"Actually I was wavering over whether or not to publish this story," writes Kyoto-based compiler Nobuo Yuki in "Wailing of a Restless Ghost." It's one of a series of five books from publisher Bunko Ginga-Do under the title "Exceptionally Scary True Ghost Stories" — which many in Japan like to read to chill out during the dog days of summer.
This particular tale is about a mountain said to be crawling with rhinoceros beetles. There was a time when dedicated collectors were willing to pay as much as ¥300,000 for large specimens, measuring about 8 centimeters in length — enough in those days to buy a good used car.
The narrator had obtained directions to a remote mountain area supposedly teeming with beetles. They are best hunted after dark, so he jumped into a car one night and headed to the area with a couple of friends.