The Last Stop: A True Japanese Ghost Story of the Final Train Home

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In Japan, missing the shūden—the last train of the night—is a costly mistake. For one Japanese salaryman, however, catching it was nearly fatal. This is a terrifying true story that has circulated online for years, a modern ghost story known simply as “The Last Stop.” It’s a chilling reminder that sometimes, the most horrifying destinations aren’t on any map.

A Strange Encounter on a Deserted Platform

The story begins with an ordinary office worker, exhausted after a long day of overtime. After making a mistake at work, he was forced to stay late and now found himself sprinting through the station, desperate to catch the last train home. He made it to the platform just in time, collapsing onto a bench to catch his breath. “Thank god,” he thought, “A taxi would have cost a fortune.”

As he waited, a station employee came running up the stairs, his eyes fixed on him. The man approached and, in a flat, robotic voice, said, “Excuse me, the train won’t be coming to this platform.”

Confused, the salaryman asked which platform he should go to. “Please, follow me,” the employee replied, turning to lead him away. The salaryman felt a sense of unease. The employee’s demeanor was cold and lifeless, his voice oddly mechanical. And despite having run up the stairs, he wasn’t even slightly out of breath. “Shouldn’t there have been an announcement if the platform changed?” he wondered, but decided it was easier to just follow along.

The employee led him down the stairs and across to the opposite platform. “The train will be arriving shortly,” the strange man said, before turning and descending the stairs again. At that exact moment, the last train pulled into the station.

A Train Full of Stares

To the salaryman’s surprise, the train was packed. Usually, the last train was nearly empty, but tonight it was as crowded as a rush-hour express. Every seat was taken, and people stood holding the straps. Annoyed but resigned, he stepped aboard and grabbed a free strap.

As the doors closed and the train began to move, it happened. Every single passenger—salarymen, students, old men and women—turned their heads in unison and stared at him. Their faces were completely blank, their eyes fixed on him with an unnerving intensity.

He wanted to scream, to shout “What are you looking at?!” but he was paralyzed by a pure, primal fear. He tried to avert his gaze, his eyes darting around the carriage, when a voice crackled over the train’s intercom. It was the same flat, mechanical voice as the station employee.

“Now you can go to the final stop, too.”

As he recognized the voice, his consciousness began to fade. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was the faces of the passengers, their blank expressions twisting into silent, knowing smiles.

The Awakening

He was awoken by a voice calling his name and someone shaking him violently. He opened his eyes to see a young, frantic station employee staring down at him.

“Sir, are you okay?! Wake up!”

“Wh-what?” the salaryman mumbled, confused.

“You can’t sleep here!” the employee shouted, his voice a mix of anger and concern.

The salaryman looked around, trying to understand his situation. He was not on a train. He was lying directly on the train tracks, his neck resting on one of the rails, his body tucked into the small evacuation space beside the track.

“You weren’t here on the pre-service inspection!” the employee yelled. “If we hadn’t found you, you could have been run over!”

The chilling realization hit him. If he hadn’t been discovered, the first train of the morning would have… A cold dread washed over him.

He was pulled onto the platform, and the police were called. He tried to explain his story—the strange employee, the crowded train, the staring passengers—but no one believed him. They accused him of being drunk, of making up pathetic excuses.

He wasn’t arrested, but the incident was reported to his company. He was severely reprimanded, and though he wasn’t fired, the cold stares and whispers from his colleagues made his life unbearable. Eventually, he resigned and moved back to his hometown.

He now works on his family’s farm, living a quiet life. He tries to convince himself that what happened that night was just a hallucination, a nightmare brought on by the stress and exhaustion of his old life. But the memory of the silent, staring passengers and the mechanical voice on the intercom will haunt him forever.

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