A lot of Japanese horror tales are not for children as some of them are designed specifically to traumatize you.
Japanese horror? Not for the faint of heart. Unlike Western jump-scare fests, Japan specializes in the kind of psychological trauma that nestles into your subconscious and waits for you to be alone at 2:37 a.m.
One of the more unsettling examples: the tale of Rokubu Goroshi. It’s not for kids. Or the morally ambiguous. Or honestly, anyone who enjoys sleeping.
It starts in a rural village. A kind but struggling couple lives a quiet life of small harvests and smaller portions. One moonless night, a wandering monk on pilgrimage knocks on their door, asking for shelter. Being good hosts (at this point), they welcome him in and offer what little food they have. A sweet moment of classic countryside hospitality.
Then they spot the cash. Not a little. A lot.
Apparently, this monk travels with Gucci-level donation money. And here’s where things take a dark turn.
Greed flickers. Morality wobbles. And the couple decides to upgrade their life… by murdering the monk, hiding his body, and quietly laundering their karma through entrepreneurship. (Murder-funded small business, anyone?)
To the outside world, they simply “got lucky.”
Business booms. They have a child. Life is golden.
Except the child… doesn’t speak.
Not at 3.
Not at 4.
Not even by age 6.
Silent. But cute! So the parents shrug it off.
Then one night, long past bedtime, the child gets fidgety.
Dad, assuming it’s a potty issue, takes the little one outside under the pitch-black sky.
And in the soft stillness of the moonless night, the child suddenly speaks for the first time.
“It was just like this that night.”
Dad freezes. “What?”
The child slowly turns his head toward him, face morphing.
“That night you murdered me.”
The monk is back. And he’s six years old. With receipts.
Moral of the story?
If you kill a monk, he will come back reincarnated as your silent child and emotionally ruin you on a bathroom run.
Also: maybe don’t get your startup funds from a murder.
It’s not just bad karma. It’s terrible succession planning.
Woodblock print by TSUCHIYA Kōitsu (1870 – 1949)
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