Japan is HAUNTED by Tsunami GHosts

Many of the survivors of the tsunami in Japan in 2011

struggling with heavy trauma. More seek exorcists to rid themselves of the ghosts of the past.

Haunted by the ghosts of tsunami

19,000 people died in the tsunami that hit Japan 11 March of 2011.

Within minutes, whole villages were razed. People felt that neighbors and family members were swept away in the water, and survivors are struggling now with the aftermath of their traumatic experiences.

Many claim that they are being approached by ghosts that remind them of the disaster.

- There is talk of ghosts without a head, and some missing hands or legs. Others are correctly cut in two. People lost their lives in so many different ways during the disaster, and they were there again so, in limbo. It is very hard for us, we see them as they were when they died, says the 56-year-old Kansho Aizawa from town Ishinomaki.

Superstitions

Aizawa works as exorcist and have been contacted by many of those who are struggling. But she also claims to have seen even more ghosts.

Her hometown is among those hardest hit by the tsunami.

For many of those who experience problems after the tsunami, the threshold for seeking exorcists be lower than for contact with the health care system - especially in a country where people are reluctant to admit that they are struggling mentally.

In addition, there are many Japanese who hold on to old superstition, and it is not uncommon ancestors cultivation.

Related to fear

Psychiatrist Keizo Hara relate observations of the natural phenomena to the fear that remains in many tsunami.

- The places where people say they see ghosts, is often the same places that were destroyed by the tsunami. We believe that the ghost sightings can be mental projections of fear and anxiety people relate to these places, he said.

Hara believe that Japan may experience a rising wave of post-traumatic stress disorder in the future.

He believes that many people are only now beginning to notice problems, two years after the tsunami.

- It will take time for stress disorders emerge among people living in temporary housing, and how nothing has changed after the earthquake, says psychiatrist, also located in Ishinomaki.

Unexplained Phenomena

The stories of supernatural events in the city are numerous.

People report that they have seen ghostly figures stand in line at the places where it was previously shops, and taxi drivers say they steer clear of the worst-hit areas in fear of picking up ghosts.

One of them says that he has seen unnatural things after the tsunami, the construction worker Shinichi Yamada.

He managed to escape from the waves that destroyed his home, but later picked out two Buddha statues from the ruins of the house

When he took the statues of himself to his present residence, he experienced that strange things began to happen.

Haunted

Yamada says that his kids suddenly became ill, and that an unexplained cold began to follow them through the house.

- Sometimes when I've been lying in bed, I felt that something was going by, and trampled me in the chest, said Yamada said.

Yamada believes that the statues are haunted, and says that his life has improved after he put them in a box.

He also sought Exorcist Kansho Aizawa, who has performed a prayer in front of the statues, so that the deceased relatives to have peace.

Exorcist tells about the variety of tasks she is asked to do.

In the past, she has seen an increase in people who want to send messages to relatives who perished in the tsunami, while she previously were primarily asked to find out how they died.