“I’m already dead…” — The Ghost Girl Haunting a Remote Island Hot Spring in Japan

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In the southern reaches of Japan’s Kagoshima Prefecture, a six-hour ferry ride aboard the Toshima 2 takes you to a mysterious island. There, hidden among dense forests and rugged coasts, lies a quiet, unmanned hot spring known only as “X Onsen.” Originally built for local residents and fishing tourists, the place now carries a reputation that keeps even the islanders away — for reasons far more chilling than you might expect.

The Girl in the Yellow Kimono

When I arrived on the island, I met a man named A-san, who has been running a local guesthouse for nearly 40 years. Introduced by a traveling komusō monk I had met in Kagoshima City, A-san told me a story he’s never forgotten.

“Back in the 1960s and ’70s,” he began, “a doctor who regularly visited the island by boat claimed to have seen a young girl in a pale yellow kimono picking flowers alone near X Onsen. It struck him as odd — the spring is nearly 9 kilometers from the village, and she was clearly too young to be there by herself. So he called out to her.”

The girl looked up, tears forming in her eyes.

“I’m already dead…” she whispered — and then began to cry softly.

The doctor tried to bring her back to the village, but before he could reach her, she vanished into the surrounding jungle. As it turns out, the girl may have been the spirit of a child named H-chan, who died around 1955. She was a young foster girl who had stepped on a rusty nail and contracted tetanus. Although emergency aid was attempted from Kagoshima via helicopter, severe weather made airdropping medicine impossible. She passed away that very night.

The ghost spotted at X Onsen — a small girl in a yellow kimono — matches H-chan’s description exactly.

The Abandoned Onsen with a Lingering Presence

X Onsen itself is a simple structure: a gender-separated bathhouse with round stone tubs and large windows that once allowed warm sunlight to stream inside. An adjacent tatami-matted hall served as a resting area for visitors. Though still physically intact, the site has long since been abandoned and is now wrapped in silence.

Despite its isolation, the hot spring is still known among adventurous travelers — especially those seeking out “haunted” locations. Yet locals remain wary of even talking about it. When the komusō monk I mentioned earlier tried to ask around about staying at the spring, most islanders avoided answering. One fisherman finally told him the truth: X Onsen is considered a haunted place even by the locals themselves.

The monk gave up on his plan and instead stayed at a nearby guesthouse.

A Whisper in the Tatami Room

I don’t consider myself spiritually sensitive, but curiosity got the better of me. So, with A-san accompanying me, I ventured to X Onsen during the daytime. “If the girl shows up, we’ll just run,” he joked.

But as we sat down in the large hall, a chilling atmosphere began to settle in. The light felt dimmer than it should have been. And when I strained to listen — I swear I heard the faint, shallow breathing of a little girl. A-san, who had just bathed in the spring minutes earlier, suddenly stood up and said:

“We should go. We’ve stayed too long. She might be coming.”

Panic set in. He rushed to close the door and practically dragged me to his small car. We drove off without looking back.

I don’t think I’ll ever return to X Onsen. If H-chan truly lingers there, I don’t want to know what might happen if she decides to appear. That eerie energy — the yōki — is something I hope to never feel again.

— Article and photo by Taro Kokuramoji

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