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2015 Occult Spots Across Japan

Title: Occult Spots Across Japan

Folklore Type: legend, memorate, folkloresque

Contents:

"[Siliconera] The story takes place in a fictional mountain known for suicides, in Japan there is a rather infamous place, Aokigahara, known for suicides. Was Hikami Mountain inspired by this? What other elements inspired the game’s story?

TO: I think it was Nintendo that proposed the idea of using real occult spots in Japan as motifs for this game. It was based on the idea that a lot of players wanted to experience places like that in a game world, places where anyone would think “They sound neat, but I wouldn’t want to go near them in real life”. I think that adds more reality to the design, too, using real-life places as motifs.

MS: The idea of using the occult spots across Japan as motifs definitely came from Nintendo. When they started by suggesting we use a famous suicide spot as a setting, I thought that was some material I just had to try working with, even if it’d make the story a lot heavier.

There are assorted other occult spots that saw use as motifs, too. The ghost experience I had when I visited Mount Osore in Aomori, a place in Japan with a frightening reputation, occupies a lot of weight in my mind. There, I heard a group of children’s voices, continually playing in the forest. A woman walking the same path was crying and sobbing, as if possessed by something, and I fell to the ground, unable to move. That voice was something I should never have heard. It was the kind of voice trying to invite you to the other side.

I also went once to Tojinbo, which is a series of oceanside cliffs. Someone had chiseled graffiti into the rocks that read “Life is nothing but sadness, pain, and hatred”. The moment I read it, I felt the sensation of someone lifting me up from behind. I must have had no business reading that inscription, either.

In both of those cases, resonating with someone’s emotions led me to receive an invitation to death. I made use of those experiences here, too. In this game, you have the ability to touch ghosts in order to see their cause of death and their secrets. The more you learn, the more you’re invited toward them; the story is set up to bring you close to death like that."

Context:

In this interview excerpt, Osawa and Shibata discuss Nintendo's request to use of locations in Japan with supernatural legends as inspiration for locations in Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water. Osawa notes that this would give an opportunity to players to experience these places without needing to travel directly there. Shibata goes on to describe some of his own paranormal encounters at different locations in Japan.

This interview was given ahead of the the European and North American release of Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water for the Nintendo Wii U console in 2015. This is the fifth game in the primary series. The game is later remastered for release to modern consoles and the PC in 2021.

Source Information

Original Source Citation:
Osawa, Toru and Makoto Shibata. "How Fatal Frame's Creator Scares Players and His Real Life Ghost Stories." Siliconera. November, 3, 2015. https://www.siliconera.com/how-fatal-frames-creator-scares-players-and-his-real-life-ghost-stories/.
Source Type: interview
Source URL: https://www.siliconera.com/how-fatal-frames-creator-scares-players-and-his-real-life-ghost-stories/
Date Published: 2015-11-03
Date Collected: 2023-08-03
Associated File Name: Osawa_Makoto-2015-How Fatal Frames Creator Scares Players.pdf
  1. Bibliography-Fatal Frame Collection
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  3. 2015-Recreate_the_Atmosphere