Saturday, June 25, 2016

Hachiojo Castle (八王子遗迹)



An old man told me that it is best just to walk up the trail and not walk down. Because walking down will not only bring bad luck; but spirits in the forest may also follow the person back.

The Hachiojo castle is one of eight renowned historical sites in Japan but unofficially; this castle is believed to be haunted.

Actually, Hachiojo Castle is built on the peak of a hill. Normally hill top castles are mainly built during the warring period for defence purposes; and as with all historical warfare incidents in Japan, there would be many casualties. The worse scenario is that if the castle is concurred by the enemies, the soldiers would either be killed or committed suicide. It was said that this Hachiojo castle has seen a horrible war involving 20,000 strong men.

According to history, the Hachiojo Castle has a tragic ending. Hojo Ujiyasu (北条氏康) asked his 3rd son, Hojo Ujiteru (北条氏照) to build the Hachioja Castle to defend against the attack of Takeda Shingen (武田信玄). About 3 years after the castle is built, Takeda Shingen attacked the Hojo family. At that time Hojo Ujiteru escaped to Odiwara Sastle (小田原城) and the Hachiojo Castle was taken by the enemy. The defending generals were either committed suicide by harakiri (切腹) or died by then; and all women in the castle committed suicide. After the wall, Hachiojo Castle is abandoned until today.

It was said that the water of this waterfall turned red and flew for 3 days and 3 nights... And this waterfall is haunted!
As described by a description board at the site, when the Hachiojo Castle was concurred by Takeda Shingen, the generals and women committed suicide at a waterfall nearby. It was said that the water few from the waterfall was red in colour for 3 days and 3 nights.

There is a small incident that happened to me at the waterfall. I was some sort of lost while hiking to the waterfall. So, I waited for my friend to get me… And suddenly I heard the disembodied voice of a woman humming a song. It sounds like: “he.. He… HE… HE.. he…”

I thought it was the wind but later my pals told me that many people also heard the disembodied voice especially at night. Just as when we were talking at the waterfall, the voice was heard again and we all quickly left the place for good…

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