Dead Men Don't Pay Cab Fare
As if phantom hitchhikers weren't bad enough, now they're stiffing us.
In 2011, the northeastern coast of Japan suffered a devastating tsunami, following one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history. Entire towns were wiped off the map and three reactors melted down at the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant, causing a Chernobyl-style disaster. More than 15,800 people were killed, including 3000 in the city of Ishinomaki alone, a hard-hit commercial-fishing hub.
In the years since the disaster, Ishinomaki has been steadily rebuilding - and as people returned, they noticed some strange things. Odd noises would wake people up at night. Shadowy figures would appear outside of windows and doors, or wander through the streets and along beaches. People would report seeing glimpses of deceased family members, and at least one person reported being possessed by spirits. But Yuka Kudo, a graduate student from Tohoku Gakuin University, documented a particular strange phenomenon experienced specifically by taxi drivers.
In 2016, Kudo asked Ishinomaki 100 cabbies the question “Did you have any unusual experiences after the disaster?” Some were annoyed by the question, and many refused to speak to her. But she heard hauntingly similar tales from seven drivers: A passenger - usually a young adult- would get into their cab, and then vanish before reaching their destination.
One driver related a heartbreaking story of a young woman who asked to be taken to the Minamihama district, an area that had been almost entirely leveled by the tsunami and which hadn’t yet been restored. The girl was wearing a heavy winter coat in the dead of summer, and was drenched though the weather was dry. The driver asked if she was sure, because there was “nothing at Miniamihama anymore”. The passenger thought for a second, then quietly asked, “Have I died?” When the driver turned around to reply, there was nobody there.
Another passenger asked to be taken to a residential address, but upon arriving at the destination the driver realized the house had been destroyed. As he asked, “Are you sure this is the right place?” he, too, realized his backseat was now empty.
Ghostly passengers are hardly limited to Japan. Just like the traditional urban legends surrounding “phantom hitchhikers”, taxi cab ghosts spring up stateside as well: particularly in the US’s arguably most-haunted city, New Orleans. The phenomenon is not as well-documented as it is in Japan, but rumor has it that cabbies won’t bother with certain areas of the city late at night since the chance of picking up a ghost passenger is just a little bit too high for comfort. (Some have theorized that NOLA’s ghostly passengers may be victims of Hurricane Katrina, suggesting an intriguing parallel in terms of water-based natural disasters.)
By and large, the Japanese drivers considered their ghostly passengers to be tragic figures in need of help, and would often complete the journey and open the door for their now-invisible passenger just in case they still needed to get where they were going. One driver was quoted as saying, “It is not strange to see a ghost. If I encounter a ghost again, I will accept it as my passenger.” New Orleans isn’t quite a charitable. Drivers and cab companies insist that, being hearty New Orleans stock who aren’t easily phased by spooky stuff, it’s not so much fear that keeps them from picking up passengers in the “haunted” areas of town - they just don’t want to waste their time on anyone who’s going to (forgive me) ghost without paying.
Sources:
What To Know About The Ishinomaki Ghost Sightings In Unsolved Mysteries
Ghosts Don’t Hide in New Orleans
Taxi drivers see 'ghosts' after tsunami
"Have I died?" After Japan's 2011 tsunami, taxi drivers picked up 'ghost passengers'.