Inunaki Tunnel: The haunted road leading into Japan's 'village of death'

Urban legends, or urban legends, are horror stories that have not yet been verified, most of which have been trimmed, added or removed over time. And although they are called "urban", these legends do not necessarily originate in the city, so they are more often called "modern legends".

Japan is among the countries that possess a lot of scary "urban legends". They even consider it an indispensable specialty for the summer, for the hot camping nights.

The problem is that many of Japan's urban legends are based on true stories - or at least some of them are true. For example, the story of the "haunted tunnel" Inunaki and the village of the same name is said to be "the scariest thing in Japan", although there is still controversy about whether it exists or not!

Inunaki Tunnel - the path leading to the village famous in Japanese urban legend.

The most haunting story that has been passed on for several decades

Around the early 1970s, a young couple drove uphill on the side of Mount Inunaki. They planned to go to Hisayama - located on the other side of the mountain. And to get there, they had to pass through a narrow road, towards the Inunaki Tunnel.

However, right in front of the tunnel door, the car's engine suddenly malfunctioned, the speed gradually slowed down, then stopped, stalled. Looking outside, they discovered a path on the right side of the road, so they abandoned the car to seek help.

After walking for a while, the couple saw a sign in handwriting: "The Constitution of Japan no longer applies after this point". The road is getting more and more difficult, the trees are getting denser. After going all the way, they came to a small scary village.

At a glance, the village seemed to have been abandoned. The houses here are dark and dilapidated. There is no phone signal, and there is no sound around. The couple slowly looked around, passed many houses, but nothing changed. Only the gloom and chilling atmosphere became more and more obvious.

Mount Inunaki, where the village of the same name is located.

Feeling the situation was a bit strange, the couple decided to return home. But at this moment, something suddenly moved in a house. Then a man stood in the middle of the road, shouting: "Welcome to Inunaki village!".

He stood about 30 meters away from them. But by some miracle, he immediately arrived in front of them after only a few steps.

"We love the visitors to the village, but we're afraid they'll leave." With that, he used a scythe to cut the young man's throat, moving with terrifying speed. The poor boy opened his eyes wide, in shock, and collapsed on the ground.

The girl panicked and tried to run away, but he caught her with a grip stronger than anything she'd ever felt in her life. He picked her up with one hand, ferociously hurling her onto the street.

There was once a Japanese horror movie based on the true story of the village and the Inunaki tunnel.

Before the scythe dropped, she turned her head to look at the nearest house and realized the horrifying truth of this village: inside were countless corpses! As it turned out, the reason the village was so quiet was because all the villagers had died, under the death scythe of the mad man.

The young couple has since disappeared without any further information. Today, people still see the white 4-seater car there, covered with dust and moss on the side of the road, right next to the small road leading into the forest.

Anecdote about the demon tunnel Inunaki

The above story is just one of many urban legends about the village of Inunaki, though the most famous one. The village itself has a very suitable terrain for ghost stories: the road to the village is narrow and small, the surrounding jungle is murky, the houses are uninhabited. However, the thing that haunts many people Most are mainly located on the road leading to the village, revolving around the appearance of the "haunted tunnel".

Illustration of the creepy anecdote of this haunted place.

In fact, this mountain has 2 tunnels for traffic between the 2 sides of the mountain. An old tunnel, shorter, more curved and less than 100 meters long. The other tunnel was newer, longer and straighter.

The new tunnel was built in 1975, has a lot of people passing, and there are no rumors surrounding it. But the old tunnel was different. It is so famous in itself that it became the main setting in the 2019 Japanese horror film Howling Village, with countless strange stories surrounding it.

The journey to find the answer

According to locals, the area around and inside the tunnel is now full of garbage and graffiti after parties of young people. In fact, the people here are indeed afraid of this tunnel, but not because of the ghost, but because the gangs often choose this as a gathering place.

Basically, the Inunaki tunnel is seen as a hotbed of psychic phenomena, but not to the locals. They just want to live peacefully, whether there are ghosts or not. The rumors about the tunnel and the haunted village were not spread by them.

The tunnel was now littered with paint stains and littered with trash.

In February 2020, Fukuoka TV station sent a group of reporters to the Inunaki tunnel - the face leading to Miyawaka city. On this side, the tunnel was sealed, unable to enter.

The group of reporters also reported that they heard strange sounds in the tunnel, and recorded the temperature dropping from 12 degrees Celsius to 9 degrees Celsius when approaching the entrance. However, there are not any phenomena that can be considered "bizarre" to occur.

The entrance to the village is now sealed.

Unraveling the mystery of the village 'swallowing people'

There is indeed a village called Inunaki, in a valley also named Inunaki. The village was founded in the Edo period, the residents lived comfortably by making pottery and casting steel. Coal mining appeared, they founded Inunaki-gobekkan castle in 1865. But then in 1970 after the construction of the Inunaki Dam, the village was abandoned because residents moved to the neighboring Wakita area. .

And this village. has nothing to do with the haunted Inunaki village we discussed above. In other words, the haunted village of Inunaki is actually not real!

According to oral stories, the village of "death gas" Inunaki is said to be located on the slopes of Mount Inunaki, Fukuoka Prefecture, and is a bogus village. It is also known as the "howling dog village", associated with the legend that a man in the village killed his dog because it wouldn't stop howling, but then his whole family was murdered.

As for the Inunaki tunnel, it seems that it was built after World War II - specifically 1949 before being replaced by a new tunnel in 1975. Because of the new road, the old tunnel is rarely used, become more derelict and dangerous because of lack of maintenance. Finally, it was sealed with iron gates at both ends of the tunnel.

The path leading to the village and the tunnel was barricaded.

This tunnel is also the site of a horrifying (and real) murder. On December 6, 1988, a factory worker named Koichi Umeyama was murdered near this tunnel. The perpetrator is a criminal gang. They asked "forgive" Umeyama's car. When he was repented, they dragged him out, dragged him into the cellar, killed him, and burned his body. The perpetrators were later arrested, with life sentences given in 1991. However, their cruel and dehumanizing way of committing crimes made the public feel shocked and outraged.

The old Inunaki Tunnel is now completely sealed at the top of Miyawaka. However, the top of the tunnel on the southwest side of Hisayama was not sealed too well, and it was still possible to climb in.

Origin of word of mouth

It seems that the stories about Inunaki village originated from a letter sent to Nippon TV in 1999. The letter was about having a small road beside the old Inunaki tunnel, referring to the sign "Constitution of Japan" void after this", and the story of the murdered young couple and the ferocity of the villagers. Before that, the Inunaki tunnel itself was also very famous because of the death of Koichi Umeyama in 1988.

The stories about the ghost haunting the village are also "old" almost the same, not more than 30 years. Of course, the haunted story doesn't have to be old, but the truth is that the evidence regarding this village is too loose to be true.

And in short, the village of Inunaki is confirmed to be bogus. The other tunnel is also not scary, unless you consider the gangs that gather to drink and litter here as a threat.