This morning I took a hike up into the hills/mountains that surround Hario, the town where we live.  Since the woods are dominated by bamboo - it grows like a weed around here - it makes for very easy hiking and allows me to wander off of the beaten path.  I spend a lot of my Saturday mornings up there.

Today I discovered some old abandoned houses and decided to explore one of them...it turned out to be a really creepy experience!!

As I had to literally fight my way through the dense overgrowth that's surrounding the place, it was apparent that nobody had been here for a long time .  At first blush it appeared that the site had been used as a trash dump for some time, but upon reconsideration...well, more about that later.

I finally reached the front door, only to find it was locked, but about 10 feet away I found a door into the kitchen which wasn't.  I went in and was immediately slapped into "creepy" mode.  The kitchen looked as it would have had someone still been living there, if not for the many years of dust, dirt and rot that covered everything.  There were still pots and pans on the stove, a rice cooker and toaster oven on the counter, cabinets full of dishes, and an ashtray and magazines on a small table in the middle of the room.  A stack of electric bill receipts, clipped together, hung from a nail on the doorjamb.

Although most might have found this strange enough to pull a 180 and leave, I suddenly found myself in a strange position.  I was feeling something like a mix between that silly "fear" you feel when you're watching a B-rated horror movie and KNOW that something is going to jump out and make you scream, and the real skin-crawling creepy feeling you get from watching a movie like The Ring.  In either case, you just know something bad is going to happen, but can't force yourself to look away - which is exactly where I was.

So while my common sense told my rubbery legs stand still, my curiosity took control and kicked them into gear, forcing me deeper into the house.  I passed through the kitchen to the door on the opposite wall and found myself standing just inside the genkan (entry way) by the front door.  On the entryway counter were a set of keys, a pocketknife, some umbrellas, and piles of old magazines, mail and catalogs.  I turned to the left where there was a flight of stairs and a short hallway to the first floor rooms. 

At the end of the hall was a central (family?) room surrounded by five more large rooms, where the creepiness continued.  The rooms were still fully furnished with dressers, curio cabinets, a clock and a family butsudon (shrine) in one corner.  There were also futons, blankets, and piles of junk, all of which had apparently been utilized by a variety of pests and critters over the years.

Well, that's enough for today.  Next time, I'll take you upstairs...it gets creepier!