The Mysterious Japan

The Yotsuya Kaidan is one of the three great ghost stories of Japan. The story is often truncated in English without the full horror of Oiwa's story and and betrayal that turned her into a vengeful ghost. Listen to her sad and terrifying tale three hundred years in the making.

Listen to this retelling of Otsuya and the Peony Lantern, considered to be one of the three greatest ghost stories in Japan. They say that death cannot stop love, but in Japan, ghosts can kill for love.

August is the time of ghosts and the dead rising in Japan. Today we explore the tradition of the night of 100 ghost stories in Japan and hear four horror tales based on this tradition from various geographies in Japan.

Japan has a history of lake monsters inhabiting its lakes. Like the Lock Ness Monster, some appear to be surviving plesiosaurs, while others may be something entirely different. In this episode, we take a look at the stories behind Issie, Mossie, Hama-chan, and other lake cryptids of Japan.

The shocking and terrifying conclusion to one of the infamous haunted doll stories in Japan, responsible for more deaths, injuries and terror than the Annabelle doll in America.

Every nation has tales of haunted or cursed dolls. Japan is no exception. This episode explores stories of an urban legend of Licca-chan dolls, Okiku the haunted doll, and Wara-Ningyo, the straw dolls used for curses.

Three urban legends in Japan strike fear into the hearts of middle and high schoolers. Hear these legends and their mysterious origins: Teke Teke, The Slit-Faced woman, and Kashima-san.

This episode examines stories of the Hibagon, the Japanese Bigfoot believed to reside in the mountains north of Hiroshima.

Even Japan has legends of a hairy bipedal monster. This episode examines several tales and legends regarding the "Japanese Bigfoot."

Ghost stories abount in Toyama Park, from spirit orbs to the ghost of a man in the restroom. Tombs of the ancient dead have been found, and the samurai known as the God of War is enshrined in the Shinto Shrine here. Listen to these tales and decide for yourself if Toyama Park is the most haunted place in Japan.

Dr. Ishii plots to destroy America even as his Unit 731 operations kill tens of thousands of Chinese. But perhaps his fall from grace and his last human experiment form the most interesting part of his tale.

Unit 731 rises in Pingfang in World War II to covertly perform human experimentation, resulting in the death of hundreds of thousands. The barbarity of their experiments defy human comprehension. Hear the tale of the Japanese doctor who used Chinese prisoners to study frostbite, and his fall from grace decades later. 

Dr. Shiro Ishii became known as Dr. Death for leading thousands to their death in human experimentation during World War II. This episode describes the rise of Dr. Ishii, the formation of what would become the infamous Unit 731 in Manchuria at a place called "The Fortress," and a daring escape by Chinese prisoners that led to the fall of the Fortress.

Bones discovered in Toyama Park in 1989 ignite controversy that hundreds of victims of human experimentation had their remains unceremoniously buried in mass graves under the park, and spark discussion about secret tunnels under the park used for human experimentation.

Why is a park in Tokyo considered the most haunted place in Japan? Listen to the story of the ghosts, the test of courage, the 17th Century ghost story, and the unnameable monster residing within.

This episode presents the karmic fate that befell the evil owner of Hotel New Japan and the many ghost stories that came after the deadly fire.

Episode 18 recounts the harrowing true tales of firefighters as they attempt to put out the deadliest hotel fire in Japanese history at the cursed site of Hotel New Japan.

Hear stories full of daring escapes, bumbling employees untrained on procedures, and a fire jumping from room to room as it develops into the second most deadly fire in the history of Japan, resulting in 9 long hours of hell on earth for the 103 guests on the 9th and 10th Floors but incredible and unbelievable true stories.