The Scariest Abroad in Japan Video I've Ever Shot (Explained)

Happy Halloween everyone!

In the spirit of Halloween, and the absence of a scary episode this year, what with being off on trains and eating endless food in Tokyo in recent videos, I wanted to list off the top 5 scariest moments from Abroad in Japan!

This doesn’t include videos that are scary due to safety risks, ie. Every single damn trip with Ryotaro.

These are videos that are genuinely creepy or unsettling in some way - and I’ve ranked them in order below, along with the awesome Patreon behind the scenes videos that accompanied many of them! Particularly the love hotel episode which had to be censored on Youtube.

These are amongst my favourite videos ever produced on Abroad in Japan and dare I say, rather timeless! I'm really proud that every single one of them were funded through Patreon as well.

As always guys, a huge thanks for making them possible.
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5) Japan’s Most Haunted Tunnel (2018

Back on the original Journey Across Japan, our first guest was Joey the Animeman and in honour of Halloween (as it was October) we had to find a scary location.

Joey, being the ever savvy researcher, discovered a Japanese website listening off abandoned places and came across the tunnel, which had been closed after a tragic car crash within. Upon discovering the tunnel it was easy to see how said crash had happened, given the tunnel was so narrow, even I would have trouble getting through it after a trip to a buffet.

Within the tunnel, it was remarkably dark and with only the flimsiest of torches at our disposal, we caught sight of an ominous stain on the wall that seemed to resemble Joey…

🍿 Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/U2QBEZW5RDY?si=E6W_-XdQy67XOWgO

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4) Japan’s Most Haunted Inn (2023)

Japan’s most haunted inn doesn’t look that haunted.
It looks like a rather modern, renovated inn. Tragically about a decade ago it burned down, though thankfully the shrine at the back of the inn remained safe, said to be thanks to the child ghost, the legendary Zashiki Warishi.

Many Japanese spirits are said to be a force for good and the Zashiki Warishi is one of them, though he does play pranks and interact with guests, almost like a poltergeist.

The inn lies in a remote northern mountain range in Iwate and we’ve stayed at the hotel twice over the years, first with Ryotaro and most recently with Sharla and on both occasions, strange things have happened.

On a trip with Ryotaro, a figure of a bird randomly fell of a shelf and with Sharla a random powerful gust of wind nearly knocked us off our feet amidst the shrine. One moment it was calm, the next minute after a few remarks about the ghost, a perfectly time gust of wind swept through the shrine in an almost Spielbergian manner.

But regardless, haunted or not, the fact the inn embraces its haunted past and encourages guests to go out at night and explore, gives it an atmosphere unlike anywhere else I’ve stayed in Japan.

🍿 Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/Qk7IipIQipE?si=WB4m-N2iEZCysYzf
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3) Britain’s Most Haunted Prison & Church | Wacky Weekend (2022)

It’s not the nicest thing to discover you’re about to sleep in a prison cell where a man had hung himself above your bed. Joey and I slept in the UK’s most haunted prison, while the night before Connor and I slept in an unsettling church from a Charles Dickens novel.

In some respects, the Church creeped me out more - I’ll never forget waking up at 3am to ominous creaking noises and looking around in a moment of startled realisation, that I was sleeping in a church. It wasn’t normal.

Meanwhile in Shelton Mallet prison, Joey had a jump scare and eagle eyed viewers spotted a ghostly figure in the background of the video. Make of it what you will, but it was a rough two nights of filming!
🍿 Watch Patreon Episode: https://youtu.be/is1kBzuryrg
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2) Inside Japan’s Abandoned Love Hotel | Journey Across Japan (2020)

The closest thing Abroad in Japan has to a found footage horror movie.
On Journey Across Japan 2, Natsuki, Joey and I chanced upon an abandoned love hotel in a remote corner of Nagano.

As we made our way through, Natsuki encountered a bat and each room got more unsettling by the minute as grim drawings were found on the wall, depicting a shocking and violent act.

Genuinely terrifying from the moment we entered the grisly concrete staircase, I’m not sure Natsuki has forgiven me for this yet!

You can watch the uncensored Patreon version of the video here!
🍿 Watch Patreon Episode: https://youtu.be/932OBaMLLBA
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1) Inside Japan’s Abandoned Theme Park | Wacky Weekend (2021)

Officially the abandoned love hotel video is the scariest for what was featured in the video. But unofficially, for me personally this video is by far the most terrifying.

For some context, in this video Connor and I explored an abandoned theme park which set the ominous tone from the get-go.

On the night segment however, we explored an abandoned shipyard in an extremely remote region of Yamagata. Without phone signal, we wandered through a swamp, in a region famous for bear attacks and into a crumbling mouldy building to discover various drugs and needles littering the site.

At one point Natsuki almost stabbed himself in the face with a rusty needle on a collapsed door.

For me, the trip was a turning point that made me take a step back from exploring abandoned places, as it simply wasn’t worth putting anyone in harms way.

It remains my most terrifying memory of a single location and one that could’ve gone a lot worse had luck not been on our side. Such was the trauma, the next few Wacky Weekends were spent in  much more pleasant backdrops.

There’s a massive Patreon behind the scenes of the episode with Natsuki and Connor, worth checking out here!

🍿 Watch Patreon Episode: https://youtu.be/NuFX0Q_By60?si=hPdZ1Yai0dKpmKrk
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But what did I miss?
Let me know if you think there’s a scarier episode - a few spring to mind (the statue episode also from JAJ3 springs to mind).

For now guys, hope you had a great Halloween - onwards in to December we go.
Chris

P.S. Don't forget you can discover the episode Abroad in Japan Patreon exclusive video catalogue below!

⭐⭐ Abroad in Japan Patreon | 50+ Bonus Episodes ⭐⭐

🍿 https://www.abroadinjapan.com/bonus.php

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