Tokyo Stroll Supplement: Spooky Tokyo Locations

For information on Tokyo Stroll and this web supplement see Tokyo Stroll Supplement home page

For users of the Organic Maps, Maps.Me and Google Maps apps the items below have bookmarks you can import into those apps to make navigation easier.
Instructions and links are on the Viewing Locations in Organic Maps, Maps.Me, Google Maps, or Google Earth page.

Tokyo Stroll Supplement: Spooky Tokyo Locations

A page listing locations in this web supplement that are associated with ghosts, demons, and yōkai from folklore, theater, fiction, movies, manga, anime, and more.

In the 23 KU area of Tokyo:

CHIYODA KU:

Yanagimori Shrine / Yanagimori Jinja (柳森神社): Tokyo Stroll, Akihabara and Kanda Chapter, page 70
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Akihabara Station (JR East Tōhoku Main Line, JR East Keihin-Tohoku Line, JR East Yamanote Line, JR East Sōbu Main Line, JR East Chūō-Sōbu Line, Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line)

CHŪŌ KU:

Suitengū [a shrine] (水天宮): Tokyo Stroll, Ningyōchō Chapter, page 284
NOTE: This shrine sells ceramic charms in f=the form os a kappa.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Suitengūmae Station (Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line)

SHINJUKU KU:

Oiwa Inari Tamiya Shrine (お岩稲荷田宮神社)

A Shrine associated with a famous kabuki play, the Japanese name is sometimes spelled as 於岩稲荷田宮神社. In 1825 an off season kabuki play was performed in Edo during the hottest time of the year. Normally the theaters closed and actors fled the city to cooler places. For some reason the authorities decided there should still be performances that year, so while the stars took a break less popular actors had to stay to perform a play that transformed kabuki. This was Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan, a masterpiece of horror that has continually been performed not only on stage but also in movies, TV, and even an anime version. The author Tsuruya Nanboku IV wove a variety of actual, or purported to be actual, events into what became the play with the vengeful ghost Oiwa.

Legend has it that there was a woman named Oiwa from the Tamiya household in Yotsuya whose ghost nearly destroyed the family after being abused by her husband. The legend is in a document called Yotsuya Zatsudan-shū "Idle Talk of Yotsuya" which is owned by the shrine. The shrine by the way is built where the Tamiya home was once located.

A tradition exists where those putting on the play, or a movie version, go to her grave in another part of Tokyo to pay respects or risk serious problems in the production, to be safe some also go to the shrine. Even James S. De Benneville in his 1916 retelling of the tale asks Oiwa to forgive his retelling of the tale.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Yotsuya-sanchōme Station (Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line)

SUMIDA KU:

Tamonji (多聞寺): Tokyo Stroll, Northwestern Sumida Ward Chapter, page 304
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Kanegafuchi station (Tobu Skytree Line)

TAITŌ KU:

Chingodō (鎮護堂): Tokyo Stroll, Asakusa Chapter, page 102
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Asakusa Station (Tsukuba Express)

Kappabashi Street / Kappabashi Dōgugai (かっぱ橋道具街): Tokyo Stroll, Asakusa Chapter, page 106
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Tawaramachi Station (Ginza Line)

Kappadera (かっぱ寺): Tokyo Stroll, Asakusa Chapter, page 108
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Inaricho Station (Tokyo Metro Ginza Line), Asakusa Station (Tsukuba Express)

Tanuki Dōri (たぬき通り): Tokyo Stroll, Asakusa Chapter, page 106
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Asakusa Station (Tsukuba Express)

IN THE TAMA AREA OF TOKYO:

CHŌFU SHI:

Bicycle Parking Lot No.1 / Chofuekikita Dai 1 Bicycle Parking (調布駅北第一自転車駐車場)

The streetside wall of this building has a large mural of Kitarō, Medama Ōyaji, Neko Musume, and Ittan momen.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Chōfu Station (Keiō Line, Keiō Sagamihara Line)

GeGeGe no Kitarō character manhole covers

Six manhole covers installed in March 2016 on both sides of Dentsūdai Dōri north of Chōfu Station and continuing to the intersection with National Route 20. They are mainly at the intersections, the only one not is in front of the entrance to the Parco store. The order the are in from south to north is: Kitarō and Medama Ōyaji, Nezumi Otoko and Kitarō, Konaki Jiji, Nezumi Otoko and Neko Musume, Sunakake Baba, Ittan momen and Nurikabe.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Chōfu Station (Keiō Line, Keiō Sagamihara Line)

GeGeGe no Kitarō character statues on Tenjin Dōri

Six polychrome statues on the Tenjin Dōri Shopping Street starting at Kyū Kōshū Kaidō (Tokyo Metropolitan Route 119) and ending at Kōshū Kaidō (National Route 20). These statues are mainly in the middle of the blocks, only one is above eye level at the south end of the street. In order, starting at the south end of Tenjin Dōri, they are: Kitarō on the street sign for the shopping street, Kitarō on the street itself, Nezumi Otoko, Neko Musume and Ittan momen Statues, Nurikabe, and finally another Kitarō statue.
NOTE: Beginning at Kyū Kōshū Kaidō the entrance to Tenjin Dōri Shopping Street is one block east of Dentsūdai Dōri.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Chōfu Station (Keiō Line, Keiō Sagamihara Line)

Kitarō Square / Kitarō Hiroba (鬼太郎ひろば)

A park with many statues and objects related to the GeGeGe no Kitarō manga. Frome east to west as you walk through the park these include: a statue of Kitarō, Nurarihyon statue & bench, Yamabiko statue and bench, Kappa no Sanpei Pond, the Nurikabe climbing wall, the Neko Musume Restroom, the Kitarō House Slide, and the Ittan momen bench.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Chōfu Station (Keiō Line, Keiō Sagamihara Line)

Kitarō Teahouse / Kitarō Chaya (鬼太郎茶屋)

A teahouse and shop with a theme of the popular manga GeGeGe no Kitarō serving a variety of dishes. Fans of GeGeGe no Kitarō from all over the world visit when they come to Japan. The teahouse is divided into three sections: The Yōkai Cafe with a variety of beverages and snacks, the Yōkai Shop Gegege no Mori sells a variety of goods, some are exclusive to the shop, the Yōkai Gallery which displays art of Mizuki SHIgeru mainly related to yōkai.
NOTE: In 2024 the Kitaro Teahouse relocated to the present location on the Tenjin-dōri Shotengai near Chōfu Station. The building at the old location near Jindaiji was in bad shape so they were forced to relocate.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATIONS: Chōfu Station (Keiō Line, Keiō Sagamihara Line)
WEB: http://kitaro-chaya.jp/

Yōkai Mail Box / Yōkai posuto (妖怪ポスト)

A regular Japan Post mailbox modified to resemble the one in GeGeGe no Kitarō. The planning for this was by the shopping store association and supervised by Mizuki Productions.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Chōfu Station (Keiō Line, Keiō Sagamihara Line)

ŌME SHI:

Korisan (古狸山)

A tanuki-themed cafe housed in a building from the Taishō Era. The name of the cafe means "old tanuki mountain." The menu includes coffee, tea, tororo soba, udon, of course also including tanuki udon, also Japanese sweets such as warabi mochi, and anmitsu. Outdoor seating is available for relaxing with your pet.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: See the Mitakesan / Mt. Mitake (御岳山) web page. Every place on the mountain is accessed from the same station and route.
WEB: http://mitakesan.com/syouten/korisan/

Meibakuin (明白院)

Founded in 1567 and rebuilt shortly later in 1570. The gate of the temple is in the Kirizuma style and dates from the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568 to 1600). This gate has been designated an Important Cultural Property of Ōme. It was not originally here but moved to this location in the Edo Period (1603–1868). The main image of the temple is of Shōgun Jizō, a version of Jizō that protects soldiers in battle and is usually depicted dressed in armor. On the grounds you will see the shōfuku no tanuki, a statue of a tanuki carrying a bale of rice. The story goes that a monk found the body of a tanuki along with rice and three small Fukurokuju figurines in the ceiling of a room. The statue was made as a memorial to pacify the spirit of the tanuki.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Miyanohira Station (Ōme Line)
PILGRIMAGE: Ōme Shichifukujin for Fukurokuju

Snow Woman Monument / Yuki onna en no ji (雪おんな縁の地)

A stone monument just to the left of the Chōfu Bridge (調布橋) as you are facing south. This marks the location of the legend that was adapted into the story "Yuki-Onna" by Koizumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn) which is contained in his book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things and is included in the 1964 anthology movie Kwaidan.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Ōme Station (JR Ōme Line)

Wakako Bridge Monument / Wakakobashi no Ishibumi (稚子橋の碑)

A monument located at south east corner of the intersection of National Route 411 and Prefectural Route 5. The stream the bridge crossed in now culverted so you won't see flowing water. The yōkai associated with this bridge is the sound of a crying baby with no baby in sight. One local explanation for the crying is that impoverished families tossed babies they could not afford to raise into the river from the bridge.
NEAREST TRAIN/SUBWAY STATION: Ōme Station (JR Ōme Line)

TACHIKAWA SHI:

Nishikidaini Park (Oni Park) / Nishikidaini Kōen (Oni Kōen) (錦第二公園 「オニ公園」)

A park known for it's creatively designed playground which includes a slide in the shape of a large red oni.
NEAREST TRAIN STATION: Tachikawa Station (JR Chūō Main Line, JR Chuo Line (Rapid), JR Nambu Line, JR Ome Line)