The Yokai of Chofu

Jindai-ji & the Legacy of Shigeru Mizuki

Ever since I first published my wildly popular titled The Haunts of Yotsuya, I’ve been itching to do another piece on Japan’s supernatural apparitions. My own interests aside, there’s just something about ghost stories that adds an additional layer to both the travel experience and the entertainment value of the article. One lazy day, while perusing my ever-growing database of places to visit, I stumbled upon the area of Chofu. Somehow, I had added this location to my list and thereafter completely forgotten about it. Instantly upon my rediscovery of Chofu, I knew that it had to be my next destination. After all, it had been almost a year since the piece on Yotsuya and I was hankering for a good piece of folklore content.

So, what connection does Chofu hold with the other world? Glad you asked! Put succinctly, this region of Tokyo is the second home of manga artist Shigeru Mizuki who authored the acclaimed GeGeGe-no-Kitaro series. While I won’t get into too much of the plot here, those unfamiliar with the franchise should know that the manga centers around the theme of yokai. Made from the characters meaning “bewitching; attractive; calamity”; and “specter; apparition; mystery; suspicious,” yokai are a class of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore. In GeGeGe-no-Kitaro, the primary focus of…