Japan is a nation of superstition and urban legends just like any other country.
Take for example the story of the Alice Killings... a serial killing spree that supposedly ran between 1999-2005 (I was in Canada!) ending in the deaths of five people who had a different playing card placed beside them... but with the added attraction of the world 'Alice' written in the victim's blood. Despite the wonderfully written blog describing the events without offering any great evidence, it's all based on a vocaloid story and song someone created to amuse or freak out the world.
Whatever. There is no evidence whatsoever that these murders ever took place. Anywhere. Made up names and deaths.
And... then there are tales of human pillars - hitobashira - whereby human bodies were placed within building constructs to lend the building a soul... strength...
And, although the logical me says this is all bullcrap, the fantasy-driven person in me says... maybe this is possible.
Maybe it is... but I want proof.
According to some, people were buried alive inside construction projects in Japan... things like castles and bridges.
Pretty gruesome, eh. There is even a tale about the Matsue-jo (Matsue Castle) located in Shimane-ken. The castle was built in the 17th century. And that time is one reason I have my doubts about the following story.
Legend has it that while builders were erecting a stone wall of the central tower, it kept on collapsing. So... not determining shoddy workmanship, the construction crew figures a human pillar... a hitobashira, is required.
Luckily the Bon Festival - Festival of the Dead held in August - is on... and, lo and behold, there is a major babe doing some awesome Bon Dance moves. As far as young maidens wanting to be sacrificed goes... she wasn't that into it, so they turned her into Japan's version of Jimmy Hoffa and made her disappear by sealing her within the stone wall. We can only assume they drugged her, tied her hands and feet and placed a gag on her, otherwise working on that site is going to be a pain in the ass for the next week or so until she a) runs out of air, or b) dies of exhaustion/dehydration/hunger.
Now... as one might expect, the young girl's ghost haunts the castle. In fact, if a girl danced the Bon Dance in Matsue town, the Matsue Castle would shake. To prevent the castle from shaking, a law was passed forbidding public dancing.
Great story... so... where's the proof? Has anyone X-Rayed the wall for a skeleton? Or... do we just believe a bunch of... hey... who squealed?
And really... it was the 17th century. Warrior-like, yes. Savages? I'm saying no. But that doesn't mean there weren't people who believed that a human sacrifice would do the trick.
There are of course many places rumored to have partaken of the old human sacrifice in Japan... a human sacrifice that involves the use of a live body acting as a human pillar:
- Gujo-Hachiman castle (Gifu prefecture);
- Nagahama castle (Shiga prefecture);
- Maruoka castle (Fukui prefecture);
- Ozu castle (Ehime prefecture);
- Komine castle (Fukushima prefecture);
- Itsukushima shrine (Hiroshima prefecture);
- Fukushima bridge (Tokushima prefecture);
- Kintaikyou bridge (Yamaguchi prefecture);
- Hattori-Oike reservoir (Hiroshima prefecture);
- Imogawa irrigation channel (Nagano prefecture);
- Karigane embankment (Shizuoka prefecture);
- Manda levee (Osaka prefecture).
I saw all of this on the Pink Tentacle website. The site also makes mention of some modern day places that have used the old human pillar trick to make a building more erect. Again... possible that it's true, but highly unlikely. Too many people would need to be involved... and it would be pretty easy to see photographic proof of bones inside a structure... X-Rays... pretty easy is a term that is subjective, of course.
Interesting topic... and at first I believed it to be true... and then the buzz went away.
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
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