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In the forested mountains of Kanagawa Prefecture, two adjacent sites — a former railway crossing and a nearby tunnel — share a combined reputation for hauntings, though which specific story belongs to which site turns out to be less settled than earlier versions of this article suggested.
A Correction: Two Different Legends Attached to the Same Ground
Earlier research for this article described a young girl who died at Hakozaki crossing in the early 1900s, her spirit said to linger and play pranks on travelers. Independent local sources describing the actual Hakozaki crossing site tell a different story: a group of American soldiers in tattered wartime uniforms reportedly seen walking the old railway line with hollow expressions, and a mournful harmonica melody along with a man’s whispering voice reported from the nearby tunnel. We’re flagging this discrepancy directly rather than quietly picking one version — the “young girl” telling may exist as a separate strand of local folklore we simply couldn’t independently trace, or it may be a conflation with a different site’s legend. Readers should treat both versions as unconfirmed oral tradition rather than assume either is the “correct” one.
A Real Missing-Person Claim Attached to the Legend
Unlike most entries on this site, this legend includes a specific claim of real, unresolved harm: according to local accounts, a young girl went missing in the area in the 1960s and was never found, a disappearance locals say still torments the community. Local retellings also reference unspecified unsolved murders connected to the broader area. We could not independently verify either the 1960s disappearance or any unsolved murders against documented records, and claims of this kind — real missing persons, real unsolved crimes — deserve more caution than typical ghost-story embellishment, since they describe potential ongoing grief for real families rather than distant folklore.
What’s Actually Verifiable
We could not verify the wartime soldiers’ story, the early-1900s death, the mid-century vehicle accident, or the 1960s disappearance against independent sources. What is more broadly plausible is the area’s described geography — a steep hill and a winding mountain tunnel are exactly the kind of terrain where genuine vehicle accidents have historically occurred across Japan, and a former railway crossing near a wartime-era route is consistent with the kind of site that accumulates military-ghost folklore.
Can You Visit?
The area remains a destination for sightseers, hikers, and campers, according to local accounts, despite its unsettling reputation. Given the legend’s inclusion of an unresolved missing-person claim, visitors should approach the site’s history with sensitivity rather than treating every element as entertainment, alongside ordinary caution on the area’s steep terrain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the missing girl from the 1960s a real, documented case?
This is a specific claim of real, unresolved harm that deserves more caution than typical ghost-story details — we could not independently verify it against a police or news record, and treat it as unconfirmed rather than settled fact.
Which ghost story actually belongs to Hakozaki crossing?
Sources disagree. Some describe a young girl’s spirit from the early 1900s; independent local accounts of the crossing instead describe wartime American soldiers and a harmonica melody. We present both rather than silently choosing one, since we couldn’t confirm which — if either — is the version most consistently tied to this specific site.
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