Aside from the Summer High School Baseball Tournament at Koshien Stadium and NHK documentaries reminiscing about World War II, mid-August tends to be a quiet time and most of Japan's weekly magazines skip an issue.
Still, this is the time of the year when ghosts traditionally make their appearance, and some magazines run stories about frightening phenomena, just part of the huge genre of the supernatural that includes books — aimed at both juveniles and adults — manga and animated films.
In past columns we've covered some of the famous places in Tokyo and environs where paranormal incidents have reportedly occurred. There's a tunnel in Sendagaya, Shibuya Ward that late-night taxi drivers are said to insist on avoiding, and also a public telephone booth in a park in Nerima Ward, where nocturnal apparitions supposedly appear.