Hello and welcome to the very first episode of Kowabana, true Japanese scary stories from around the internet.

My name is Tara and each week I'll be reading a selection of creepypastas, urban legends,

and other scary stories that I've translated from Japanese.

If you'd like to know more, you can visit us at our website at coabana.net.

Our first story this week is one of my favorites,

and perhaps one of the most well-known

legends to come out of Japan in recent years.

So, without further ado, let's get right to it.

Hachakusama.

My father's parents' house was a little less than two hours away by car.

It was a farming house, but I liked that sort of thing.

So when I started high school and got a bike, I often went on trips there by myself during the holidays.

Both my grandfather and my grandmother happily welcomed me.

We're so glad to see you.

But the last time I went there was just before I started the third grade of high school,

so I haven't been there in over ten years now.

It's not that I won't go, but rather I can't go.

It was the start of the spring vacation and the weather was perfect, so I got on my bike and

went to my grandfather's house.

It was still a little cold, but the veranda was pleasantly warm, so I relaxed there for a while.

Then...

Poppo, poe,, pop-po, pop.

...