Urban Legends: The Nanshan Company

The story, The Headless Nanshan Company 南山連的無頭部隊, I am going to talk about today comes from Taiwan (aka. Republic of China).

It comes from Qingqi village 青岐村 in Kinmen. The village was heavily shelled by the PLA (People's Liberation Army) during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, which happened between August 23, 1958 and September 22, 1958. Today, many places in the village bored scars from the battle.  The village was also largely depopulated, as many young men and women have left the village for better opportunities in Taiwan, leaving behind the elderly. Qingqi village is truly haunted by its past. 


The best narration of this legend I found  came from a soldier who was once stationed in Kinmen. According to the soldier, his story came from an elderly store owner who ran a general store in Qingli Village. For the 60 years he lived, the old store owner stayed on Kinmen. Hence, he knew everything about Kinmen and is well versed with its many ghost stories. 

Urban Legends: Kisaragi Station (Part 2)

Here comes part 2 of my Kisaragi Station coverage. In 2011, a story came up on twitter. A twitter user claimed to board a train in Kanto that brought him to a mysterious station. There, the time was not only an hour faster than the internet he was using, but his GPS was also malfunctioning. Moreover, while there was a level 5 earthquake warning in Kanto, he felt nothing that night. 

The twitter user later found a convenience store with people inside. He entered it. When he exited, the station mysteriously disappeared. He took some photos and later uploaded them. Naturally, they received scrutiny. Many were quick to point out that the supposed train and station was similar to that of Kansai's. Attached below are some cross-analyzing photos done by the Japanese internet community. 

Most deemed the story mentioned above to be a hoax. However, there were believers who believe that Kisaragi Station is a portal to the spirit world and whom believe this story affirmed the hypothesis.

Urban Legends: Kisaragi Station (Part 1)

Ghost trains are a common theme for urban legends across the globe. Stories mostly revolve unexplained or paranormal encounters with late-night trains. The story I am going to mention below is of no exception. It is an incidence of late-night train travelling to a station not listed as existing in Japan. Similar to the train station in the animated film Spirted Away by Hayao Miyazaki, these stations are viewed as portals to the spirit world.  
Back in 2004, a 2ch (a popular social network site in Japan) user named Hatsumi posted a cry for help, saying the late-night train she had caught was not stopping at the stations it was supposed to. After passing through an unfamiliar tunnel, the train stopped around midnight at a station named "Kisaragi Station きさらぎ駅". Other users were quick to reply, saying there was no such station in Japan.