The Haunted Story of the Former Kannonzaka Tunnel, Shiga Prefecture

For 83 years, the old Kannonzaka Tunnel carried traffic between Maibara and Nagahama in Shiga Prefecture. Since a modern replacement opened in 2016, the original tunnel has sat sealed and disused — and locals say a woman still waits inside for the driver who wronged her.

The Real History

The former Kannonzaka Tunnel (旧観音坂トンネル) is located on what was once the main alignment of Shiga Prefectural Road 509, linking Maibara City and Nagahama City in Shiga Prefecture, central Japan. Public infrastructure records indicate the tunnel was completed in 1933 (Shōwa 8), with a total length of approximately 321 meters, a width of 5.7 meters, and a height of 3.9 meters — dimensions typical of an early Shōwa-era single-lane mountain road tunnel. It served as the primary route over the Kannonzaka pass for over eight decades until March 26, 2016, when a new tunnel opened nearby, at which point the original 1933 structure was retired after 83 years in service.

Since its closure, the old tunnel has been sealed off, with access restricted to authorized personnel due to the risk of structural collapse — a common fate for Japan's older, unreinforced road tunnels once they're bypassed. According to some regional reports, the disused tunnel interior has since been put to an unusual second use: as a controlled environment for aging or storing spirits (western-style liquor), taking advantage of the tunnel's stable temperature and humidity, similar to how other abandoned Japanese tunnels have been repurposed as sake or wine cellars.

The Haunting

The ghost story most associated with the old Kannonzaka Tunnel centers on a drowning. According to the version repeated across Japanese ghost-story sites, a person died by suicide, drowning in a reservoir near the tunnel, and the body was not discovered until it had become skeletal. Local legend then connects this to a subsequent wave of traffic accidents on the pass: in one telling, a driver struck and killed a woman on the road near the tunnel, panicked, and disposed of her body in an attempt to cover up the crime rather than report the accident. Ever since, locals say, a female apparition has been sighted in and around the tunnel — most commonly reported by drivers who claim that, without realizing how, they find her seated in their car after passing through. As with most tunnel legends of this kind, none of the deaths described have a verifiable public record attached to them; the story circulates as oral folklore rather than documented local history.

Can You Visit?

The former Kannonzaka Tunnel is officially closed and access is restricted to authorized personnel only, due to collapse risk in the aging structure — it is not a legal or safe tourist destination. Visitors interested in the area can view the exterior from the surrounding road, but entering the tunnel itself would mean trespassing on a condemned structure.