japan is known to have inspired and created some of the scariest horror stories out there
but many real-life horror stories and other strange mysteries from the country are even
scarier and more perplexing number five haunted dolls have inspired countless horror stories
real life haunted dolls are rarely as terrifying as the likes of chucky but the idea that there
may be something thinking and feeling inside such a humanoid container is definitely eerie
of course japan has its own haunted doll story the doll named okiku resides in the manenji
timbal in hokkaido it's about 40 centimeters tall and dressed in a traditional pink kimono
many that have seen the doll in person remark on its dark black eyes
and how life-like its face is and depending on when you might visit the hair length can
vary from above its shoulders to down to its waist the most common story surrounding the doll
is that it was purchased in 1918 and given to the buyer's little sister it became her favorite doll
when she passed away the following year her parents wanted to bury the doll with her
but weren't allowed instead they created a shrine in their own home which was typical at the time
and placed the doll in it over time they noticed the doll's once neat haircut had become longer and
uneven it was as if it had grown naturally more typical haunting signs followed the parents were
visited by their daughter in dreams and would sometimes wake to find the doll in the same
room as them lights would flicker unexplained banging could be heard and sometimes the family
would hear unidentified voices activity would get particularly strange around certain dates like the
girl's birthday they spoke to spiritual leaders in their community and came to the conclusion that
their daughter was with them inside the doll but it wasn't seen as something horrific for them it
was nice to have her there in spirit and they took good care of okiku a name given to the doll by the
daughter eventually in 1938 the family had to move away to the mainland for work they didn't want to
take the doll with them as they thought okiku drew power from being close to their daughter's
physical resting place instead they gave it to the temple where it's now kept inside a glass case
once a year the doll's hair is cut as was requested by okiku in a dream one of the priests
had it can be visited but photography is forbidden number four started out as a scary horror story
turned into something much less terrifying but just as confusing of a mystery
when in 1968 an unidentified individual stole 300 million yen from an armored car
the 300 million yen robbery as it's been dubbed began with a dark setup on december 6 1968.
the manager of the nippon trust bank received a threatening letter he was to hand over 3 million
yen or his home and place of work would be attacked naturally the manager contacted police
a stakeout of the handover spot took place but nobody showed up it looked like the threat was
fake and there was nothing to worry about that all changed the following tuesday as businesses
were preparing for the holiday season many were taking out large sums of money that would be
bonuses for employees toshiba corporation was one such company and on december 10th an armored car
was loaded with 300 million yen to be transported from the napon trust bank to their headquarters
as the four guards transported the money they were stopped by a police officer on a motorcycle
the officer told them that the threats against the manager had been very real and their place
of work in the manager's home had been attacked while the men were trying to come to terms with
the devastating news the police officer gave them one more piece of terrifying information there
was reason to believe the car they were driving had been targeted the officer got under the car
to inspect it as he did so the bank employees saw smoke and flames coming out from beneath the car
they ran for cover while the officer jumped in the car and drove away the officer and the money
would never be seen again after a few moments the bank employees realized they had been duped
there was no police officer there were no attacks on the bank and the flare that was
left in the middle of the road explained the smoke coming from the car a massive investigation was
launched into one of the biggest robberies japan had ever seen the cost of the investigation would
eventually total more than the money that had been stolen the culprit was never caught number three
people go missing in the wilderness all the time and usually there isn't anything too mysterious
about it even when the missing person is found in a location that's already been searched
it's not too much of a surprise search teams can often miss things and people don't always stay
put but the disappearance of iwamora kinji and the manner in which he was eventually found is one of
the stranger japanese mysteries most people hadn't heard of iwamora until years after he vanished
in july of 1989 two hikers from tokyo took a trip to asahidake the tallest peak on japan's
northernmost island the two hikers got stuck after a flash flood when they didn't return as expected
search parties were sent to try to find them one of the police helicopters sent to look for
the pair came across a large sos sign made out of birch logs near a river figuring it had been
made by the missing hikers the helicopter circled the area and eventually discovered them in a cave
about two to three kilometers north the two men were unconscious but in relatively good health
and were soon rescued there was only one problem when the hikers were praised for their ingenuity
in creating the sign that saved them both denied knowing anything about it thinking there was
someone else in trouble search teams returned to asahidake but there wasn't a recent disappearance
that they would solve near the sign police found skeletal remains and a knapsack containing a
number of items there was no id in the pack but police did find a walkman and cassette tapes
most of the tapes were typical music recordings but one contained an eerie recording of
a man calling for help in the chilling recording the man shouts his sos message
the message said i can't move from atop this cliff sos please help i am near where the helicopter was
originally and i can't move further due to bamboo brush being in the way please get me out of here
a journalist looking into the case eventually found some more items hidden in a hole under
some tree roots including the id of iwamura kinji iwamora had gone missing in 1984 at the age of 25.
he had been staying at a nearby lodge and was reported missing when he failed to check out
it would be five years before he was found the bones were originally thought to be from a woman
but were eventually identified as iwamora's remains he had broken bones before he passed
away leaving behind questions as to how he created the sos message if he did the message was huge
18 meters long 5 meters wide and 5 meters high there was also indication of some of the logs
being cut with tools but none were found nearby it seems unlikely iwamora would have been able
to do this with broken bones one possibility is that he injured himself after making the sign
but that does leave the question how he managed to be able to make the sign but not get back
to the lodge the tape is also very strange some sources claim he was found with a hiking boom box
which wasn't too uncommon he could have made the tape to amplify his call for help however the
tape wasn't found in the boombox others have said that he may have been hallucinating and believed
the walkman was actually a walkie-talkie what helicopter he was talking about is also a mystery
number two much like eastern europe and other parts of asia japan was a place of political
flux during the end of world war ii between the occupation from america and other allied forces
and the returning of hundreds of thousands of soldiers from war there was a lot of change in
the political landscape the japanese national railways became the face of much of the change
during the war new recruits had been brought in to replace those that had joined the army
or gone to occupied land in korea and manchuria when those people returned at the end of the war
the number of people working at jnr doubled to 600 000. americans were brought in to try to manage
japan's post-war development and demanded a cut in the number of government workers
and jnr was in the firing line some 30 000 people were facing redundancy in july of 1949.
fears about the growth of communism had led to a crackdown on unions which only further angered the
railway workers that was what satanori shimoyama was dealing with when he disappeared on july 5th
saranori was the first president of the jnr and had been in the role for about a month when he
had to make staffing cuts he had received threats to his life in that time and was himself not happy
with the role he was going to have to play but still on july 4th he released the names of 30
400 people who would be losing their jobs on july 5th he was heading to the jnr headquarters
for an important meeting though he was in no rush to get there on his way to work
he asked his driver to stop at a store only to find the store hadn't opened yet
they instead drove to the bank then came back around to the store once it was open
at around 9 40 am 40 minutes after the meeting was due to start satinori got out of the car
and told his driver to wait five minutes he disappeared into the shop and wasn't seen again
police were alerted to satinori's disappearance when he didn't show up for work
there were a handful of sightings of someone who looked like the missing man
but nobody could be sure it was him finally at just after midnight the following morning his body
was found on the railway tracks it was determined he'd been struck at about 20 minutes past midnight
however coroners couldn't decide whether he was still alive at that point
the scene of the incident was much cleaner than would have been expected and coroners found
internal injuries which may have been a sign that he was attacked by someone before being
struck the results of a police investigation were never publicly released and it was later closed
some believe satanori was attacked in retaliation for the job losses while others believe it was
part of a plan to discredit left-wing politicians the shimoyama incident remains one of jnr's three
biggest mysteries along with the train derailment and the mataka incident number one on its own
the events of march 11 2011 were terrifying enough to be a horror story a 9.1 magnitude earthquake
struck off the east coast of japan just before 3 pm the earthquake lasted an incredible 6 minutes
the earthquake triggered a tsunami which caused further devastation and caused a meltdown at the
fukushima power plant altogether the disaster caused the biggest single loss of life in japan
since the end of world war ii almost 20 000 people were confirmed to have lost their lives
and a further 2500 people remain missing but the tragedy of that day left paranormal aftershocks
for the communities most impacted by the disaster ishinomaki was a coastal city in northern eastern
japan it was mostly devastated by the tsunami more than 3 000 people lost their lives in the disaster
and almost as many remain unaccounted for most of the city was completely destroyed and the
population had to be relocated so the city could be rebuilt in the months after the disaster it
figuratively and literally became a ghost town the most famous ghost stories to have come from
the city came from taxi drivers interviewed by a sociology student many had ghostly experiences
passengers who would vanish into thin air one chilling story was told by a taxi driver who
picked up a woman in the middle of summer despite the warm weather she was wearing a thick coat
much more suitable to the freezing temperatures of march she was also soaking wet she got into
his taxi and asked to be taken to the minamiyama district like most of the city minamiyama had
been badly hit by the disaster and was largely abandoned when the taxi driver told the woman that
the area was empty and asked if she was sure she wanted to go there the woman didn't answer after a
long pause she asked have i died the driver turned to confront her only to find that she had vanished
another story is that of an anxious man who kept pointing fingers when asked where he wanted to go
he eventually gave the destination of hiyoriyama a mountain park when they eventually arrived
the taxi driver turned to get his fare only to find that the man had vanished these stories were
recorded in the driver's logs where they noted the missing fears they would have had other stories to
come from the community included possessions a man who would not go out in the rain as he saw
the victims looking up at him from every puddle and a school haunted by students some have put
the stories down to a collective trauma grief and survivor's guilt a more supernatural take points
to the japanese shinto religion which believes people who aren't given a proper funeral linger
as spirits whether ghosts or psychological the tsunami ghosts were real to those who experienced
them and a city of lost souls definitely sounds more terrifying than any horror story
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