Tokyo's Otemachi: The Grave No One Dares Touch Next to the Office Buildings

Tokyo's Otemachi is a district of financial companies and government offices, skyscrapers packed tight against skyscrapers. On a small patch of empty land among them stands a stone monument, with fresh flowers and incense laid beside it. This is the kubizuka of Taira no Masakado, literally the "Grave of the Head."

Taira no Masakado was a samurai of the Heian period. In 940, he raised an army in the Kanto region, declared himself the "New Emperor," and sought to stand as an equal to the court in Kyoto. Two months later, his forces were defeated and he was killed; his head was sent to Kyoto and hung on the street for public display. Legend has it that his head did not rot for three months, his eyes remaining open. One night, it suddenly flew away, heading east all the way back to his own territory, finally dropping in what is now Tokyo. The locals buried it, and that became this kubizuka.

Since then, it is said that anyone who disturbs this place meets with disaster. The two stories most widely circulated online are: first, during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, the office building of the Ministry of Finance nearby collapsed. The Ministry moved its temporary offices to this spot, and shortly afterward, officials fell ill and died one after another—more than a dozen people, including the minister at the time; second, after the war, during the U.S. military occupation, they wanted to level the land to build a parking lot. A bulldozer broke ground, and the driver died, so the U.S. military dared not touch it again.

Most of these two stories lack reliable records; exactly how many people died and in which year vary from post to post. However, it is recorded that the Ministry of Finance did indeed hold a memorial service here and erected a monument.

Today, the office buildings of Otemachi grow newer by the year. Media reports say that some companies in the buildings arrange their desks so they do not face away from the kubizuka. Nearby is Kanda Myojin, which also enshrines Taira no Masakado. The Kanda Festival is one of Tokyo's largest festivals, held grandly every two years, and the procession carrying the mikoshi passes through the Otemachi area.

#Ghosts #网络转载 #日本怪谈