The forest of Yawata is infamous in Japan, so much that its full name—Yawata no Yabushirazu—has become synonymous with mazes, later evolving into an idiom meaning “to get lost.” Even today, entry into the forest is strictly forbidden and an eerie atmosphere surrounds it. Although the forest is often sited as a haunted spot, it’s not ghosts that make this place spooky, but something else. Since at least the early 19th century, it has been said that those who enter Yawata no Yabushirazu are bound to get spirited away, never to…
