Hey guys, I'm your host Tara A. Devlin, and welcome to this week's episode of Kowabana,

true Japanese scary stories from around the internet. The latest book in the Nei Khan series, Volume 3, is now out.

If you'd like to learn more about some of Japan's most haunted and dangerous spots, then

this is the book for you.

You can find all sorts of abandoned shrines, hospitals, parks, and even lesser-known places

you wouldn't even think could be haunted. That's

Nekan, the most haunted locations in Japan, Volume 3. Out now. This week, we're looking at several

tales of terrifying dolls. Haunted dolls, cursed dolls, dolls that might not even actually be dolls. First up, a man walks past a park

bench on his way to work every day and the same woman is always sitting there. But who is she,

and why is she always there? Rain, hail or shine. Find out in in Woman on the Bench.

On a bench in a park, there was a woman who sat with her back to the street every morning.

No matter the weather, that woman sat on that park bench every single day.

She never held an umbrella if it rained, nor did she even wear a raincoat.

The man never saw her face, but she seemed to be young and her clothes expensive.

Yet she didn't seem to mind them getting drenched in

the rain. Nobody ever approached the woman, nor did he ever see anyone talking to her either.

But on his way home, the woman sitting on the bench would be gone. Eventually, the seasons changed, and as the trees

began to lose their leaves, that woman was still sitting on the park bench. Her clothes had barely

changed at all. The businessman glanced sidelong at her as he walked to work. The woman's scarf had blown off in the wind, falling near her feet inside the park.

Understanding that the woman wasn't quite normal, the man quickly picked the scarf up and intended

to leave just as quickly.

But then, he glanced at the woman and almost fell over. She had no face.

...