thedrifter
10-31-08, 08:42 AM
THE HAUNTING OF OKINAWA
Story by Lance Cpl. Thomas W. Provost
http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/Public%20Affairs%20Info/Images%20Complete/IMAGES/081031-haunted.jpg
OKINAWA, Japan (October 31, 2008) -- Walking down the sidewalk behind the United Service Organization on Kadena Air Base, one may hear children's voices, crying or laughing, or see an eerie glow coming from an unusually small house: Building 2283.
If one should dare to enter this strange house, they may see a ghostly looking woman washing her hair in the kitchen sink, or perhaps a ghostly samurai warrior riding his horse straight through the living room.
Many stories and rumors have originated about the house near Stearley Heights. Some even suggest the house is built on top of an ancient Okinawan burial chamber.
Which stories are true? Nobody knows for sure. The one thing every story agrees on is there's something very strange about the little house.
One such story takes place in the early 1970s; a military family suffered a terrible fate there one day. It is rumored a man, maybe an officer, though no one knows for sure, went crazy and killed his entire family in the house.
Several years later, another family moved into building 2283, only to discover strange, unexplainable occurrences.
It is said one of the bedrooms always felt too cold - too cold even to sleep in. Lacking any rational explanation, the bedroom was torn down, leaving the house in its current small state.
It's said the new resident soon stabbed his family to death, making them the second murdered family in that little house behind the USO.
Since these alleged events the house was converted to a storage shed. But erie things continue to be noticed in and around the house.
Passers-by describe an almost ghoulish glow about the house once in a while, although most of the time it remains shrouded in darkness. Even the illumination of nearby street lights does not appear to light the exterior of the dwelling.
In 1994, on Halloween night, ghost hunter Jayne Hitchcock performed a seance inside the house. According to her book, "The Ghosts of Okinawa," Hitchcock and a few friends tried to contact Harry Houdini, who died on Halloween in 1927. To their surprise they contacted completely different spirits. Two children appeared -- one boy and one girl.
The next day, when Hitchcock developed film of the house's interior, two ghostly outlines were seen - one boy and one girl.
According to Chiyomi Maekawa, the duty manager of the nearby USO, the USO staff conducted a Halloween re-enactment of the alleged murders some years ago. The staff played out what happened those nights in the house, but nothing unusual happened. Not right away at least.
One by one, each participating staff member began to have unfortunate accidents. One person who had entered that house on Halloween night suffered an electrical shock. Another had a car accident. One even suffered a broken neck.
They woke up the spirits, who then became angry, Maekawa said.
Until the USO stopped using the house for storage, the staff members would not go in after dark, refusing to enter the house except during daylight and in groups. Even with these precautions they still felt a strange aura within, she said.
Since no one would dare live in the house, the Base Officials planned to tear building 2283 to the ground. Strange things started happening again as contractors began the demolition process. Every time they entered the house, a worker would get hurt or go crazy, suffering strange hallucinations, Maekawa said. Soon, the contractors refused to enter the house.
The house was never torn down. It stands to this day, bearing within its morbid walls whatever demonic entities reside there.
But building 2283 is not the only haunted place on Okinawa where many spirits are said to be. This sub-tropical island has a very dark and tormented past.
During the battle for Okinawa, the Japanese military convinced Okinawans they would suffer a horrible fate if captured by American Marines. Many Okinawans, to avoid capture, leapt to their deaths over the rocky cliffs around the island.
Bolo Point, also known as Cape Zampa is one such spot where many jumped to their final fate. It is said many have seen faces of the dead in the unforgiving water there. The lost souls seem to beckon the living to follow them off the jagged cliffs and into the violent, crushing waves. Some have even seen an older woman's ghost luring unsuspecting onlookers to the point's steep precipice before vanishing into thin air, as if plummeting to her watery grave.
So wherever you go this Halloween night, whatever festivities you may attend, be on the lookout for Okinawa's ghostly spirits of the night, for they are surely not limited to the stories told here. Whether it be the agonized spirits of House 2283 or the battered, drowned souls of Bolo Point, it would be wise to leave these island residents be, that they may carry out their eternal suffering alone.
For now.
Happy Halloween!
Ellie
Story by Lance Cpl. Thomas W. Provost
http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/Public%20Affairs%20Info/Images%20Complete/IMAGES/081031-haunted.jpg
OKINAWA, Japan (October 31, 2008) -- Walking down the sidewalk behind the United Service Organization on Kadena Air Base, one may hear children's voices, crying or laughing, or see an eerie glow coming from an unusually small house: Building 2283.
If one should dare to enter this strange house, they may see a ghostly looking woman washing her hair in the kitchen sink, or perhaps a ghostly samurai warrior riding his horse straight through the living room.
Many stories and rumors have originated about the house near Stearley Heights. Some even suggest the house is built on top of an ancient Okinawan burial chamber.
Which stories are true? Nobody knows for sure. The one thing every story agrees on is there's something very strange about the little house.
One such story takes place in the early 1970s; a military family suffered a terrible fate there one day. It is rumored a man, maybe an officer, though no one knows for sure, went crazy and killed his entire family in the house.
Several years later, another family moved into building 2283, only to discover strange, unexplainable occurrences.
It is said one of the bedrooms always felt too cold - too cold even to sleep in. Lacking any rational explanation, the bedroom was torn down, leaving the house in its current small state.
It's said the new resident soon stabbed his family to death, making them the second murdered family in that little house behind the USO.
Since these alleged events the house was converted to a storage shed. But erie things continue to be noticed in and around the house.
Passers-by describe an almost ghoulish glow about the house once in a while, although most of the time it remains shrouded in darkness. Even the illumination of nearby street lights does not appear to light the exterior of the dwelling.
In 1994, on Halloween night, ghost hunter Jayne Hitchcock performed a seance inside the house. According to her book, "The Ghosts of Okinawa," Hitchcock and a few friends tried to contact Harry Houdini, who died on Halloween in 1927. To their surprise they contacted completely different spirits. Two children appeared -- one boy and one girl.
The next day, when Hitchcock developed film of the house's interior, two ghostly outlines were seen - one boy and one girl.
According to Chiyomi Maekawa, the duty manager of the nearby USO, the USO staff conducted a Halloween re-enactment of the alleged murders some years ago. The staff played out what happened those nights in the house, but nothing unusual happened. Not right away at least.
One by one, each participating staff member began to have unfortunate accidents. One person who had entered that house on Halloween night suffered an electrical shock. Another had a car accident. One even suffered a broken neck.
They woke up the spirits, who then became angry, Maekawa said.
Until the USO stopped using the house for storage, the staff members would not go in after dark, refusing to enter the house except during daylight and in groups. Even with these precautions they still felt a strange aura within, she said.
Since no one would dare live in the house, the Base Officials planned to tear building 2283 to the ground. Strange things started happening again as contractors began the demolition process. Every time they entered the house, a worker would get hurt or go crazy, suffering strange hallucinations, Maekawa said. Soon, the contractors refused to enter the house.
The house was never torn down. It stands to this day, bearing within its morbid walls whatever demonic entities reside there.
But building 2283 is not the only haunted place on Okinawa where many spirits are said to be. This sub-tropical island has a very dark and tormented past.
During the battle for Okinawa, the Japanese military convinced Okinawans they would suffer a horrible fate if captured by American Marines. Many Okinawans, to avoid capture, leapt to their deaths over the rocky cliffs around the island.
Bolo Point, also known as Cape Zampa is one such spot where many jumped to their final fate. It is said many have seen faces of the dead in the unforgiving water there. The lost souls seem to beckon the living to follow them off the jagged cliffs and into the violent, crushing waves. Some have even seen an older woman's ghost luring unsuspecting onlookers to the point's steep precipice before vanishing into thin air, as if plummeting to her watery grave.
So wherever you go this Halloween night, whatever festivities you may attend, be on the lookout for Okinawa's ghostly spirits of the night, for they are surely not limited to the stories told here. Whether it be the agonized spirits of House 2283 or the battered, drowned souls of Bolo Point, it would be wise to leave these island residents be, that they may carry out their eternal suffering alone.
For now.
Happy Halloween!
Ellie