English Version
I’ve mentioned before that my wife often experiences things that seem spiritual or paranormal. Just the other day, during a night shift at work, she said she was heading to the restroom when a vague, misty presence followed her.
She went into the restroom, but she didn’t lock the door. Her reason was simple: if something happened while the door was locked, she wouldn’t be able to get away.
Personally, I feel that if something is already trying to follow you into the restroom—especially into the women’s restroom—then something has already happened. But this time, I want to talk about something my wife saw when she was a child: what people today might call a “little old man fairy.”
The Little Old Man in Her Room
When we first got married, my wife once told me, “When I was little, I saw a tiny old man.”
Recently, I was finally able to hear the story in more detail.
She saw this “little old man” when she was in the lower grades of elementary school. One day, she opened the door to her room—and there he was. Their eyes met.
According to my wife, the little old man also seemed to realize that she could see him. He made a startled expression, as if he had been caught.
She says he was holding a hoe and seemed to be making a motion like he was about to till the ground. Just as he raised the hoe, he and my wife came face to face.
He was wearing overalls and a camouflage-patterned long-sleeve shirt. He did not seem to be wearing a hat. His face, she said, was truly that of an older man. He even had stubble.
The strange part is that there was obviously no field inside my wife’s room. She has no idea what he was trying to do there with a hoe.
A Giant Tengu Face in the Buddhist Altar Room
Around the time my wife was in the upper grades of elementary school, or perhaps in junior high, she says she saw something else at her family home: a tengu.
For readers unfamiliar with Japanese folklore, tengu are supernatural beings often associated with mountains, long noses, and a mix of divine, monstrous, and mysterious traits.
At the time, I was half doubtful when I heard this story. But according to my wife, she came home from school one day and opened the room where the family Buddhist altar was kept. In the middle of the room, there was a huge tengu face.
Why a tengu?
It is true that her family home was in an area with many small, wooded hills, almost like satoyama countryside. There were also many farming households growing crops nearby. Still, why would something like that appear specifically inside her family home?
Her impression of the tengu was very simple: “A red face with a long nose.” That was all she clearly remembered.
To be honest, I still find the tengu part hard to believe. But perhaps people like my wife, who seem to see things not of this world, really do encounter such things from time to time.
A Black Figure in My Family’s Storehouse
There was another incident when I brought my wife back to my own family home. We went with our children during Obon, the summer season in Japan when families honor the spirits of their ancestors.
My family home is in a rural district. From the city, it takes about 40 to 50 minutes to get there. Even the nearest convenience store is about 10 to 15 minutes away.
Because our children were still small, we decided to stay overnight. During the day, we were looking at the large storehouse in the yard. It was the kind of rural storage building you often see in the countryside, big enough to fit four or five cars.
My wife seemed to sense something there.
That night, as we were getting ready to sleep, she said to me, “There was someone in that storehouse.”
It had been daytime when we looked at it. The storehouse was dim inside, but I hadn’t felt anyone there at all.
“There’s no way,” I told her.
But my wife didn’t back down. Since the children were already asleep, it was easier for her to talk.
“Someone you can’t see,” she said.
At that point, I understood. This was another one of those spiritual things. I decided to listen carefully.
She seemed a little relieved as she explained what she had seen in the back of the storehouse during the day.
“I could only see it vaguely, but I think it was probably a man. A black human-shaped shadow was in the storehouse… doing radio calisthenics.”
I have to admit, that detail caught me off guard.
Still, it seems that things like this are always entering my wife’s field of vision. In this case, the presence did not seem aggressive. It was simply there, inside the storehouse.
Of course, there was no way I could tell my father and mother, who live at the family home, about something like that.
Later, though, something about it made sense to me. There are many graves near my family home. And since it was Obon, perhaps spirits of that kind were present—or at least visible to my wife—around the area during that season.
For travelers interested in rural folklore, remember that family homes, old storehouses, and graveyards are often private or sacred spaces. Enjoy stories like these respectfully, and never enter unfamiliar property without permission.
Japanese Language
私の妻が常々、霊的現象を経験していることをお話してきましたが 先日も、妻が職場の夜勤のさい、トイレに行こうとすると… ぼんやりとした霊が、ついてきたそうです。トイレに入った妻でしたが、カギはしなかったそうです。もしカギをした状態で、何かしら起きたら逃げられないから…！とのことですが すでに、霊が用を足す、トイレ…しかも女性トイレにまでついてくる、こようとする こと自体、何かしら起きている！と思うのですが… さて、今回は、妻が幼少期に見た、今でいう 「 妖精おじさん 」についてです。
妻は、結婚当初、 「 私、小さいころ…小さなおじさんを見たことがある！」 と言っていました。先日のその話を詳しく聞けたので、お伝えしようと思います。…妻が見た、小さなおじさんのこと。妻が「小さなおじさん」を見たのは、小学生の低学年の頃。自分の部屋のドアを開けると、小さなおじさんがいて… 目があったそうです。小さなおじさんも、妻と目が合ったことに気づいて、「はっ」とした 表情だったといいます。妻の話しでは、鍬（くわ）を持って、何かを耕そうとするしぐさ、鍬を上に上げたとき、妻と遭遇したようです。
小さなおじさんは、オーバーホールに迷彩柄の長袖。帽子のようなものは被っておらず、顔は… ホントに、おじさんだったそうです。しかも無精ひげを生やしていたようです。…手に鍬を持っていたということですが、 妻の部屋には畑などもありませんし、何をしようとしていたのかまでは わからなかったようです。部屋に天狗の大きな顔。。同じく、妻が小学生高学年か、中学生の頃、 妻が住んでいた実家で、 天狗を見たことがある ！そうです。当時の私は、半ば半信半疑でしたが、 妻が学校から帰り、仏壇がある部屋を開けた時、 部屋の真ん中に、大きな天狗の顔があったそうです。
何故に、天狗？確かに妻の実家は里山みたいな 小さな山がいくつもあり、農作物を育てる農家も多いが… しかし、よりによって妻の実家に？。この時の天狗の印象は、「 …赤い長い鼻！」だけだそうです。ちょっと、私も天狗は信じられないのですが その、この世のもの以外のモノが見える妻のような 人たちは、きっと遭遇しているのかもしれません。実家の納屋に…黒い人影！。。妻を連れて、実家に里帰りした時のこともお伝えします。子どもたちも一緒に、私の実家へ…お盆に帰った時のことです。
実家は、郡部にあり、市内からだと40分～50分はかかる場所にあります。近くのコンビニに行くまで、10分～15分はかかります。まだ、子どもたちも小さかったため、泊まることになり 庭にある大きな納屋を見ていた時でした。妻は何かしら感じ取っていたみたいです。その夜、就寝時に妻が 「 …あの納屋に誰かいた！」 そう、話しかけてきました。納屋は車4～5台が置けるくらいのもので 田舎ではよく見かけます。薄暗いとはいえ お昼間だったし、特に誰かがいるなんて気配はありませんでした。
「…そんなワケないだろ？」 しかし、妻は引き下がりません。子どもたちも眠っているので、話しやすいようです。「 あなたには、見えない、誰かよ！」 …なるほど、また、その霊的なものなのか… すべてを察知して、妻の話しに耳を傾けることに。妻は昼間、納屋の奥で見かけた、誰かについて… 少し、安心したように話します。「 ぼやっとしか見えないんだけど、たぶん男性だと思う。納屋で黒い人影？が、ラジオ体操してた！」 …ちょっと、拍子抜けしましたが、どうやら妻の視界には ほぼほぼ、霊的なものが入ってくるようです。
特に、攻撃的な霊ということもなく、納屋にいる…それだけのようです。もちろん、実家に住む、父と母にはこんなこと言えるハズもありませんが。あとで腑に落ちたのですが、実家のそばには 沢山のお墓があり、時期的にお盆ということで このあたり周辺には、その類の霊が、その時期だけ いる・見えたのだろう、ということでした
