Are you interested in angels, demons, ghosts, spirits, and monsters? Are you curious about their origins, influence, and how to protect against the unknown? If so, then welcome to Southern Demonology, the podcast that explores all of this and more.
Have you ever wondered if the house that you're about to purchase or rent has some questionable history? For example, has anyone died in it? Or how about been murdered? Is the place considered haunted? Or known for causing psychological uneasiness? In the US, your research skills better be up to snuff if you bother remembering to look up such information at all. However, in Japan, this information is largely required to be provided. And even if the details aren't given in all their gory details, you may notice how cheap the price of rent is.
Welcome, my friends, to the world of Jiko Bukin or stigmatized property. And worse, I experienced this for myself on some of my most recent trips to the land of the rising sun. Or, to put it in English, welcome to season 6, episode 2 of the Southern Demonology Podcast. I, of course, am your friendly neighborhood, ancient demonologist JJ. Forgive the Japanese, but it's such an expressive language that I can't help myself sometimes. My favorite phrase is an old-fashioned one that would introduce old ghost stories and is used for the short form horror anime Yamishi Bai.
Yo Tadashai Mi Tadashai Yamishi Bai Noji Kandaio, which roughly translates to, come one, come all, it's time for the theater of darkness. Or, if said correctly, even the most innocent of phrases can sound like death threats. For example, sounds like I threatened your family, right? But I just said orange juice. Okay, enough random recitations in Japanese. We're here to talk about stigmatized properties. My wife and I were back in West Tokyo, and we decided to look at some properties to purchase. So I immediately started looking at Akias. And Akiya is an abandoned home.
The way that Japanese tax structure works, buildings with properties on them cost much less in tax than cleaning a property and then having an empty lot. And this, along with the rapidly aging population, leaves a phenomenal amount of houses just sitting empty. If you've ever browsed the web, I'm sure that you've come across claims that you too can get a house for free out in the countryside. And while there is some truth to that, I wanted something relatively close to my family and in Tokyo. And that's how the most hectic two weeks of my life just flew by in the blink of an eye.
We met with several agents, and we must have looked at, I don't know, 15 or 20 different properties. While a few were brand new model homes, the process of getting a loan is a nightmare for non-residents. So that particular path was cut off pretty quick. And so we began looking at akias. And yes, I ran across more than a few of them that fell into the classification of Jico Bukin. The most common reason why a property is considered stigmatized is that someone died or committed suicide in the place. Less common is if there was a murder.
One of the places my wife was really interested in was a beautifully renovated home with two stories. However, the real estate agents that were with us that reluctantly told us that an elderly woman had died on the first floor alone. See, real estate agents are required to disclose anything that occurred in or on the property. I already suspected something, as even though the property was recently renovated, it was also much cheaper than I expected it to be. And that's usually the case for these types of places in order to lure in potential buyers.
While I didn't feel anything particularly off about the locale, my wife immediately vetoed the property for consideration. There's a very strong belief that living in such places will not only cause psychological distress, but could result in karmic stains. See, there's a strong belief in Japan that one should die a peaceful death, that the person is ready for it, has accepted it, and is in a state of meditation when that moment happens. A violent or even a lonely death directly contradicts that conviction.
The two agents who were with us didn't want to lose an opportunity, and so they took us maybe three blocks down the road to a brand new construction that was only partially finished. However, I immediately discounted that not just for the trouble in securing a loan, but also because of what was directly across the street from it. It was an older house that had to have been built in the 1950s, but looked like it could have been a very believable candidate for any ghost story ever told. In fact, the house in Jiwan kind of flashed into my mind's eye.
It had dying vines running all of its exposed concrete walls. It was, as you would say in Japanese, bodo boro or in disrepair. And it just gave off a very queasy feeling. I pointed it out to my wife, and then we were taken back to the train station pretty quickly afterwards. And I wish I could say that was the worst of the experiences, but of course it wasn't, knowing my luck. The one that had me scurrying away as quickly as my legs would take me happened about two days later. We were with another agent who drove us to a hillside community.
The first thing I noticed were the many, many tanuki statues gathered along the street at other homes. Now, if you don't know, tanuki, otherwise referred to as raccoon dogs, are considered kind and magical creatures, but ones that have a definite love of trickery and pranks. While seeing a tanuki statue isn't uncommon, seeing this many in one place definitely was. Considering that the sun was just going down and the hillside was draped in shadows. Needless to say, it did not inspire confidence. We walked into the house, and at first things seemed okay.
I wasn't in love with the place, but I didn't hate it either. That was until I walked up to the third floor, which consisted of only one room with a door. And strangely enough, there was a Disney door emblem nailed to the outside of that door. I opened it up to reveal an attic, and I immediately got chills down my spine. There was definitely something in that room, and it did not want me there. I am not sensitive. I am definitely not a psychic or a medium of any sort, type, shape, whatever. But I felt this like a punch in the stomach.
Now I wish I could say that I was brave, stood my ground, and called out in an authoritarian voice, who art thou to challenge me? Nope, I did not. I turned my happy butt right around, slammed the door closed, and descended the stairs as fast as humanly possible. If you have ever been to Japan, you may remember how small everything is built. And that includes stairs. Considering that I have big feet and I was wearing slippers, always three sizes too small, my speed was severely hampered. On the way down, I grabbed my wife and in no uncertain terms said, We have to leave now.
Of course, I had to explain to the real estate agent our abrupt departure, and I sheepishly said there was something there, and I know that's not the right place for us. But rather than laughing at me, he nodded understandingly, and we got back in the car. Now, as always, the curious type, I found that an interesting reaction. And so I asked him on the way back if he had ever encountered any strange properties while working as a real estate agent. And I was unprepared for the story that he told me.
Now, the Japanese have stringent privacy laws, and you can see this in many aspects of daily life. For example, if you're watching a multiplayer game being streamed, then people will go to pains to block out the names of other players just to keep them anonymized. One of my favorite examples of this is when there's a TV show or a storyteller who is introducing a particular story and they want to keep the person's name anonymous, then they will only give that individual's first letter. And it's usually in English or Romanji, strangely enough.
As I am a huge fan of that particular tradition, I will do the same. On the way back to the real estate office, Bison told me this story. Several months ago, I had some clients, a mother and a daughter, move into an apartment.
There had been no reports of anything bad happening there previously. However, a month after moving in, the mother seemed to waste away, and she abruptly died a few days later. And then the same thing happened to the daughter. She just started to almost fade away before dying, and the hospital could find no reason for that. And now nobody will buy the place as people consider it cursed. I asked him for more stories, but he grew strangely quiet after that particular retelling. Now, on another day, he did tell me about a resource that I could check out, and I am so glad that he did.
While requiring real estate agents to disclose any type of unfortunate accident that has happened at a place, there's a definite time limit on that disclosure. Depending upon the nature of the disturbance, that may only be in effect for a year. And then you'll be greeted with only smiles and praises for how good the house is. Fortunately, there is a resource out there that if you find yourself looking for a place in Japan and want to ensure that nothing untoward has happened there, then you can check out Oshimai Tedu or Oshimailand. I'll have the link down in the show notes.
The site is more than a little clunky as it's nothing more than a Google map and a legend of prefectures over on the left, but it will show each and every reported incident left by users. You can drill down by either address or on the map, and you'll see a flame icon for every single incident. Clicking on one will then showcase any details and comments. Needless to say, real estate agents do not like this site. In fact, the most common respondents and comments are from agencies who write something along the lines of, We have confirmed with the police and this did not happen.
Please take this listing down. I do wish that there was a better search option, but sadly I haven't found a better method than to drill down into an area and then start clicking on one icon after another. The site has become rather extensive. It used to only support major metropolitan areas, but it has since expanded to cover not just all of Japan, but also the rest of the globe, though Japan is still by and far its targeted audience.
I will say that after visiting so many Japanese properties for sale, the one thing that I did in each and every one was open up all the closets to make sure that there wasn't a Shinto paper talisman taped to the wall to ward away any evil spirits. While this may be a common trope in horror movies out there, I still take it to heart. Now, for those who have listened to Southern Demonology for a while, I am sure you remember my terrifying encounter with something when I lived in downtown Tokyo. You can find that in my very first Japan episode.
Or if you would like a refresher and want to hear something new, you can check out my interview with Homespun Haints that was released the other day. I'll have that link in the show notes as well. The hosts are absolutely lovely, and I was sold on talking to them just after reading the word haint, as that is a very old southern word for ghost. In fact, that's all that my grandmother and great aunts and uncles ever called a ghost was a hate. And I highly recommend checking them out. Well, after that particular experience, I have been more than a little hesitant to go near graveyards in Japan.
But on this trip, I found myself cruising through them on a bicycle at least once a day. No, I'm not a glutton for punishment, I swear. See, my mother-in-law is in a medical nursing home 10 minutes away by bicycle, and my wife and I would go visit her every day. Afterwards, we'd want to go to either the big fish market in the area or to a used video game in electronics store called Hardoff. And yes, that's really its name.
And the only way to get to that particular area of town would be to either go the long way around and have the trip take 25 minutes on a bike, or cut through a very large graveyard and be there in seven minutes. And of course, I took the path of least resistance. And I have to say, this particular graveyard inspires nothing but peace. It's well laid out, has outdoor bathrooms every few blocks, is well lighted, and is immaculately tended. In fact, the main riding path suitable for both walking and bicycles is so well trodden that it's almost busy.
Ever since that first experience where something attached itself to me from a local graveyard in Tokyo so many years ago, I kind of stayed away from them out of fear of something similar happening again. I've said before on many different shows of how just something feels different about Japanese spirits. And yes, that is how frightening that particular experience was. But riding through this graveyard time and time again fueled that fear. Considering that I spent a great deal of my youth in graveyards mowing and tending to relatives' grave sites, I am very grateful for that peace of mind.
Of course, I still bought and kept out purified salt just to be safe. Better safe than sorry by any stretch of the imagination. I thought I'd wrap this episode up with two particular psychic or haunted spots in Tokyo that you may find yourself wanting to visit if you find yourself there. The first is the Sunshine 60 building, located in Ikibakuro, one of the more famous 23 wards of Tokyo. An iconic skyscraper that has tons of family-friendly shops and attractions. I still remember when I took my family there to see both an aquarium with adorable penguins and an indoor amusement park.
My daughters absolutely loved it. However, under all the smiles and bright lights lies a truly dark past. The site on which the building stands was home to the destroyed Sugamo Prison, an infamous site where 2,000 suspected war criminals were held during World War II. Sugamo is also famous for those that were beheaded there during that time. Now, during the construction of Sunshine 60, workers claim to have seen spirits of the dead walking around.
Even all these years later, patrons who go there still claim to see distorted visages of faces and windows or whispers while walking down certain halls. While I've never seen anything untoward in the building, the place is absolutely massive, and I certainly haven't gone to even a fraction of the floors in that place. There are more other places that you can shake a stick at, but the last one that I wanted to draw your attention to is Aoyama Cemetery. And that's because it is supposedly the origin story of the famous hitchhiker tale.
I first heard this story when I was a kid while at my uncle's house when he lived a few counties over from us. In the story, a man picks up a woman on the side of the road, and after getting in the back seat, she asks if he could drop her off at her house. She doesn't say anything more than to take off her jacket, so the man focuses on driving. When he gets to that address, he looks in the rearview mirror, but she has disappeared. However, her jacket is still in the car. Given that it's very late at night, he goes home and then returns the next day.
After knocking on the door, the girl's parent appears. He gives the jacket back and the person just dies. After asking what's wrong, the person explains that this happens at least once a year after their daughter died while trying to get home. I have heard this story localized in at least ten different countries, but each of them follow the same major plot points. Whether the story is being told in Malaysia, Japan, US, doesn't matter. Sometimes the driver is operating a taxi, as in the case for Ioma Cemetery. Other times the woman is simply hitchhiking.
Sometimes the man gives the woman his jacket, only to find it draped over her gravestone the next day. I can see why this story has spread so far and wide, and it's mainly because of the fact that it's a really good story. But to find a place that actually claims to be not only the origin of it, but also that it really happened, that's something else.
There are other tales about Ayoyama, such as a group of kids who undertook a test of courage, which is a common enough occurrence amongst students while on a trip, where they wanted to stay in that cemetery for a little bit to test their bravery. The only difference is that none of those kids were ever seen again after that night. If you're curious as to what the cemetery that I would ride my bike through looked like, I did take a few videos on the experience, which I'll share on both YouTube and TikTok in the next few days. Be sure to follow us.
Both have the same username at Southern Demonology on both platforms so that you can see all the latest. And if you'd like to contact me or listen to other episodes, then please visit Southern Demonology.com for all of the podcast social links. For an extra special 100 bonus JJ Awesome points, share this episode with a friend or two. Until next time, stay safe out there. Find us online at Southern Demonology.com, which offers links to all of our social media and episodes.
Southern Demonology is solely owned, produced, and edited by myself, and the intro and outro music are composed by me as well. If you have a moment, please rate, like, and share this podcast, as it is the best way to help support my work. As always, I am JJ, and it has been a pleasure to speak to you today.