In this article, we will explore how Japanese people handle seeing ghosts during indoor situations, such as in their house, dormitory, hotel room, and so on. But before getting to the problem-solving part, let’s talk about prevention first! Just like outdoor situations where you can avoid going to risky locations, you can do so when finding hotels or accommodations!
Checking ahead of time, don’t go to places with spooky histories!
In Japan, there exists a word "Jiko bukken (事故物件)" which literally means “buildings with incidents”. It is a word often heard when searching for accommodations, finding houses, or even booking a hotel room. There even exists a website recording history of every location in Japan from news or local reports. I have discussed it back in Horror & Mystery Series Vol. 23: How to know if there is a ghost in your house? Japanese Style!. By the way, there is even a Japanese horror movie using this word as its title coming out in 2020, so if anyone want to know more about Jiko bukken, try watching that movie!
In addition, in case you are looking for a house or apartment to live in, you can also ask either a real estate brokerage firm (不動産会社 / Fudosan-gaisha) or a real estate brokerage shop (不動産屋さん / Fudosanya-san). There is a custom that if some incident occurred, such as someone died, in the room, it is necessary to notify the next tenant prior to an agreement. But there are some shady brokerages who try to avoid such custom by going so far as to hire someone to stay for one night to be considered as the “next” tenant, so the person who came after the hired person is not the next one right after the incident. Therefore, there is no need to notify the new tenant, and this kind of hiring turned into a very strange part-time job.
The best way is to search from the web that keeps records of places with history of incidents. Although it may not be able to tell you all the information, because it did not specify if the place is the spiritual pathways, or what it was previously before the building was built, or what it is built over. Another way is to go to the location and see by yourself. If you do not have a special sense in this expertise, you can bring some friends with keener sense to see the location together. Try to check if there is a ghost in the house or not using the methods written in Horror & Mystery Series Vol. 23: How to know if there is a ghost in your house? Japanese Style!.
There are some realtors making surveys about buildings with incidents!
Some realtors are very sincere with customers that they even did surveys and wrote articles to help the tenants living in buildings with incidents. One of such have questioned 457 persons who have or had lived in buildings with incidents, and from the results, over 50% have experienced strange phenomena, as follows:
- 13.8% Hear strange noises from places without any other people (ラップ音 Rap-on)
- 13.5% Feel like there is someone else in the room (気配 Kehai)
- 11.6% Feel something strange about their body, have bad health
- 10.3% See strange nightmares since moving in
- 9.6% Have sleep-paralysis (金縛り Kanashibari)
- 9.6% Feel like their body is heavier, feel harder to move around
- 8.7% See strange entities (幽霊 Yurei)
- 7.6% Experience poltergeist phenomena (ポルターガイストPoltergeist)
- 7.4% Experience lights being turned on or off on their own
- 7.0% Smell strange scent
And other experiences 3.3%, while 45.6% did not experience anything.
*from “Homes” Real Estate Brokerage Firm’s survey on June, 2016
What to do if you see ghosts in buildings with incidents: house and rental room edition
In the same survey they also asked people who have experiences living in such places about what they did to handle the phenomena, and here are the answers.
23.6% Throw salts around the room or entrance
- 19.4% Put salts around the room or entrance
- 18.1% Sprinkle salts around the room or entrance
- 15.3% Light up incense
- 12.7% Splash purifying Japanese Sake
- 9.0% Purchase runic parchment or worshiping sign
- 6.3% Say a praying sutra
- 5.9% Invite a specialist to perform purification ritual
- 5.9% Reform the house or the room
And other methods 3.2%, while the remaining 34.1% did not do anything special.
* from “Homes” Real Estate Brokerage Firm’s survey on June, 2016
How to check whether a hotel or ryokan has ghosts or not
For spending nights in a hotel, you can also check the history from the same website as above. But if you are unsure, you can ask the hotel ahead of time whether you can change the room or not, just in case something happens, so you can ask for a room-change.
Beside the methods introduced in Vol. 23, here are some additional methods.
The air feels heavy when you enter the room and it's hard to breathe
It is said if you have some special senses, when you enter the room, if there is something strange, you will be greeted with strange sensations such as the air feels heavier, hard to breathe, feel the chill, etc., which are the signs that there might be a ghost in the room.
Use smoke to check
light up some incense or mosquito-repelling smoke. If you are in the totally closed room with no winds, but the cinder lighted up like being blown, or the smoke floats awkwardly even with no winds, then there might be something there.
In Vol. 29, the “Ki” medical doctor also used similar method by checking whether the three incense sticks are all lit up or not. If only some sticks are lighted up, then surely there might be something in the room.
Getting drowsy while in the room
If you arrive at the room late at night, then that is normal. But if it is a broad daylight and you feel sudden drowsiness with no reason, you might get sleep paralysis should you go to sleep at such time.
Check for the runic scroll or parchment
Problematic rooms are often found with sealing scrolls or parchments for containing the spirits, or strange traces. Try observing the room before you decide, or you might have to make up your mind in advance. If you are lucky, you can ask for a room-change.
But also, be noted that it is not good if you bring your own sealing parchment to put in the room either. Because if the room has no problem at all and you put up the seals, it might cause some annoyances to the spirits as well as living persons like the hotel staff or the next customers.
Hotels with ghosts are not all that bad
Sometimes, ghosts in the hotel may not be the location-lingering spirits (地縛霊 Chibakurei) but rather wandering spirits (浮遊霊 Fuyurei) that happen to wander into the hotel, or even ghosts that followed you previously. In the former case, they might be asking for help or food, but for the latter, that is up to you to deal with your stalking-ghosts.
For the case that the ghosts are location-lingering spirits, such as those who committed suicide, it is believed that the spirits must spend their remaining lifetime repeating their actions, which do not really affect those who spend the nights at the hotel, just showing up in their specific times such as the time of the suicidal acts or the anniversary. In either case, if you don’t disturb them, they won’t disturb you, so pay no mind seeing them. There are actually some land-claiming ghosts that won’t tolerate your presence, but usually the hotels won’t let you use such rooms anyhow. However, if you hit the jackpot and get into one… you will have to handle the situation accordingly.
Ghost-handling methods and DIY exorcism for hotels and other locations
Beside the methods that people answered in the survey, there are some unorthodox methods found in horror stories as well, so they might come in handy if you spend nights at hotels.
Turn off the problematic appliances
If there are light bulbs that turn on and off in no particular rhythm, an air conditioner with strange scents or sounds, maybe a TV that turns on by itself or even changes channels, your best solution is to turn them off preemptively and unplug the outlets if possible. If you still have problems, try other methods.
But anyway, if you are not going to use some appliances, just unplug them anyhow, like refrigerator or kettle, because not only you can prevent strange phenomenon, you also help the world saving energy!
Turn on an air-purifier or air conditioner
If you remember Vol 25, there is a case that a ghost was sucked into air-purifier. This can really help in some cases, as it is said that ghosts often appear when the air is humid. But I also heard some tales that the ghosts reside in the air conditioner. In that case, turning it on will cause strange noises, or even human fingers coming out of the AC… For this kind of ghost, do not turn on the appliances with the ghost inside!
Use flash and snap the camera around
In some ghost stories, it is confirmed that ghosts hate bright flashlights. As ghosts often appear in dark places, having bright lights will annoy the ghosts.
But of course, this is a double-edged sword; if the ghosts aren’t scared and run away, they will be even more angry at you. This is best suited for wandering spirits who are dropping into your house.
Make a loud clap with your hands
Do a loud clap like when you visit Japanese shrines. It is said that the loud noise in the grim atmosphere will drive away evils. Usually, ghosts would make strange noises to scare us, but if we take our turn and do the same, even ghosts might be frightened!
Use urine or feces
This is not recommended for house or accommodations, but if you meet ghosts in stranger places such as in the wood or while camping, your urine or feces can come in handy at driving away ghosts. But be noted that they need to be fresh. In other beliefs, urinating on the place where spirits dwell will anger them and cause them to come after you for revenge. But if you are being pestered by them first, such as spirit of living persons or dark magics, throwing dirty things at them can drive them away temporarily, as ghosts are once humans, they do hate dirty things like we humans do.
Play dirty jokes
It is also said that before becoming ghosts, human hate dirty things, and in some case, they also hate dirty jokes. Some ghosts hate rude words or dirty words just like human and will be driven out by them too.
But if the ghosts were once perverted human, then they might like it and come join you instead.
Use ironing spray
Yes, the ironing spray you use before ironing. In the Japanese mythology, corns have many gods reside in them. So, in the ironing spray, if it contains corn flour or power, then it may be effective in driving away ghosts. In hotels with laundry equipment, they might have one ready in the room for you. But if not, you can go buy some aromatic spray that contains corn flour: you can get refreshing fragrance and drive away ghosts, like two birds with one stone!
If you are well-prepared, you won’t have to be scared of ghost, and you can rest easier. For me, I have experienced a strange scent of wild flowers while sleeping in the room the night before going to Ise Jingu; not much to be scared of (it was 2AM on the first night, but there was no smell on the next night). Maybe because they came in peace or even, some kind of benevolent entity (due to the nice smell), so I sleep soundly (with nice smell for free)!
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