[Trauma-Level] Scary Stories from Japanese Folklore: A Collection of Spine-Chilling Episodes

Path of the Dead

0725 Path of the Dead

This is a tale that takes place on the “Road Where the Dead Pass,” deep in the mountains.

Long ago, a man named Heijūrō set a bird-catching net on that road, despite being warned never to do so.

A bird injured his eye, and he spent a restless night in a mountain hut.

That night, a ball of fire appeared; when he followed it, countless dead souls ensnared in his own net emerged, writhing in agony.

They eventually turned into skeletons and chased him.

Heijūrō fled for his life, fell into a marsh, and survived, but was left with a profound, lingering terror.

It is a story that conveys the fear born from taking forbidden acts lightly.

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The Three-Branched Razor Fox

1283 The Three-Branched Razor Fox

Do you believe in scary stories and anecdotes? The protagonist of this tale didn’t believe in them at all.

One day, in a bamboo grove, the protagonist saw a young woman carrying a baby on her back enter a house where an old woman lived.

Suspicious of the women, the protagonist decided they were impostors and, unbelievably, took the baby’s life.

But they were not fakes, and the old woman flew into a rage.

The protagonist fled to a temple, but that night something terrible happened.

Unbelievable as the story may be, it makes us reflect on the downsides of living defiantly and refusing to listen to those around us.

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Tōsenbō

0261 Tollgate

A big boy named Tōsenbō lost his parents and grew up being bullied at a temple.

He prayed at the Kannon Hall and received a special power, but he couldn’t use it well, hurt people, and was driven out of the village.

When the villagers took revenge on him, the angry Tōsenbō ravaged the village.

Afterwards, he moved to Tōjinbō in Echizen, where he met kind people and felt at ease, but he was captured and thrown off the cliff.

Since then, the strong wind at Tōjinbō has been called “Tōsenbō,” and it is said to still blow to this day.

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Sakichi Boat

Two best friends end up falling for the same woman! The story begins with an incident straight out of a shoujo manga.

When the woman’s father says he’ll give his daughter to the one who earns more, the relationship between the two friends deteriorates rapidly.

One day, while the two of them go fishing in separate boats, an incident occurs.

One boat gets filled with fish and starts to sink.

The other friend doesn’t help—in fact, he makes things even worse.

Then, on another day, when the remaining friend is out fishing alone in his boat…

They say love can change a person, but to think someone would do something so terrifying even when their rival is a close friend—humans truly are frightening.

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Sixteen People Valley

It’s a story about a willow spirit taking revenge on the woodcutters who felled her tree.

Yasuke, one of the woodcutters, is asked by an unfamiliar woman not to cut down the willow in the valley.

However, the other fifteen woodcutters ignore Yasuke’s warning and cut it down.

That night, the woman appears before the sleeping men and, one by one, sucks their tongues and takes their lives.

Yasuke narrowly escapes, but when he is an old man and tells the tale to a young woman he meets, he later has his tongue torn out and dies.

Among old folktales, it is especially feared as a merciless story in which everyone is slaughtered with no hope of salvation.

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Kichisaku-Otoshi

Manga Nihon Mukashi Banashi: Yoshisaku Otoshi

Long ago, there was a young man named Kisaku who made his living gathering rock mushrooms.

One day, while picking them on the cliffs of Mt.

Katamuki, he stopped to rest on a small ledge.

The rope he had let go of slipped upward, leaving him stranded alone midway up the cliff.

Kisaku kept calling for help, but hunger and cold dulled his senses, and at last, in a delusion, he leapt from the cliff.

When the villagers heard how Kisaku vanished into the beautiful valley of autumn leaves, they began calling that rocky spot “Kisaku-otoshi” (Kisaku’s Drop) as a warning to those who climb the mountain.

It is an old tale that conveys the dangers of the mountains and the peril of letting one’s guard down.

It teaches us the importance of courage and caution when living with nature.

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Path of the Dead

Path of the Departed

Deep in the Hida mountains, a farmer named Kaneemon found a man collapsed on a mountain path.

The man was a fugitive who had committed many crimes, but when Kaneemon gave him water, he thanked him and breathed his last.

Kaneemon buried him with care.

The following year, strange phenomena began occurring at Kaneemon’s house every night: ghostly lights and suspicious noises appeared, and water and rice moved on their own.

One night, the ghost of the deceased appeared and said, “This is a road the dead pass through.

Move at once.” Kaneemon relocated his home, built a sutra mound by the bridge, and respectfully performed memorial rites for the dead.

Kaneemon’s actions teach compassion for the departed and the wisdom to protect people’s daily lives.

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