugely morbid video. VBS.tv’s crew follows a geologist through the forest, and they find a number of grisly surprises.
From October 2008:
The most haunted location in Japan is believed to be a dark, dense forest which lies at the base of Mt. Fuji called Aokigahara. Aokigahara is an infamous place for suicides and many feel that it is a sinister place. "The perfect place to die." That's how Aokigahara was described in Wataru Tsurumui's bestselling book The Complete Manual of Suicide. In 2002, 78 bodies were found within it, replacing the previous record of 73 in 1998. More than a few of them were even carrying copies of Tsurumui's book. No one knows how many bodies go undiscovered."
Locals and scavengers occasionally look for the bodies of those who have commited suicide. When they search, they tie some tape to a tree near the path and then let it out as they go into the forest so they won't get lost. This tape is all over the forest around the path.
CNN - Aokigahara Forest is known for two things in Japan: breathtaking views of Mount Fuji and suicides. Also called the Sea of Trees, this destination for the desperate is a place where the suicidal disappear, often never to be found in the dense forest.
Taro, a 46-year-old man fired from his job at an iron manufacturing company, hoped to fade into the blackness. "My will to live disappeared," said Taro. "I'd lost my identity, so I didn't want to live on this earth. That's why I went there."
Taro, who did not want to be identified fully, was swimming in debt and had been evicted from his company apartment.
He lost financial control, which he believes to be the foundation of any stable life, he said. "You need money to survive. If you have a girlfriend, you need money. If you want to get married, you need it for your life. Money is always necessary for your life."
Taro bought a one-way ticket to the forest, west of Tokyo, Japan. When he got there, he slashed his wrists, though the cut wasn't enough to kill him quickly.
He started to wander, he said. He collapsed after days and lay in the bushes, nearly dead from dehydration, starvation and frostbite. He would lose his toes on his right foot from the frostbite. But he didn't lose his life, because a hiker stumbled upon his nearly dead body and raised the alarm.
Taro's story is just one of hundreds logged at Aokigahara Forest every year, a place known throughout Japan as the "suicide forest." The area is home to the highest number of suicides in the entire country.
Japan's suicide rate, already one of the world's highest, has increased with the recent economic downturn.
There were 2,645 suicides recorded in January 2009, a 15 percent increase from the 2,305 for January 2008, according to the Japanese government.
The Japanese government said suicide rates are a priority and pledged to cut the number of suicides by more than 20 percent by 2016. It plans to improve suicide awareness in schools and workplaces. But officials fear the toll will rise with unemployment and bankruptcies, matching suicide spikes in earlier tough economic times.
"Unemployment is leading to this," said Toyoki Yoshida, a suicide and credit counselor.
"Society and the government need to establish immediate countermeasures to prevent suicides. There should be more places where they can come and seek help."
Yoshida and his fellow volunteer, Norio Sawaguchi, posted signs in Aokigahara Forest urging suicidal visitors to call their organization, a credit counseling service. Both men say Japanese society too often turns a cold shoulder to the unemployed and bankrupt, and breeds a culture where suicide is still seen as an honorable option.
Local authorities, saying they are the last resort to stop people from killing themselves in the forest, have posted security cameras at the entrances of the forest.
The goal, said Imasa Watanabe of the Yamanashi Prefectural Government is to track the people who walk into the forest. Watanabe fears more suicidal visitors will arrive in the coming weeks.
"Especially in March, the end of the fiscal year, more suicidal people will come here because of the bad economy," he said. "It's my dream to stop suicides in this forest, but to be honest, it would be difficult to prevent all the cases here."
One year after his suicide attempt, Taro is volunteering with the credit counseling agency that helped him get back on his feet. He's still living in a shelter and looking for a job. He's ashamed, he said, that he still thinks about suicide.
"I try not to think about it, but I can't say never. For now, the will to live is stronger."
"To run away from trouble is a form of cowardice and, while it is true that the suicide braves death, he does it not for some noble object but to escape some ill." - Aristotle
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The Himuro Mansion Haunting
According to urban legend, lying just beyond the city of Tokyo is one of the most haunted locations in all of Japan. The exact location of the Himuro Mansion (or Himikyru Mansion as it is sometimes known) is widely unknown but the legend puts the mansion in a rocky region just beyond the city limits of Tokyo.
The mansion is said to have been home to one of the most gruesome murders in modern Japanese history. Local lore has it that for generations, the Himuro family had participated in a strange, twisted Shinto ritual known as “The Strangling Ritual” in order to seal off bad karma from within the Earth, every half century or so.
The most popular version of the tale states that bad karma would emerge each December (other versions simply say “toward the end of the year”) from a portal on the Mansions grounds. In order to prevent this, a maiden was chosen at birth by the master of the household and isolated from the outside world in order to prevent her from developing any ties to the outside world, which would in turn, jeopardize the effect of the ritual.
On the day of the Strangling Ritual, the maiden was bound by ropes on her ankles, wrists, and neck. The ropes were attached to teams of oxen or horses to rip her limbs from her body, quartering her. The ropes used to bind her appendages would then be soaked in her blood and laid over the gateway of the portal. They believed that this would seal off the portal for another half century until the ritual had to be repeated.
During the last recorded Strangling Ritual it is said that the maiden had fallen in love with a man who tried to save her from the ritual. This “tie” to Earth tainted her blood and spirit and ruined the ritual altogether. Upon learning of the maidens love, the master took up his sword and brutally murdered all of his family members, before finally, in fear of what would soon happen, fell upon his own blade.
This is the basis of the “haunting” of the Himuro Mansion. Local legend has it that these souls of the murdered family wander the mansion attempting to repeat the failed ritual using whomever enters the abandoned building. Blood splashes on the walls are reportedly seen, as if they were flicked from the blade of a sword that had recently sliced through flesh. Many have reported seeing spirits and apparitions dressed completely in white, rinsing cloths and preparing the grounds for the ritual.
Interest in the Himuro Mansion has peaked due to it’s inclusion into the back story of the popular game, Fatal Frame. Here is a quote from Makoto Shibata, Chief Producer of Fatal Frame, regarding the legend:
“In an area outside Tokyo, there lies a mansion in which it’s said seven people were murdered in a grisly manner. On the same property, there lie three detached residences that surround the mansion, all of which are rumored to have ties to the mansion’s troubled past. It’s said there is an underground network of tunnels that lay beneath the premises, but nobody knows who made these tunnels or what purpose they served. Many inexplicable phenomenons have been reported occurring on the property. Bloody handprints have been found splattered all over the walls. Spirits have been spotted on the premises… even in broad daylight. A narrow stairway leads to an attic where a spirit-sealed talisman is rumored to be locked away. Men have sought this talisman, only to be found later with their bodies broken and rope marks around their wrists. There’s a crumbling old statue of a woman in a kimono, but its head is missing. If you take a photo of a certain window, a young girl can be seen in the developed picture. These incidents have provoked fear in the people of Tokyo, and many believe that those who live near this area will become cursed. The deaths of those seven people are unexplained to this day.”
Now, the question is, did any of this really happen? Probably not. The core allure of this legend is also it’s silver bullet. If such a grisly murder did occur (sources put this between 30 and 80 years ago) in such recent times, where is the record?
It is highly unlikely that no police station or newspaper have records of this mass murder taking place just outside of Tokyo.
Regarding the mystery of the location, some believers have offered the notion that the Himuro family has once again taken ownership of the mansion and is currently living there.. but that conflicts with the legend in that all family members were supposedly murdered AND the “firsthand accounts” of events witnessed on the property by locals and researchers.
Another peculiarity of note is that Tecmo advertised the game in North America with the tagline: “Based on a true story,” but without on the original Japanese release. Because of this, some have theorized that the entire legend was fabricated by the game developers.
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The Monster Mummies of Japan
Lurking the halls of Buddhist temples and museums across Japan are a host of monster mummies — the preserved remains of demons, mermaids, kappa, tengu, raijū, and even human monks. Here are a few remarkable specimens for the adventurous and brave at heart.
- Demon Mummies
It might seem odd that Buddhist temples in Japan house the occasional stray mummified demon (oni), but then again it makes sense to keep them under the watchful eye of a priest, instead of letting them prowl the streets.
Zengyōji (善行寺) temple in the city of Kanazawa (Ishikawa prefecture) is home to the mummified head of a three-faced demon. Legend has it that a resident priest discovered the mummy in a temple storage chamber in the early 18th century. Imagine his surprise.
Nobody knows where the demon head came from, nor how or why it ended up in storage.
The mummified head has two overlapping faces up front, with another one (resembling that of a kappa) situated in back. The temple puts the head on public display each year around the spring equinox.
Another mysterious demon mummy can be found at Daijōin temple in the town of Usa (Oita prefecture).
The mummy is said to have once been the treasured heirloom of a noble family. But after suffering some sort of misfortune, the family was forced to get rid of it.
The demon mummy changed owners several times before ending up in the hands of a Daijōin temple parishioner in 1925. After the parishioner fell extremely ill, the mummy was suspected of being cursed.
The parishioner quickly recovered from his illness after the mummy was placed in the care of the temple. It has remained there ever since. Today the enshrined demon mummy of Daijōin temple is revered as a sacred object.
A much smaller mummy — said to be that of a baby demon — was once in the possession of Rakanji Temple at Yabakei (Oita prefecture).
Unfortunately, the treasured mummy was destroyed in a fire in 1943.
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- Mermaid Mummies
In Edo-period Japan — particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries — mermaid mummies were a common sight at popular sideshow carnivals called misemono. Over time, the practice of mermaid mummification blossomed into an art form as fishermen perfected techniques for stitching the heads and upper bodies of monkeys onto the bodies of fish.
The mummy pictured below is a prime example of a carnival mermaid. It appears to consists of fish and other animal parts held together with string and paper.
The mummified creature was obtained by Jan Cock Blomhoff while serving as director of Dejima, the Dutch trading colony at Nagasaki harbor from 1817 to 1824. It now resides at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden.
Another old mermaid mummy exhibited at a museum in Tokyo several years ago appears to belong to the founder of the Harano Agricultural Museum.
The mummy’s origin is unknown, but the collector says it was found in a wooden box that contained passages from a Buddhist sutra written in Sanskrit. Also in the box was a photograph of the mermaid and a note claiming it belonged to a man from Wakayama prefecture.
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- Kappa Mummies
Like the mermaid mummies, many kappa (river imp) mummies are thought to have been crafted by Edo-period artists using parts of animals ranging from monkeys and owls to stingrays.
This mummified kappa, which now resides in a Dutch museum, appears to consist of various animal parts put together in a seamless whole. It is believed to have been created for the purpose of carnival entertainment in the Edo period.
Another mummified kappa can be found at Zuiryūji temple in Osaka.
The 70-centimeter long humanoid purportedly dates back to 1682.
Another notable kappa mummy can be seen in a seemingly unlikely place — at a sake brewery in the town of Imari (Saga prefecture).
According to a company brochure, the mummified kappa was discovered inside a wooden box that carpenters found hidden in the ceiling when replacing the roof over 50 years ago.
Reckoning the creature was an old curiosity their ancestors had passed down for generations, the company owners built a small altar and enshrined the kappa mummy as a river god.
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- Raijū
With a limited scientific understanding of the sky above, the common person in Edo-period Japan looked upward with great awe and mystery. Supernatural creatures called raijū (雷獣) — lit. “thunder beast” — were believed to inhabit rain clouds and occasionally fall to earth during lightning strikes.
The earliest known written records of the raijū date as far back as the late 18th century, though the creature appears to borrow characteristics from the nue — a cloud-dwelling, illness-inducing chimera first described in The Tale of the Heike, a 12th-century historical epic.
Details about the raijū’s appearance vary. Some Edo-period documents claim the raijū resembled a squirrel, cat or weasel, while others describe it as being shaped more like a crab or seahorse.
However, most descriptions agree that the raijū had webbed fingers, sharp claws, and long fangs that, by some accounts, could shoot lightning. The beast also sometimes appeared with six legs and/or three tails, suggesting the ability to shape-shift.
One illustrated document tells of a raijū that fell from the sky during a violent storm on the night of June 15, 1796 in Higo-kuni (present-day Kumamoto prefecture).
Here, the raijū is described as a crab-like creature with a coat of black fur measuring about 11 centimeters (4 inches) thick.
Another notorious encounter took place in the Tsukiji area of Edo on August 17, 1823. Two versions of the incident offer different descriptions of the beast.
One document depicts the raijū as being the size of a cat or weasel, with one big bulging eye and a single long horn, like that of a bull or rhino, projecting forward from the top of its head.
In the other account, the raijū has a more roundish look and lacks the pointy horn.
In Volume 2 of Kasshi Yawa (”Tales of the Night of the Rat”), a series of essays depicting ordinary life in Edo, author Matsuura Seizan writes that it was not uncommon for cat-like creatures to fall from the sky during thunderstorms. The volume includes the story of a family who boiled and ate one such creature after it crashed down onto their roof.
Given the frequency of raijū sightings, it should come as no surprise that a few mummies have turned up.
In the 1960s, Yūzanji temple in Iwate prefecture received a raijū mummy as a gift from a parishioner. The origin of the mummy, as well as how the parishioner obtained it, is a mystery.
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- Tengu Mummy
Another legendary supernatural sky creature is the tengu, a dangerous demon often depicted in art as being part human and part bird. The Hachinohe Museum (Aomori prefecture) in northern Japan is home to a tengu mummy, which is said to have once belonged to Nambu Nobuyori, a Nambu clan leader who ruled the Hachinohe domain in the mid-18th century.
The mummy, which appears to have a humanoid head and the feathers and feet of a bird, is believed to have originated in the town of Nobeoka (Miyazaki prefecture) in southern Japan. Theories suggest the tengu mummy made its way north after being passed around between members of Japan’s ruling samurai families, some of whom were deeply interested in collecting and trading these curiosities.
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- Self-Mummified Monks
A few Buddhist temples in northern Japan are home to “living mummies” known as sokushinbutsu (即身仏). The preserved bodies are purportedly those of ascetic monks who willingly mummified themselves in the quest for nirvana.
To become a living mummy, monks had to undergo a long and grueling three-step process.
Step 1: For 1,000 days, the monks would eat a special diet of nuts and seeds, and engage in rigorous physical training to strip the body of fat.
Step 2: For another 1,000 days, they would eat only bark and roots in gradually diminishing amounts. Toward the end, they would start drinking tea made from the sap of the urushi tree, a poisonous substance normally used to make Japanese lacquer bowls, which caused further loss of bodily fluid. The tea was brewed with water from a sacred spring at Mt. Yudono, which is now known to contain a high level of arsenic. The concoction created a germ-free environment within the body and helped preserve whatever meat was left on the bone.
Step 3: Finally, the monks would retreat to a cramped underground chamber connected to the surface by a tiny bamboo air pipe. There, they would meditate until dying, at which point they were sealed in their tomb. After 1,000 days, they were dug up and cleaned. If the body remained well-preserved, the monk was deemed a living mummy.
Unfortunately, most who attempted self-mummification were unsuccessful, but the few who succeeded achieved Buddha status and were enshrined at temples. As many as two dozen of these living mummies are in the care of temples in northern Honshu.
The Japanese government outlawed the practice of self-mummification in the late 19th century.
The Japanese believe that all humans have a spirit or soul called a reikon. Ghosts are yurei, meaning “faint spirit.”
If a person dies in a sudden or violent manner, the reikon is thought to transform into a yurei, which can then bridge the gap back to the physical world.
The yurei tend to remain near where they died. They usually appear between 2 and 3 a.m., which is like the western world’s bewitching hour of midnight, and a time when the veils between the world of the dead and that of the living are at their thinnest.
Many Japanese ghosts are connected with battlefields and military bases. Here are some to chillingly consider.
Atsugi Naval Base
Located two hours south of Tokyo, Atsugi Naval base has a secret past, which includes the fact that it was a CIA U-2 Base, which housed the U-2 flown over Russia by Gary Powers in the early 1960s. In 1957, Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of John F. Kennedy, was stationed at Atsugi as a Marine radar operator.
The spirit of a young man who wanders aimlessly from room to room is said to haunt the naval base. It is believed that he is the ghost of a young marine who was killed in a car accident back in the 1960s
Atsugi: The Corrosion Hangar Bay
Located on the other side of the naval base, this hangar stands over an older one that was used by the Kamikaze pilots of Imperial Japan. Here, many pilots killed themselves in disgrace after Japan’s final surrender to the allied powers.
It is said that doors slam and disembodied red eyes float about.
Field Hospital- Kanagawa Prefecture
Located on the military base named Sagami Depot, this hospital has been the site of several unexplainable occurrences.
The building is hardly used, but nightly security checks reveal raised windows and locked doors that had been previously unlocked.
Many of the military police who patrol the building have reported hearing someone or something walking around inside.
Iwakuni- Barracks 1687, Room 301
A few years ago, a Marine living in that room committed suicide. He broke the mirror in a fit of drunken rage and slit his wrist with one of the shards of broken glass.
Since then, there have been reports from other soldiers staying in the room that sometimes very late at night when looking into the mirror, the dead marine stares back from somewhere deep inside.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
It should come as no surprise that these two sites of such terrible tragedy are haunted by the unfortunate souls who perished during the nuclear bomb attacks at the end of World War II.
Ghostly voices are heard at twilight crying and screaming for help.
Okinawa: Camp Hansen- Gate #3
After darkness falls, every weekend a soldier with blood all over his World War II fatigues and a cigarette in his hand would ask the gate guard: “Gotta light?” The MP would oblige and as soon the cigarette was lit, the soldier would disappear.
Whether you believe this or not, gate #3 at Camp Hansen is closed because of this reported haunting.
Tokyo: Akasaka Mansion
Many guests have reported seeing specters standing at the end of their beds, white mists coming in through the air vents and sudden changes of temperature in their rooms.
Some have reported a feeling of someone stroking their heads while they sleep, and one person claimed she was dragged from her bed to the other side of the room and then back again. Scratch marks on her back the next day corroborated her story.
Yokosuka Naval Base: Gridley Tunnel
It is thought that the ghost of this narrow, one-way tunnel that runs through a hill is that of a Samurai warrior who was on his way to avenge the death of his lord when he was ambushed and cut down in the tunnel. Because he failed in his mission, he can’t leave his place of death.
Visions of the samurai as reported by passing motorists have caused several accidents in the tunnel over the years.
Himuro Mansion: Tokyo Outskirts
The basis of the survival horror video game series that deals with ghosts, exorcism, and dark Shinto rituals, “Fatal Frame,” Himuro Mansion was the site of a brutal family murder and sacrifice.
Many weird happenings have been reported in and near the old mansion; including apparitions of those who once lived there, bloody handprints and sprays of blood, which mysteriously appear on the walls.
Sometimes, a small girl in a kimono is seen in one of the windows. To add to the mansion’s mystery, no one knows the significance of the vast tunnels the run underneath.
Yokohama: Ikego-The Middle Gate
The Middle Gate marks the spot where a concentration camp from the World War II era once stood. Here, thousands of Chinese and Korean people were put to work and then killed by the Japanese army. Today it serves as a U.S. military housing base.
There are five incinerators on the premises and three gates that separate it from the Japanese community. At the middle gate, patrol guards have reported hearing voices and footsteps, and have described the feeling of being watched by unseen eyes.
One recurring vision concerns a Japanese soldier from World War II in a brown uniform with no legs floating between the middle and back gates.
These incidents are part of a much bigger picture, as there are many more haunted spots in Japan. Most but not all date back to the era of World War II.
If you plan a visit to one of these spooky places, whatever you do, don’t go alone!
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Kangaroo Sightings Persist In Japan's Mayama Mountains
It may seem odd, but the locals swear it is true. People in a Japanese mountain region have reported a number of kangaroo sightings, and journalists are now trying to stalk the marsupials.
The descriptions given by the apparent eyewitnesses seem close enough. For years they have spoken of a beige animal with large ears, one to 1.5 metres tall, that stands by the roadside and then hops away.
The sightings were all reported in the Mayama mountain district of Osaki city in Miyagi prefecture, a community of 441 households, located about 350 kilometres north of Tokyo.
The city has received about 30 reports of "kangaroo-like animals", including three cases since December, when the mountain area was often covered in snow, said local official Tetsuya Sasaki.
"People aged in their 40s to their 60s have said they have spotted what looked like kangaroos while travelling to and from work in the early mornings and evenings," said Mr Sasaki.
Rumours about kangaroo sightings started about seven years ago, and television crews and newspapers have set up hidden cameras in the district, but have so far failed to capture an image of a kangaroo.
As a joke, "some people have put up 'kangaroo crossing' signs on their roadside properties," Mr Sasaki said.
Kangaroos are on show at many Japanese zoos and can be imported by individuals.
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