Fear ★★★★☆ / Danger ★★★★☆
19.
Hidden deep within the mountains of Tsubata, Ishikawa, Ushikubi Tunnel is one of Hokuriku’s most notorious haunted roads. Also called the Miyajima Tunnel, it has been featured on television and whispered about for decades, attracting explorers from far beyond the region.
The legends here are chilling. Locals speak of a Jizo statue that bleeds, of an old woman’s ghost that forces her way into passing cars, and of headless warriors chasing intruders through the night. Some drivers claim that when they turn off their headlights inside the tunnel and switch them back on, bloody handprints appear across the windshield. Accidents near this place are often blamed on its curse.
The tunnel itself is narrow, just wide enough for one car, with no lights to break the suffocating darkness. Water drips steadily from the mossy walls, echoing like distant footsteps. Visitors describe strange, rhythmic thuds reverberating through the passage, as if something unseen follows close behind.
Beyond the exit lies Deaibashi Bridge, another spot infamous for eerie sounds and inexplicable presences. Now closed to vehicles, the road is left to decay, forcing visitors to walk into the oppressive silence. Ushikubi Tunnel is no longer just an abandoned route—it is a monument of fear, where superstition and tragedy converge.