[Episode 1: The Fourth Person] Take Village — Storming and Investigating a Cursed Ghost Village! A Kokkuri-san Séance, a Headless Doll, and a Curse. [Trailer]

This is the trailer for Episode 1, “The Fourth Person,” from the KARASU CHANNEL series. The episode heads to Take Village (Take-shūraku), an abandoned settlement in the Urayama district of Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture.

In the 1955 national census, Take Village was home to 10 households and 44 people, supported by forestry and farming. Poor road access and depopulation eventually left it empty. A row of six Jizō statues stands at the entrance, and a local saying holds that misfortune struck the village after the statues were moved. The real reason people left was ordinary depopulation, but the ruins clinging to the slope and the silence of the mountains later drew in rumors of curses and grudges.

The main episode is split into four videos, with an afterword video as well. Take Village is not a maintained sightseeing spot, and this site does not recommend visiting.

What to Watch For

When you watch the trailer, look past the hints of paranormal activity and pay attention to the terrain. This was a village of houses lined up along a steep slope, with six Jizō statues at its entrance. Knowing that layout makes it easier to picture where each ruin in the main videos once stood as part of someone’s daily life.

Our Take

This is only our own speculation, but an abandoned village feels frightening because traces of the people who lived there remain. When we see a house where bowls and Buddhist altar items were left behind, we automatically fill in the picture: someone spent every day here. When that mental image collides with the fact that nobody is here now, it turns into unease. Phrases from the trailer such as “Kokkuri-san” and “headless doll” can be read as devices that stir exactly this imagination.