Living in a “Haunted” Apartment in Japan: Why Stigmatized Properties Are a Big Deal
In Japan, some apartments are avoided simply because someone died there.
These “stigmatized properties” can lose up to half their value—and many people refuse to live in them at any price.
Why does this matter so much, and what really makes a place feel unsettling?
In Japan, many people strongly dislike so-called “stigmatized properties”—homes where a murder, suicide, or a lonely death requiring special cleaning has occurred.
Even if the place has been thoroughly cleaned, the property value drops drastically.
In some cases, the rent can fall to nearly half of the usual price.
Some people don’t mind and choose such places because the rent is cheap, but the majority still prefer to avoid them.
Interestingly, many of these places feel somewhat gloomy or heavy in atmosphere.
I don’t have any psychic abilities, and I don’t think I’ve ever actually been in such a home—but I do sense heavy or unpleasant air sometimes.
(For example, once I stayed at a hotel overseas and felt an eerie vibe. Later I found out that a mass shooting had happened there.)
In fact, some locations seem to experience multiple incidents over the years.
I don’t know whether it’s something spiritual, but there is probably some reason—poor layout, lack of sunlight, or simply an environment that wears people down.
Disclosure Laws in Japan
In Japan, real estate agents are legally required to disclose if a property is stigmatized.
However, before 2021, this disclosure rule was extremely vague.
Up until then:
If even one person lived in the property after the incident, the agent no longer had to disclose anything.
Because of this loophole, some real estate companies would have an employee live there briefly so they could legally avoid disclosure—and then raise the rent back to normal.
But since 2021, this practice has been abolished, and agents must now disclose incidents for three years after they occur.
Some agents also greatly soften or downplay what actually happened.
Real estate companies are not always reliable.
The Website “Oshima Teru”
This is why a Japanese website called Ōshima Teru（大島てる） is so well-known.
(The site is reportedly named after the founder’s grandmother, who was in the real estate business.)
If you search an address on Oshima Teru, a 🔥 icon appears on properties where an incident, accident, or lonely death occurred.
My Personal Experience
After signing the lease for my current apartment, I happened to read a manga about stigmatized properties.
(In Japan, literally anything becomes a manga 🔗)
In this manga, a woman was told someone had hanged themselves in her apartment building, but since it was in another unit, she moved in anyway.
Later she discovered that a self-immolation had actually occurred in her own room.
This was a nonfiction story.
Tokyo Kaiki sake 東京怪奇酒 by Toru Seino
This is a story about a protagonist who travels around Tokyo’s haunted locations and enjoys a drink at each one.
But there’s no English version (yet).
After reading that, I panicked and looked up my address on Oshima Teru.
I was extremely nervous.
I’d freak out if my own address had a 🔥 mark on it.
My apartment had unusually low initial fees due to a promotional campaign, which made me even more suspicious.
(The initial costs for renting an apartment in Japan are extremely high.)
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And since I had already signed the contract, backing out wasn’t possible.
Fortunately, my place was safe.
However, when you browse Oshima Teru, the map is absolutely filled with 🔥 marks everywhere.
Especially around nightlife districts.
Natural Deaths and Listing Criteria
But some of these 🔥 marks include natural deaths among the elderly.
According to one user’s comment, her grandmother collapsed at home, was taken to the hospital, and died there—yet the house still ended up with a 🔥 mark.
Supplement:
Oshima Teru states that among natural deaths, cases where the body is discovered late (and special cleaning is required) may be included.
Because of this, hospital deaths or natural deaths discovered quickly are generally not listed.
However, since the final decision is made by the site’s management,
there is still a possibility that non-criminal cases may appear on the map.
And with Japan’s rapidly aging population, the number of 🔥 marks will only continue to increase.
Realistically, people die everywhere.
If you think about it too much, there’s no end.
In the End, Intuition Matters Most
Ultimately, you have to trust your own intuition about a place.
If someone truly feels uncomfortable, they can ask a shrine or temple to perform a purification ritual (oharai).
I’ve never tried it, and I don’t think it’s extremely common, but for someone who accidentally ends up in a stigmatized property, it might bring peace of mind.
Still, if you find a home where you genuinely feel comfortable,
the best approach is not to overthink it.
