Japanese Urban Legends

Hitobashira (Human Pillar)

A popular Japanese urban legend is the existence of human pillars, people that were deliberately buried alive inside of construction sites. This started from Japan, and is also known as Hitobashira, which means "Human Pillar."

This legend has been around since ancient times and is based on something odd that people believed. They believed that a human sacrifice sealed inside of a structure would make a foundation more stable and durable after construction. In other words, if a human was buried alive, under or near the building, it would make the building stronger.

By doing this sacrifice, they thought that the gods would be happy with it and let the building be safe from natural disasters. 

Back then, working conditions on many Japanese building sites were known to be very poor, and many men would perish from disease and exhaustion while on the job. These unfortunate men would then be buried near the building to hide what had happened and to ensure the foundation would stand for decades to come. It has also been suggested that some laborers were killed during construction of castles as a security measure so that the secrets of the building couldn't get out to the public.

Because of this, it is believed that buildings with human pillars are haunted by the people that were sealed in the construction. After all, many of them had horrible deaths, which can provoke a spirit even more.

A famous story with this legend is the history of Matsue Castle. Built during the 17th century, the stone wall of the central tower would repeatedly fall after construction. So, naturally, the builders were convinced that their only option was to sacrifice a human for the main pillar. They found a beautiful maiden dancing at the local Bon Festival and tricked her into coming with them. As soon as she was out of sight from everyone, the builders sealed her alive within the castle walls.

Legend says that her restless spirit haunts the castle, and supposedly whenever a woman dances in the streets of Matsue, the walls of the castle will shake violently. Soon after this became popular, a law was passed prohibiting dancing in the town. It was lifted after a long period of time, and now people can finally dance again.

And this isn't the only place well known for human pillars. Other landmarks include Maruoka Castle and the Matsue Ohashi Bridge.

So, if you happen to go to Japan at all and don't know what to do, you could always look at the dark side of Japan's history, and visit a human pillar.