“Please help us move a grave-like object”… A monk receives a bizarre and mysterious request - Part 2

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→Read PART ONE from HERE!!

(Translated and Arranged by Saya)

121 (OP): 

>>119 san

Thank you very much.

I have returned from my duties, but my family is using the laptop I was using before, so I am in another room now, writing from a different laptop. 

I have a different ID but this is the bozu (Note: 坊主 pronounced as BOH-zu. Another casual way to address a Buddhist priest, used here by the OP to refer to himself.) 

I have some free time now, so I will write as much as I can. 

122 (OP): 

The atmosphere inside the car remained tense as it continued to drive towards the destination. 

I had thought we were going to somewhere around the centre of the prefecture, but we were heading to a remote place far from the main roads. 

In stark contrast to the ominous atmosphere inside, it was fine weather outside, which, if anything, only helped to fuel the fear that I was feeling within me. 

I asked T san a few more questions: 

“Have you not sought help from any monks of the local temples, before calling me?” 

T san:

“I have. But…”

“But?”

123(OP): 

T san:

“All of them have turned down our request …. The same happened in the neighbouring village. We have been to the neighbouring area and town, but it was all useless.”

“If you don’t mind me asking… what were the reasons they gave you for refusing your request?”

T san: 

“The reasons varied. Some of them refused on the grounds that their schools didn’t deal with this sort of thing…the same reason that you gave us, Obosan. 

Others refused because we weren’t their danka (Note: 檀家 parishioners and financial supporters of a temple).”

T san’s wife: 

“So that’s why we are so grateful that you have accepted our request.” 

Hmm? 

I felt like they were dodging the question on purpose. 

“So… You would like me to help you relocate the grave-like object to somewhere else, am I right? 

Or would you simply like me to chant some sutra in front of it?” 

T san:

“Relocate it, if possible.” 

Oh no… This isn’t good at all…

As a monk I’m ashamed to admit it, but I was scared, imagining the worst. 

126(OP): 

I’ll continue.

In the meantime (I asked a few more questions but only got similarly evasive answers), we have arrived at the destination.

As T san had told me, the area was surrounded by both the sea and mountains, and the whole landscape was impressively beautiful under the clear blue sky. 

It was my first time visiting the area, but if my memory was right, it was famous for producing delicious seafood (oysters and seaweed). 

The car park of a roadside station1️⃣ I saw on the way was jam-packed with sightseeing buses and cars; which made me feel like my sense of impending danger was absurd.

A roadside station in Saitama

T san’s house was located away from the bustling town centre though, being closer to the foot of the mountains. 

It was an elegant, modern semi-Western style house (Note: a house that incorporates both the characteristics of Japanese and Western architecture). 

A semi-western style house

————

Note:

1️⃣ A Roadside Station (道の駅, Michi no eki) is a government-designated rest area found along roads and highways in Japan. (Wikipedia)

On YouTube:

MICHI NO EKI | ROADSIDE STATIONS IN GUNMA PREFECTURE JAPAN

127(OP): 

My prefecture also has a similar sort of place, and this one doesn’t look especially unusual — just as the thought crossed my mind, I noticed it. 

As the car drove away from the town centre, I saw houses scattered here and there, but as we got nearer to this particular area, other houses disappeared. 

Where we were at was probably about a 10 to 20 minute drive from the nearest next house. 

But it wasn’t somewhere deep in the woods or mountains, but in the middle of an open plain, surrounded by rice and vegetable fields. 

Given that the land was relatively flat, it seemed strange that there was not a single house in sight apart from T san’s. 

128(OP): 

I was allowed into the house and led to the sitting room. 

“Please may I pray at your butsudan first (Note: butsudans are small Buddhist altars found in Japanese homes, where you can pay respects to Buddha and dead family members), if you have one?” I asked. 

A Butsudan

“There isn’t a bustudan in our house,” came the reply. 

Okusama (Note: 奥様 meaning a wife. It is a respectful way of calling someone’s wife) served us some tea. 

Green tea

I was able to taste the tea in my mouth, which told me that I was feeling much calmer than I had been in the car. 

T san began talking again while I sipped my tea. 

“I’m so grateful that Obosan came here. I feel better just by having Obosan with us in the house.” 

Okusama joined in, saying: 

“We just feel safer now that Obosan is here.”

Her face genuinely looked more at peace than before, although it was nothing close to a smile. 

“Uh… you said you didn’t have any children, so there are only two of you residing in this house?” 

T san & Okusama (simultaneously):

“Yes.” 

WHAT???? 

So what was that “I don’t want our conversation to be overheard” business?

There are no other houses around here…something definitely is not right. 

Gripping my prayer beads, I prayed intensely to the principal image in my head that I may not experience anything frightening. 

129(OP): 

“Uhh…anyway, could you tell me more about the situation you are in, if you please?” 

T san:

“Sure, sumimasen. Do you know what kind of place this area here is?” 

“No. I only know that it is famous for producing high quality oysters and seaweeds …”

T san:

“That’s right. Seafood is famous here. Also this area produces livestock such as poultry and pork.”

“I see…”

T san:

“It has slaughterhouses here too. Those facilities have been around for decades.”

“Uh huh…”

T san:

“And we didn’t know that.”

“Uh huh….. Pardon?”

T san:

“We didn’t know it… no one told us before we bought the land.”

Hmm? Did they want me to hold a kuyo (prayer for the departed soul) 2️⃣ for the dead livestock or something? 

I was feeling a little more levelheaded now, thinking that this may be the direction their story was going. 

T san: 

“We didn’t mean to lie to Obosan, and the reason why I said it was a grave at first was that, everyone else I had spoken to before you had refused our request as soon as we mentioned about the grave-like thing. Sumimasen.” 

Okusama: 

“I don’t know how I can put into words how sorry I am. That was all we felt we could tell you.”

Oh I see. So they are now explaining why the other monks have refused to help them, I thought. 

————

Note:2️⃣

See the Link #1 at the end of this post.

130(OP): 

I’m sorry, I need to leave again for a little while. 

I beg your pardon for leaving so often. 

131:

>>130

Don’t worry 

I’ll come back to read your story later too ♪

******************

132(OP): 

I am back. 

This story is getting so long and I would like to finish it as fast as I can, but at the same time, I would like to share with you all the facts, and hear your opinions about it, so please bear with me.

So it was while we were talking about those things above that it happened. 

The time was a little after 12.00 noon, in the broad daylight, when it was all bright and sunny with the picturesque scenery outside the windows. 

Let me explain the layout of the house: 

Front Door → Entrance Hall → Corridor → Sitting Room (that’s where we were at) → Kitchen, and there was also a staircase in the corridor that led up to the second floor, where there seemed to be more rooms. 

Anyway, the floor of the sitting room suddenly rang out “BANG!!!,” loud and clear, as if someone’s hands had hit it with all their might, and I felt the vibration through my feet. 

Being a monk, I was not a total stranger to paranormal experiences, and I had heard knockings and voices where there was no one, and seen vague shadows and so on, but never had I heard such a clear (and very loud) sound and felt vibration like that before, that I cried out, “Ahh!,” without meaning to. 

I think T san was quiet, but Okusama uttered a shrill scream.

A second later, the windows behind the kitchen started rattling.

The sofa I sat in directly faced the windows, so I could see those clearly. 

As I was trying to keep myself from crying out again, the windows began rattling even more violently, and there was definitely (and there was no way it was something else) someone out there, gripping the windows and shaking them as hard as they could. 

I am feeling goosebumps all over my body as I write this. 

133(OP): 

“What is this? What?” I blurted out in panic, unabashedly. 

T san, with averted eyes, said:

“This is also one of them.”

“One of what?”

T san:

“Obosan, sumimasen, this is not the only thing that happens. Please, help us, I beg you.”

“What?”

Okusama:

“Please, we implore you, help us, please!” 

The windows meanwhile had stopped rattling. 

I was terrified out of my wits, but my mind was more concerned with the question of how could such strange phenomena happen in a way that felt so real to the senses. 

For a brief moment, a silly thought like I had perhaps been thrown into a prank TV show without my prior knowledge, went through my head.

“T san, Okusan (Note: a more casual form of addressing someone’s wife than Okusama), please tell me everything you already know. There may be something I could do to help you, but with the situation being as it is, I am still in the complete dark.”

T san:

“True. Sumimasen. The construction of the house began two years ago, and finished last spring.

Up until last summer, nothing like this ever happened.”

134(OP): 

T san: 

“But it all started when we had a barbecue in the garden last summer. We wanted to use the food waste from the barbecue as compost for a future vegetable plot, and began ploughing the part of the garden where we had planned to plant vegetables.” 

“And that was when those strange things started happening?”

T san:

“Yes, but first, when we ploughed the spot, we found countless oyster shells buried in the ground. 

We had no choice but plough a different spot, but then found so many chicken bones buried in there. 

So next we decided to dig the first spot deeper so that we can get all the oyster shells out, and move them to the chicken bone spot, but this time found even more bones buried beneath the oyster shells. Those bones were pig bones, and there were a lot of them.” 

“So you mean to say this land used to be a disposal ground for the carcasses from the slaughterhouses which you mentioned earlier?” 

T san:

“That was what I thought at first too, and I rushed to the town office to make an enquiry about it. 

But they said they had no records showing that the land was ever used for such a purpose. 

So we took some photos of the shells and bones, and brought them to the office. 

When they saw the photos, they finally agreed to visit our house if only to have a look at the garden… oh, and these were the photos.” 

“Oh…”

So many bones, a ridiculously large amount of bones, were there, and also there were numerous oyster shells, just as T san had said. 

The bones came in different sizes, large and small; and somehow I felt some of the bones looked newer than the others. 

“This is awful. But the town office must have dealt with this already?” 

T san:

“I wish they had… Obosan, you have seen the photos now, and I know these are enough for you to believe that what I am telling you is the truth… 

But by the time the town office workers arrived on the day of the appointment, these bones had all vanished without a trace…” 

“What?” 

T san: 

“What? — that was how my reaction was at the time too, but the bones and shells were gone completely. So the town office told us there was nothing they could do.” 

“But, what about these photos?” 

T san:

“None of them believe us. And I can’t blame them because there were no bones for them to see, after all… and those strange phenomena started happening a few days later.” 

“Is there a possibility that these are all malicious pranks staged by the townspeople? And the town office itself was perhaps taking part in them?”

T san: 

“I have thought about the possibility. 

But you have heard that sound and seen the windows rattling. Did those things seem like pranks to you?”

“No…but the photos!”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Please wait for PART THREE which will be published next week! 😱⭐️