A recent surge in the popularity of horror-themed tours at abandoned sites in a Japanese town is drawing attention, along with some unintended side effects.
In a village in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture, tours that offer horror experiences at abandoned sites are gaining popularity. However, illegal trespassing and noise pollution have sparked many opinions from locals and netizens alike.
Taxi company Sanwa Kotsu has planned tours that visit haunted sites on five routes, including Yokohama City and Kamakura City, during July and August. The tours are led by taxi drivers acting as guides.
On the Yokohama city tour, participants board a taxi at Shin Yokohama Station and visit a rumored haunted castle site and railway crossing. They walk along dark tunnels leading to funeral halls and mountain paths, holding flashlights in their hands, before returning to Shin Yokohama Station.
What sets this tour apart is its lottery system, where participants are selected through a draw after a certain application period. If you’re not selected, you won’t be able to join the tour. This year, the tour showed immense popularity, with the number of applicants being about 29 times the number of selected participants.
However, there is a negative side to its popularity. In 2020, a Yokohama abandoned hotel included in the ghost tour became a hot topic on social media with claims of actual ghost sightings. This led to a series of illegal trespassing incidents under the guise of “courage testing,” rampant graffiti, and complaints from neighboring residents due to noise pollution.
The police conducted an investigation and distributed a video revealing that the bloody handprints were graffiti and that the ghost phenomena were baseless. Still, this year alone, 10 people were arrested for violating the Minor Offenses Act for illegal trespassing.
A representative emphasized, “We strictly adhere to the tour rules,” and said, “We want to continue the tour while taking care not to cause any harm to the residents.”
By. Park So Ye
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