The Suspension Bridge

(Translated by Saya)
This is a true story that really happened to my friend, although he never told me the exact location where it took place.
The incident caused two deaths, and he himself had to be quesitoned by the police over and over again.
I heard the story in question from my friend while we were still at college...

It happened when my friend and his six coworkers at his part-time job went for a drive to a suspension bridge in a certain prefecture in the Chugoku region.*1
They split off and drove separately in two cars.

My friend was the driver of the second car.
In the first car which drove ahead of him, there were the manager and a couple, and in his own car there were the remaining four people including himself.

Although they set off in the morning, due to the many stops they made on the way, the sun was already setting when they arrived at the suspension bridge.
The suspension bridge ran across a deep valley in the middle of a mountain.
As they approached the bridge, it began to drizzle, and fog started swirling around them.

There was an open space in front of the bridge, and if the weather were fine, they would have parked their cars in there and crossed the bridge to the other side on foot and come back.
(The other side of the bridge was a dead end. The bridge was left there for sight-seeing.)
However, the moment they reached the open space, the first car came to an abrupt halt. 
"What are they doing...?"
The four people, who were inside the second car which also stopped about 10 metres behind the first car, had no clue as to why the manager stopped his car. For some minutes, those in the second car just sat there looking on.

Full Moon

(Translated by Saya)

The following is the account of my mother's experience...

Five years ago, my mother was working for my father's business partner.
Her boss, the company director, would become very irritable at times, and lose his temper at the slightest provacation.
Someone would tell him, "please make sure you look through these documents,"  and he would somehow blow up, and start taking his anger on the objects around him, and sometimes even start throwing them around.

One day, my mother was on her way home thinking "he was in a bad mood today too," when she noticed the full moon in the sky.
The same thing happened the following month, and the month after that; and she realised that when her boss became irritable it was invariably on a full moon day.
In time, she started thinking, "I don't want to go to work tomorrow because it's a full moon day."

But the boss died suddenly, and it was not because of illness or an accident. He had seemed perfectly robust and healthy up until the time of his death.
Apparently, he had a heart attack. People conjectured that perhaps he had been working too hard.

Bunny

(Translated by Saya) 

When I told this to a friend, he froze for a second, and then burst out laughing...
But to me, it was a quite creepy experience.
This story involves my daughter, who turned three last June.

My daughter has some imaginery friends, just like a lot of other children do.
She often talks about "Panda san *1,"Tanuki san *2" and "Bunny san."
"Panda san is still a baby," "It was Tankui san who made a mess," she would say, but there was something about "Bunny san" that set it apart from the other two.

After some pondering, I realised that her description of "Bunny san" was often more detailed and specific than that of of the other ones.
"Bunny san is much older than me, so she can use chopsticks very well."
"Bunny san is looking at the flowers on the balcony now."

One time, my daughter was tinkering on the piano.
She did that often and I didn't pay much attention to it - until my ears caught a certain tune.
Do...re..mi...Do...re...mi....
It was the Tulip song.*3

She didn't have a piano teacher, and neither I nor my wife had ever taught her to play it.
I asked her how she came to learn it, and she replied, "Bunny san taught it to me."

Holy Words of Shinto: Harae Kotoba

It is said that just by reciting these Holy words -  called Harae Kotoba (祓詞, purification words) - below, you can purify yourself and turn bad luck into good luck!
The words are always recited before a Shinto ritual.

The Harae Kotoba:
掛けまくも畏き 伊邪那岐の大神 / 筑紫の日向の橘の小戸の阿波岐原に /
禊ぎ祓へ給ひし時に/ 生り坐せる祓へ戸の大神たち /
諸々の禍事・罪・穢れあらむをば /
祓へ給ひ清め給へと 白すことを聞こし召せと /
恐み恐みも白す。

Pronunciation (in Japanese):
かけまくも　かしこき/　
いざなぎのおおかみ / つくしの　ひむかの　たちばなの　おどのあわぎはらに/
みそぎはらえたまいしときに /　なりませる　はらえどのおおかみたち /
もろもろの　まがごと　つみ　けがれ　あらむをば /
はらえたまい　きよめたまえと /　まおすことを きこしめせと/
かしこみ　かしこみも　まおす。

The recording of a Shinto priest reciting the Harae Kotoba

Pronunciation (in alphabet):
Kakemakumo kashikoki / Izanagi-no-Ohkami / Tsukushi-no Himuka-no Tachibana-no Odo-no Awagihara-ni/
Mishogi harae Tamaishi tokini / Narimaseru Haraedo-no Ohkami-tachi /
Moromoro-no Magagoto Tsumi Kegare Aramuoba /
Haraetamai Kiyometamae-to/ Maosukoto-o Kikoshimese-to/
Kasikomi Kashikomi Maosu.

The Watch Cabin

(Translated by Saya)

My high school building was ancient, something like 120 years old*1
It had undergone so many renovations and extension works in the past that its layout had become a total mess.
For example, even though it was a one-storey building, it had a staircase reaching from one end of a corridor to the ceiling.
There were also a music room right next to the entrance, and an inaccessible door embedded into a wall (seen from the outside, it was conspicuously covered over by plywood boards).
The oddest of them all was what they called the "Watch Cabin."

A countryside village in Kyoto with traditional farmhouses *2

My home was far from school, so I sometimes stayed overnight in houses of friends and teachers who lived locally.
One day I couldn't find anyone who could let me stay in their house, so I decided to spend a night in the said "Watch Cabin".
Outwardly, the Watch Cabin looked like a normal country house. It came with one 8-jo*3 room, an old telephone and a small kitchen.

And I was about to find out why the place was called the Watch Cabin through the experience I had that very night.

Another person, a friend of mine, was going to stay with me in the Cabin.
We were in high spirits, as if we were on a school trip, as we cheerful spread out futons on the floor.

Marcelo Carter's "A worm-shaped god"

Hi everyone! How are you today? Good? :D

I just wanted to introduce to you a novella written by one of my blog readers and friend Marcelo Carter, a young and very talented Chilean writer!

* Visit Marcelo's blog where he posts short horror stories. They are in Spanish but you can use Google translator to read them :D http://historiastenebrosas.com/

The book is available on Amazon Kindle, and is called A worm-shaped god.
*click HERE to go to the Amazon page. 
(*If you can read Spanish, here is the original Spanish edition of the book on Amazon)

Here is the summary of the story:
Andrés, after witnessed a brutal beating on his teacher, which would eventually lead him to death, is threatened by the bully of the school, Sebastián Kurdo; an aggressive boy, believed to belong to a violent gang called "The Skull-breakers".
Filled with fear and uncertainty, Andrés looks for the help of an old friend who has returned to the city, not knowing that Ignacio is no longer the innocent boy he remembers, and that his help will unleash a series of tragic, macabre and horrifying events. Based on a true story.

Sounds intriguing, isn't it? :D
I finished reading it some days ago and oh boy was it scary. The story is written in first person narrative, so I felt like I was myself thrown into the nightmarish world of teenage violence and crime and of cladestine bloodthirsty sect, alongside the narrator.
The fact that the narrator is just a normal teenager makes it feel worse; he is caring towards his mother and loyal to his best friend, but ironically it is precisely his love for his best friend that gets him into deep water, because that friend turns out to be a total psycho. XD
Until the very end of the story I was on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen to this poor boy!
There are lots of blood and gore in the story, so it is not for the faint of heart!
(I felt literally sick reading some parts of the story XD)

If you want to know more about the story please visit the website Marcelo created for his book:
http://www.wormshapedgod.com/

On this website, you can also find information about the documentary that was filmed back in 2006 about the true crime story on which Marcelo's book is based.

My Friend's Piano Recital! (Personal Announcement from Saya)

Hi everyone! :D How are you?

I just wanted to make an announcement about a piano recital which will take place on Friday 9th Novemember 2018, in London.

The recital will be given by Nobue, my dearest friend and mentor, and one of the most brilliant pianists I have ever known in my life.
She is someone you might call an old school pianist, who values authentic interpretatoin of music and producing beautiful sounds above all else.
Not only is she a great pianist, she also happenes to have a great personality too. You don't find that combination too often (I'm joking, of course LOL). 

Anyway, I hope that if you happen to be in London on that day (it's a shame I won't be able to go this year, but probalby I will next time), please consider attending her recital. You won't regret it, I promise.

Here are the links to the details of her recital and her profile:

*Nobue's Recital Information
NOBUE piano Piano Concert at 1901 Arts Club, vol.3
 (Facebook page)

*Nobue's Profile

THANK YOU!

How to Go to Another World: "Fed Up"

Happy Halloween Everyone ~ :D
Here is a little ritual for you to enjoy! 
I hope you all get loads of sweets to stuff yourselves with. XD 
Love and Peace!


(Translated by Saya)

1： Anonymous ：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:06:27.80 ID:73sG3iym0

How to do it:

This ritual is recommended for people who are fed up with their lives or who want more excitement in their lives.

Write a hexagram as large as possible on a paper measuring 5 X 5 cm, and write "Fed Up" (Akita 飽きた in Japanese) inside the hexagram.
It will be more effective if you write it in red ink.

When you finish writing, you go to sleep holding the paper in your hand or with the paper under your pillow. 
Next day, if you wake up and the paper is gone and you feel a difference in the air, or something out of ordinary happens to you, then you know you have been successful. 

The reason the paper disappears is not because you have lost it, but you have changed places with yourself in another world. 

Can anoyone here try this?
I'm too scared to try it myself. 

6: Anonymous 2012/01/05 (Thur) 02:08:47.63 ID:pfZPlbxM0
I can try this, but I have a question.

How do you get back to the world from which you came originally?

8： Anonymous ：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:09:54.90 ID:73sG3iym0
>>6

Probably you won't be able to come back.
 
But I heard the ritual often fails to work.

11：Anonymous：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:10:55.18 ID:nPeadacT0
Has anyone ever succeeded at it?

14： Anonymous ：2012/01/05(木) 02:11:28.64 ID:73sG3iym0
>>11
I don't know but I heard about someone who tried it and failed, and in the process he went through a scary experience.

17：Anonymous：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:12:21.92 ID:pfZPlbxM0
>>14
Clarify, please.

20：Anonymous ：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:16:10.06 ID:73sG3iym0
>>14
I only have a vague memory of it, but I read a story about a person who tried the ritual but failed at bringing it about.

1. He tried the above method, and went to sleep while holding the paper in his hand in a way it would be visible to anyone who might come in.

2. And he had a dream of some sort in which a man in black tried to snatch the paper away from him.

3. The man was hell-bent on snatching it away from him, and he got scared and clang to it with all his might.

4. When he came to, the man was gone and the paper had become all crinkled.

That was how it went.  

13：Anonymous：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:11:26.10 ID:uFtRRXrsO
If you succeed you will be in another world.
So the people in this world will have no way of knowing whether the person has succeeded or not.

18：Anonymous：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:13:56.23 ID:GmTTrbTs0
I have a feeling you have to have a high spiritual power to succeed at this ritual.

19： Anoymous ：2012/01/05(木) 02:16:03.85 ID:SIkRAJrP0
This is dangerous.
My parent practices exorcism,
but since the month before last, people with dull eyes who keep talking gibberish started turning up at our house.

I was told not to get involved with it, but I heard those people had papers like the one shown by >>1.

21：Anonymous：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:16:33.97 ID:0EH9U1n30
Must it measure exactly 5 X 5 cm?

23：Anonymous ：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:17:13.28 ID:73sG3iym0
>>21
The measurement is given only as a guidance,
but I guess more precise the measurement, the better chance you have of succeeding.

27：Anonymous：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:18:36.44 ID:Jm3k8jwS0
Is this real?
So scary...

28：Anonymous：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:19:01.72 ID:WA8B4fq30
Isn't it a Jewish symbol? The Star of David thingy? 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexagram)

32： Anonymous ：2012/01/05(木) 02:20:38.14 ID:73sG3iym0
>>28
Hexagram is supposed to symbolise safety. 

So to write "Fed Up" inside it might invite danger...

 33：Anonymous：2012/01/05(Thur) 02:20:58.13 ID:WA8B4fq30
>>32　
Oh...