TV, books, even a movie…” “Strange Fate” for Joji Yokozawa, a resident of Japan’s “Scariest” Building

There is a place in Tokyo that has been covered by TV programs and YouTube channels, such as “Kuchimatte Arimete Furei Hanashi” (TBS) and “Midsummer no Zetsuoki Eiga Nihon de Ichiban Kowai Yoru” (TV Tokyo) that aired last year, and is now called the “most terrifying spot” by occult enthusiasts. The most terrifying spot for occult enthusiasts is a place in Tokyo.

Celebrities who have visited there, including the comedy duo New York, Dennis, and Yuki Kashiwagi of AKB48, have all said that it is “the real thing. It is the studio of “Yokozawa Production” located in one of the rooms.

It was in 1992 that the production’s president and scriptwriter, Joji Yokozawa, moved into the building with such a history. It was the third year after the theater company was established.

The building had been built in 1967 and was decrepit even then. However, he decided to move in because he liked the location, a two-minute walk from Sangenjaya Station, and the “loud environment,” which is essential for lessons at a karate dojo and a kickboxing gym. ……

The owner lived on the top floor of the building, and when I greeted her, she suddenly said, ‘There’s a ghost in the elevator, but don’t worry about it. And she said, ‘Don’t ever talk to it. At first I had no idea what she was talking about. ……”

It took only three days for him to realize how scary that statement was.

When I got on the elevator, there was a cleaning lady with a mop and bucket standing backward, like she was slumped against the wall.

I was alone with her, so when we got off at the fourth floor, I said to her, “Thank you for cleaning up.” She turned her head slowly while her body was facing backward. It’s obviously an unnatural neck movement, and her face was sunken into mush, and I couldn’t tell where her nose and mouth were. There was just an eerily glowing eye, and that’s something I’ll never forget.”

Three days after moving in, he was quickly baptized by the “scariest” building he had ever seen. Although he would normally find it hard to believe, Yokozawa says that although he was terrified, he was not surprised at all.

I myself have been psychic since I was a child, or rather, I have seen ghosts. The earliest I can remember is when I was 3 years old. When I went to kindergarten, I thought I was running with my friends or playing with crayons, but people around me saw me as if I was drawing by myself.

I play with them as if they are my friends, but my friends around me ask me, “Why are you running and drawing by yourself? So many people say to me, “Why are you running and drawing by yourself? The teachers get angry with me. …… I realized that something was wrong with me. It wasn’t until I entered kindergarten that I realized that ghosts existed and that I was different from everyone else.

Her mother was often summoned by her teacher and taken to a large hospital in Tokyo to have her brain checked for congenital brain abnormalities. Of course, the tests showed no abnormalities in her body.

Her parents and others did not understand her, and it was not until she entered elementary school that she met a friend who could “see” in the same way.

There was a boy who could “see” where I could see. The ghost in the classroom asked for food, so she and I would take turns giving a portion of the school lunch each day to the ghost standing there as an offering. The ghosts are about the same age.

But, of course, the bread and other things didn’t decrease. The teachers would get angry at us when they saw us doing that. Because of this, our classmates thought we were strange, and both of us were bullied.

However, things changed in the upper grades of elementary school.

In the fifth grade, I began to be able to compartmentalize my experiences. I realized that if I talked about ghosts to people who couldn’t see them, they wouldn’t take me seriously.

Also, the first occult boom in the 1970s helped me. The movie “The Exorcist” became a big hit and Uri Geller came out. It was also a big thing for me to think that there were many other people like me who could see.

In the fall of his junior year of college, Yokozawa was accepted to Mumeijuku, a school for young actors led by actor Tatsuya Nakadai, and at the age of 24, he set up his own production company and launched a theater troupe. Then, three years later, he moved into the property. ……

I’ve been seeing ghosts for so long that I’ve wished I could have a life without seeing them. Sometimes, when I start seeing them, it ruins my whole day. ……

I can’t help but see people who have jumped off or been run over. It makes me feel bad, and sometimes it bothers me when I should be concentrating on my work.

In addition to the cleaning lady I met in the elevator, there were women in raincoats and naked children in the studio. He has also seen an old woman’s head, a giant lower body, and a white serpent. …… He has seen more ghosts in the past 30 years than he can count.

Incidentally, during this interview in the studio, the whiteboard shook twice and the wall clock fell. Finally, a white hand came out from the ceiling and returned to the room, which was witnessed by a “non-spiritual” reporter who has never seen a ghost before.

There are many bizarre phenomena that have earned this area its reputation as one of the “most terrifying” spots in Japan. However, the reason why these phenomena have not attracted much attention is that Yokozawa can “see” them, and therefore, the phenomena occurring in the studio were thought to be of no importance. However, a chance encounter brought him to the attention of the mass media.

When I appeared on a radio program in the Kansai area, I happened to be talking about ghosts because it was summer,” he said. Then there was a problem with the equipment and the recording stopped. Word got around the station, and I was asked to appear on another program, “Ghost Story Radio: Scary Wednesday” (Kansai Radio).

The show was hosted by Hirokatsu Kihara, author of the ghost story collection “Shin Mimibukuro,” and when I showed him the stories and videos that had happened in the studio, he said, “Wow, it’s real! It’s real! He was amazed. I was a little proud to be recognized by Mr. Kihara, a professional researcher (laughs).

From there, it didn’t take long for the site to be featured in numerous media outlets as one of Japan’s “most terrifying” spots. On March 9, Yokozawa published a book entitled “Japan’s No.1 Ghost Property: Poltergeist in Sancha” (Gentosha), and on March 24, the movie “Poltergeist in Sancha” opened in theaters nationwide.

The reason I wanted to preserve the story of this building in a book and a movie is because it is getting more and more likely that the building will be torn down soon. It’s 56 years old.

I didn’t think it was a big deal that something like that was happening in our building, but now people are saying it’s the scariest thing they’ve ever heard of. When we put a camera in to shoot a movie, more than 10 spirits came pounding on the walls with hostility and violence, saying, “Bang bang bang bang bang ……. It was the first time this had happened to me, so it was indeed frightening.

Finally, to Mr. Yokozawa.

“Have you ever wanted to move out of a building with such bizarre phenomena?”

Yokozawa replied, “I have never wanted to move out of a building where such bizarre phenomena occur,

I have never wanted to move out of a building with so many strange phenomena,” he said with a gentle smile.

He smiled kindly.

He smiled kindly and said, “The emotional scars of childhood are huge, aren’t they? So the memories of being bullied still come back to me vividly. I wonder why I was discriminated so much just because I could see. But now I feel that being able to see is part of my identity.

That is why, for some reason, I have never lost any money since I entered this building, and when I was about to quit in the mid-90s because of a problem, I heard a few children’s voices from the hallway in front of the studio saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay,” with laughter. So I kept trying hard and was able to get back on track. Every time we were in a pinch, sponsors would show up. I couldn’t perform at the COVID-19 crisis, and the number of students dropped, but at the right time, this building attracted attention, and there were talks of making a movie and a book. It would not be an exaggeration to say that my life in the theater has been tied to this building.”

The “Sancha Poltergeist” building is the scene of numerous bizarre phenomena. For the residents, it is not only a scary place to live.

Takeji Yokozawa (Representative of Yokozawa Production, scriptwriter, director)

Born in Tokyo in 1964. After graduating from Nihon University College of Art, he entered Mumeijuku in 1986. After working as an actor, he established Yokozawa Production in 1990. Active as a scriptwriter and director for TV, stage, and film.