∧∧∧ Scary Stories About the Mountains, Part 3 ∧∧∧
241: Anonymous (2003/08/30 08:44)
A repost from the folklore board —
a record of Tokyo’s hidden “Mountains of Curse” in the Okutama region.
[56] “The Cursed Ridge” — from Hikawa to the Ogōchi Dam, Okutama Town, Tokyo
Mitama-no-One (御霊の尾根 – “The Ridge of Spirits”)
On the eastern side of Kaizawa, stretching north from Mount Odake through the Onara Pass to Shiroyama,
lies a mountain ridge once known as Mitama-no-One, or “The Ridge of Souls.”
Locals said the mountain’s shape resembled a Buddhist memorial tablet (ihai),
and called it Ihai-yama or Mitama-yama — “Spirit Mountain.”
It was considered an extremely unlucky place.
Along the ridge runs a ravine called Jigai-sawa (the Suicide Stream).
According to old legends, the hero Yamato Takeru-no-Mikoto once traveled here with ten attendants.
For reasons unknown, all ten took their own lives.
Other versions claim that those who died were wandering monks (rokubu)
or fugitive Heike warriors who hid here after their clan’s fall.
Whatever the truth, the place gained a dark reputation.
Anyone who entered Jigai-sawa to work in the mountains was said to die within the forest.
Because memorial tablets (ihai) would later be found in the homes of those who perished,
the area also came to be called “Ihai-zasu” (the pointing tablets).
Once, ten memorial tablets honoring the dead attendants were displayed there.
The land’s owner eventually changed his family name to Takazasu,
but no one would buy the cursed property.
It was eventually sold to the Tokyo government
and now forms part of the Okutama Memorial Forest.
[57] Tengai-yama (天蓋山 – “The Canopy Mountain”)
To the north of Kaizawa stands a mountain about 600 meters high,
covered thick with untamed trees, as no one dares approach its summit.
Its shape resembles a “tengai” — the ornate canopy once placed above coffins
during traditional funeral processions in Japan.
For that reason, some also call it Tatsugaito.
This mountain, too, carries a curse.
Anyone who buys, sells, or cuts wood from its land meets with misfortune.
Once, a man from Kamisaka arranged to buy the mountain.
But before the purchase was complete,
his three-year-old child fell into the irori (a traditional sunken fireplace)
and suffered severe burns that led to death.
Locals said it was the Kōshin deity enshrined on Tengai-yama
who caused the child’s burns—
a warning to those who would meddle with the mountain.
Okutama (奥多摩) — A mountainous region on the far western edge of Tokyo, known for dense forests, shrines, and legends of mountain spirits.
Ihai (位牌) — A wooden Buddhist memorial tablet inscribed with the name of the deceased; its appearance in a home symbolizes a spiritual connection—or haunting.
Jigai (自害) — A traditional term for suicide, historically associated with ritual death or sacrifice.
Rokubu (六部) — Traveling monks or pilgrims who journeyed through rural Japan during the Edo period, often carrying sacred texts.
Kōshin (庚申) — A folk deity combining Shinto and Taoist elements; believers avoid sleep on “Kōshin nights” to prevent spirits from reporting their misdeeds to heaven.
Irori (囲炉裏) — A hearth built into the floor of old Japanese houses; both a source of warmth and, in legends, a place of tragic accidents.
58. Yamai-ga-Sawa (病ヶ沢 – “The Ravine of Illness”)
Deep in the mountains beyond the tributary of Sakasa-gawa River in the Kawanori Valley of Nippara,
lies a place called Yamai-ga-Sawa, literally meaning “the ravine of sickness.”
It is a wide stretch of untouched forest.
According to legend, a Buddhist monk once lived here and sacrificed his life,
though others say it was a fugitive warrior who fled here and was beheaded.
Whoever tries to work here—buying the mountain, logging, or doing forestry—
inevitably falls ill or dies.
Some develop eye diseases, and locals say,
“You’ll lose your health and your money.”
The town eventually purchased the land and renamed it “Yamanu-ga-Sawa”
(病まぬヶ沢 – “The Ravine Without Illness”) in hopes of breaking the curse,
but even today, no one dares enter to work there.
The renaming of a cursed site to include “まぬ（not)” is a common Japanese folk practice for reversing bad fortune through wordplay.
The presence of “a monk who died here” reflects Japanese mountain asceticism (修験道, shugendō), where practitioners often died seeking enlightenment in isolation.
59. Kotsu-gama (骨窯 – “The Bone Kiln”)
Across the river from Yamai-ga-Sawa lies Kotsu-gama, the “Bone Kiln.”
No one dares cut trees or make charcoal there,
for it’s said that anyone who burns charcoal in that spot will die.
Thick oak trees grow close together,
and the place feels heavy, silent, and oppressively gloomy.
Nearby are places called Kawana’s Estate (Kawana no Yashikichi)
and Yashikido Valley,
where broken pottery and dishes are often found buried in the soil.
No one knows why, but locals call it a bad place,
and refuse to build huts or farming plots there.
One man who once built a hut at Kawana’s Estate claimed
that a Tengu—a mountain spirit with a long nose and wings—
shook his hut violently.
Since then, no one has gone back.
Charcoal burning (炭焼き) was once a common livelihood in rural Japan,
but it often appears in folklore as a practice that angers spirits of the mountain.
Tengu (天狗) are mythic beings said to punish arrogance and trespassers in sacred forests.
The recurring discovery of broken dishes in old estates is linked to folk beliefs about ritual destruction to seal curses or drive away spirits.
60. Kuwanai-zukuri (食わない作り – “The Land That Yields Nothing”)
High above the Ōsawa Hamlet along the Nippara River,
there is an area known as Kuwanai-zukuri, literally meaning “a field where you can’t eat.”
No matter how much you cultivate the soil there,
harvests fail,
and those who try to live off it sicken or die.
There once stood a temple called Kongō-ji on this land.
Today it is privately owned,
but within a short span of time, many owners have died or sold it off,
as if the mountain itself rejects possession.
The phrase “食わない (kuwanai)” literally means “not to eat,” but in folklore it connotes land that cannot sustain life—a sign of spiritual defilement.
The rapid change of landowners mirrors an enduring belief in Japan that haunted land refuses stability.
61. Ihai-yama (位牌山 – “The Mountain of Memorial Tablets”)
Along the Nippara River, near the Terachi district of Ōsawa,
stands Ihai-yama, “The Mountain of Spirit Tablets.”
The back ridge of the mountain is also called Tōba-yama, “The Stupa Mountain,”
because the peak is said to resemble a Buddhist ihai (memorial tablet)
or a tōba (wooden grave monument).
Long ago, a high-ranking Buddhist priest (Hōin-sama) stayed overnight
in a charcoal burner’s hut.
Desperate and impoverished,
the charcoal burner murdered him for money.
Some say the priest was killed instead by a man gathering chestnuts,
who struck him with a yoki (axe).
Whatever the truth,
the mountain has been haunted ever since.
The curse mostly strikes those who buy the mountain,
but even those who merely enter it meet misfortune.
It’s said that once, nine men tried to make charcoal there—
and in every kiln, the fire went out at the same time.
Hōin (法印) is a title for a learned Buddhist priest or ascetic.
Tōba (塔婆) and ihai (位牌) are both associated with honoring the dead, hence the mountain’s ominous connection to death and memorials.
The simultaneous extinguishing of fire symbolizes a collective spiritual warning—common in Japanese “mountain taboo” stories (山の禁忌).
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