Haunted houses are in demand in Japan

Asia | Lingering spirits

Haunted houses are in demand in Japan

What’s behind the growing desire for once-shunned “incident properties”?

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Photograph: Reuters

Jul 14th 2026|Tokyo|3 min read

For more than a decade, Matsubara Tanishi, a Japanese comedian, has lived in houses where others met gruesome ends. One tenant murdered his brother. Another hanged herself. In a third an old man died alone and lay undiscovered for two years. “I used to think I might get cursed,” he says.

In Japan such unfortunate houses are known as jiko bukken, or “incident properties”. Though many recoil at the thought of living in one, they have long fascinated the public. Mr Matsubara has built a career from inhabiting dozens of them; his memoirs have become best-sellers and inspired films. Now rising housing costs are making these properties look less unappealing to the wider public.

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