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.

Have you picked up my latest book yet?

Kijo, Japan's most notorious female criminals, is now out.

If you want to hear about some of the horrifying, bizarre, and often confusing crimes that

some of Japan's most notorious female criminals have committed, do check it out.

It's available on Amazon right now.

This week, we're looking at some terrifying tales of festivals and rituals from various

little villages dotting the countryside.

First up, a man on a business trip makes a few friends at a local bar, and one night

they decide to check out an abandoned village nearby.

When they get there, however, not as

all as it seems and, perhaps not as abandoned as they were led to believe. Find out why in

Kawasaki Village. This is something that happened to me long ago.

I stayed in Gifu Prefecture for about a month on business.

I was way out in the countryside, closer to Mie Prefecture than I was to Gifu City.

Still, despite being the countryside, there were karaoke bars and clubs.

Plenty of things to do, so it wasn't like I was bored.

And, being that I was on a business trip, I was able to go home early each day without

working any overtime.

At first, I didn't know anyone, so I went straight

back to the business hotel every day, but I started to get a bit lonely, so one day I dropped

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