Creepy is subjective of course, but it’s pretty high on the list for the most isolated and/or inconveniently-located platform in the country. The only access is via a narrow footbridge leading to a 486-step staircase that goes 70m underground (230ft). Unlike most other 50+ meter deep train stations, there are no elevators and no escalators. The only way in or out of the station is via those stairs, which makes platform-to-street time a non-trivial part of the overall journey.
rayiner · 1h ago
Why was it built like this?
bdonlan · 1h ago
It was originally a switching/signalling waypoint, and later started seasonal passenger service for skiiers in 1932, before later switching to year-round service. Apparently it used to be a popular hiking destination as well, but with the establishment of more convenient rail and road routes became less popular in the 80s.
toss1 · 1h ago
Convenient — your hike (or climbing with skiis) starts immediately at the train platform!
koakuma-chan · 52m ago
I would rather take stairs instead a really long escalator, it's scary af (when going down).
gruez · 49m ago
Really? I've gone down long escalators before and it doesn't feel scary, and I'm scared of heights.
koakuma-chan · 48m ago
I took this[0] in Kyiv, it was really uncomfortable. Apparently it's "Deepest Metro station in the world, and a long escalator ride" [1]
I think it has more to do with lighting as well as the height of the ceiling. In NYC the escalator going to Grand Central Madison is very long and yet it doesn't feel uncomfortable at all. It has way more lighting than your picture and the ceiling seems higher too.
zoeysmithe · 47m ago
Yep its not creepy its just a train station. I live in a big city and not-well-lit stations are common and its just a boring fact of life no one even notices here. But to an outsider trying to exoticize things, suddenly its "creepy" or "weird." I mean "the descent is terrifying?" It just stairs. We have this in DC, NYC, and Chicago. To a Chicagoan like me, these 'terrifying tunnels' are just our train station and where we go everyday. There's a real anti-urbanism and anti-public trans aspect here that is troubling.
The notes aren't "Silent Hill" like but a cute way human social need expresses itself. Its community. Its not weird or scary at all, in fact its the opposite.
The alternative to 'terrifying' stairs and trains are the actual terror of driving which has a much higher injury and morality rate than riding a train.
No one wants to have this conversation but if you wonder how egyptomania happened, well, its happening here with technies fetishizing Japan and its people, especially its women.
I wish orientalism was taken more seriously. Japan has sort of become this fictional and stereotypical thing and it percolates down with stuff like this. Its just a train station. Its someone's boring work commute. Its not GITS or a catgirl hideout or cyberpunk in real life whatever. Its a place that doesnt have the social, political, and capitalist capital to get much needed renovations, same with the many 'creepy' stations on Chicago's west and south sides, which the North side ones (wealthy, white dominated) have had renovations, new paint, new lighting, etc. Its just the everyday corruption of how many societies work.
Go ahead an put "DOAI EKI" into google images. It looks quite normal. The "tokyo cowboy" website inserted that dark green filter. Its just a boring, if not ugly, tunnel with a but of colorful moss to break up the monotony:
If anything, the external facade is quite striking with its big triangle face. I mean, this is just a train tunnel, albeit a deep one. Not the Chernobyl exclusion zone and entirely safe and honestly, if you're anything like me, you'll enjoy the quiet and seclusion of a train tunnel.
I've been to Japan and when people find this out and start ranting to me about how they'd love to go for reason x, its very hard for me to tell them it isn't actually cybperpunk/anime heaven, but just a normal developed economy and it and its people are not very different from them, many of whom without a strong interest in the otaku culture they think defines this entire society. Nor is it easy to talk about its many serious political issues, as Japan has many faults orientalism doesn't present. Its the same working class people of you with the same worries as you. Maybe they ride the train more than you but their tunnels and stairs aren't "terrifying," they're instead the cherished memories of their hometowns. Maybe the L in Chicago is ugly to you, but its my beloved train system I ride every day. The L is the source of many of my warm childhood and young adult memories the same way stations like this are to the Japanese there too. I dont know if its accurate to portray these systems as weird exotic and dangerous things. Its just everyday rail. Its our daily lives.
So much of this orientalism is dishonesty to get engagement, fame, ad impressions, etc. I'd love a good hearted and honest appreciation and criticism of Japan's rail lines over sensationalist junk like this. The Atlas Obscura style of writing and profit-making is ruining the internet and making people divorced from the actual reality of these places and its people. You get the McTourist version of things that don't reflect the reality and people there much, or if at all.
I think the older crowd remembers what it was like before wikipedia got big, near everything was sensationalist and 'blogger' and 'personal diary' like this. You couldn't just bring up the data and facts about stations like this, instead you'd be pummeled with "Atlas Obscura" style narratives like this made to be sensational and often inaccurate and engaging in stereotypes. The people who wrote this article are motivated by money, not information sharing, hence the style. I dislike we're moving back to "Joe and Janes facts on Japan webring" type writing. I really hope people stop and think about this stuff and stop promoting this kind of stuff, especially now when you can just tell an AI to write Obscura-style sensationalism trivially.
jfoster · 33m ago
I caught a train through this station last year without knowing about it. It was very noticeably different from any other station I've caught a train through in Japan.
I generally agree with you that a lot of ridiculous fake information about Japan gets posted online, though. (especially in spammy Facebook groups and AI-assisted Instagram reels)
zoeysmithe · 19m ago
That's fine but were you terrified? Scared and having a panic attack and clutching your purse? Were you worried you ended up in "Silent Hill" like the author of this ridiculous sensationalized piece?
I'm guessing like any sane person you just noticed this is a deep tunnel and that's interesting on its own and can be written about and expressed non-sensationally and without Matrix-like filters on photos.
Imagine instead of exoticizing and Orientalizing this we had an article about its unique architecture style, who the architects were, why it is so deep, quotes from the people there, etc. Its bothersome to me that we're regerssing back to the world of grifters and sensationalists. I feel like the popularity of Atlas Obscura-style stuff is a sad reflection of the times we're in. We collectively decided facts, respect, diversity, respecting other cultures, and ethics and merit are put on the backburner for feels, sensationalism, ego pleasing, and stereotypes.
deadbabe · 25m ago
In a world where everyone already knows and has seen everything, people will seek to make mundane things more mysterious and exotic. Just the way it is.
No comments yet
ziml77 · 1h ago
The only thing that is making this creepy is the color grading on the photos. Here's the first video I found of the station, which shows the stairs and the platform are well-lit https://youtu.be/V3vYuMdCsqs?t=557
kingnight · 47m ago
Nice find. Agreed. The concrete bunker isolation in this clip is an entirely different vibe that's interesting on its own, doesn't need the horror color grade.
Anonyneko · 1h ago
Japan's creepiest station is objectively the Kisaragi Station.
Japan train stations are interesting. Another interesting set of stations are the so-called “train stations of despair”. These stations, particularly in Tokyo prefecture, are in the middle of no where at the end of a line. If you live out towards these stations and you’re coming home from a night out in Shinjuku on the last train and you so happen to fall asleep and miss your stop, you’ll likely wake up at one of these stations of despair. There’s no return until the next morning.
mcbobgorge · 51m ago
There's something similar in Philly- I went to Temple University and many drunk kids would either fall asleep on the Broad Street Line or mistakenly take the last express train, which skips over both of the Temple stops. As a result, you have to get off somewhere in North Philly (the worst part of the city) and wait for someone to pick you up.
Different kind of despair than Tokyo lol
jfoster · 50m ago
I caught a local train from Minakami to Niigata last year and went through this station. I hadn't heard of it at the time, but it felt like you might imagine from reading this.
Condensation built up on the train windows. Afterward, there seemed to be a very active thunderstorm outside and it was around sunset time. The condensation made it impossible to see out the window besides some very surreal orange/purple tones and flashes of light. I hope I can experience that again one day, but I've only made the trip once so I'm not sure how common or rare it might be.
chrisjharris · 1h ago
This is a creepy station, green filters notwithstanding. The article repeats this statement that I've seen elsewhere and always found pretty questionable - that 800 people have died on Tanigawa. I've no idea where this data comes from but it seems very unlikely. If you just want to get to the top by the simplest route then it's a non-technical day hike up a not-very-high mountain. It's also a multi-pitch rock climbing area but I'd struggle to imagine that 800 rock climbers have killed themselves there over the past 100 or so years.
binaryturtle · 1h ago
I visited this station ~3 years ago myself. There's nothing creepy about it at all. It's just unique and in that sense pretty interesting.
There's a draft/wind going through the tunnel… that perhaps can sound a bit spooky for folks with lively imagination?
michalu · 2h ago
This looks like every other metro station in Paris.
No comments yet
junon · 23m ago
Looks like half of Berlin's train stations.
awaymazdacx5 · 31m ago
murakami was entropic: swimming + train stations
tonyhart7 · 1h ago
the only spooky thing is how much stairs you must climb not the lighting lol
dudefeliciano · 2h ago
i guarantee there are creepier stations in berlin - not talking about the appearance of the station, but rather its inhabitants.
kuschkufan · 2h ago
certainly, certainly... i however guarantee comment OP is full of it
drewlesueur · 2h ago
Backrooms vibes
igvadaimon · 2h ago
This is where they filmed Neo vs Smith
rvnx · 1h ago
If you are interested into it, Matrix 1 was filmed in Sydney, Australia (because it was cheaper)
rthnbgrredf · 2h ago
Do you have a green filter on all of your images to make it look more creepy?
Hmm. The article photo is misleading enough that I won't ever click on any other of their posts...
cedilla · 2h ago
Wow, that looks to be very well-lit. The bad lighting was the only really spooky thing about the station.
tonyhart7 · 1h ago
ok its not too bad
the only spooky thing is how much stairs you must climb not the lighting lol
ape4 · 1h ago
Can anyone translate the sign?
varjolintu · 1h ago
ようこそ 日本一のモグラえき 土合へ
Translates to something like: "Welcome to Doai, Japan's number one mole station (mogura-eki)".
FuriouslyAdrift · 1h ago
Welcome to "Japan's No. 1 Mole Station"
-The staircase is 338 meters long and has 462 steps.
Climb the stairs to the top of the 143m (24 steps)
Go through the connecting passage and you will reach the ticket gate.
The elevation of the down platform is 583 meters above sea level, and the elevation of the station building is 653.7 meters, meaning the difference in elevation between the station building and the down platform is 70.7 meters.
It takes about 10 minutes to get to the ticket gate.
Please be careful of your step when climbing.
Doai Station
speerer · 1h ago
Autotranslate below. The 'unclear' was added by me and originally read "Welcome to Japan's No.1 Google", which seems like it might be ab error.
Welcome to "Japan's No.1 [unclear]"
・This staircase is 338 meters long and has 462 steps. Climb up the steps and go through a 143 meter (24 step) connecting passage to reach the ticket gate.
Also, the altitude of this downhill platform is 583 meters above sea level, and the altitude is 653.7 meters, and there is a difference in elevation of 70.7 meters between this and the downhill platform.
It takes approximately 10 minutes to reach the ticket gate.
Please be careful where you step.
Insanity · 2h ago
Was thinking so too, green is a colour that makes humans feel something is 'off' / makes us feel uncomfortable. The Matrix used the same colour tone to differentiate inside/outside The Matrix.
Ylpertnodi · 1h ago
Why do surgeons wear green?
FuriouslyAdrift · 1h ago
Visual contrast with blood and organs.
woodpanel · 1h ago
Same reason they wear blue too: Less visual strain on the eyes.
woodpanel · 1h ago
> that makes humans feel something is 'off'
Uhm, yo do realize that the human eye can differentiate the most colors in the green spectrum? Green is literally inscribed in our genes to not be "off" but rather our home.
adrian_b · 1h ago
Most colors are differentiated in the segment between yellowish green and reddish orange, passing through yellow and orange.
Inside the green segment, there is little color differentiation. All the green hues between 510 nm and 540 nm wavelength look pretty similar, while in the yellow-orange segment a change in wavelength of 1 nm may cause an easily noticeable change in hue.
Also in the blue-green segment, between blue and green, there is easy color differentiation, with the hue changing strongly even for small wavelength differences.
Inside the red, green and blue segments there is little ability to differentiate the colors, unlike in the regions between these segments. This is exactly as expected, because only in the segments between the primary colors you have 2 photoreceptors in the eye that are excited simultaneously, in a ratio that is a function of the color frequency/wavelength. In the frequency/wavelength segments where only 1 of the photoreceptors is excited, the ability to differentiate hues is lost.
Insanity · 1h ago
I'd assume that's context dependent? Nature (natural green) vs things that look natural but aren't. e.g, green hue on a building?
But I'm no expert on this :)
jfoster · 47m ago
Seems like there probably is a green filter, but from my memory, the station was quite dark, so the filter might be setting the right mood.
[0]: https://dynamic-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-o/15/9...
[1]: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294474-d80742...
The notes aren't "Silent Hill" like but a cute way human social need expresses itself. Its community. Its not weird or scary at all, in fact its the opposite.
The alternative to 'terrifying' stairs and trains are the actual terror of driving which has a much higher injury and morality rate than riding a train.
No one wants to have this conversation but if you wonder how egyptomania happened, well, its happening here with technies fetishizing Japan and its people, especially its women.
I wish orientalism was taken more seriously. Japan has sort of become this fictional and stereotypical thing and it percolates down with stuff like this. Its just a train station. Its someone's boring work commute. Its not GITS or a catgirl hideout or cyberpunk in real life whatever. Its a place that doesnt have the social, political, and capitalist capital to get much needed renovations, same with the many 'creepy' stations on Chicago's west and south sides, which the North side ones (wealthy, white dominated) have had renovations, new paint, new lighting, etc. Its just the everyday corruption of how many societies work.
Go ahead an put "DOAI EKI" into google images. It looks quite normal. The "tokyo cowboy" website inserted that dark green filter. Its just a boring, if not ugly, tunnel with a but of colorful moss to break up the monotony:
https://wikimapia.org/16698934/Doai-Station-%E5%9C%9F%E5%90%...
If anything, the external facade is quite striking with its big triangle face. I mean, this is just a train tunnel, albeit a deep one. Not the Chernobyl exclusion zone and entirely safe and honestly, if you're anything like me, you'll enjoy the quiet and seclusion of a train tunnel.
I've been to Japan and when people find this out and start ranting to me about how they'd love to go for reason x, its very hard for me to tell them it isn't actually cybperpunk/anime heaven, but just a normal developed economy and it and its people are not very different from them, many of whom without a strong interest in the otaku culture they think defines this entire society. Nor is it easy to talk about its many serious political issues, as Japan has many faults orientalism doesn't present. Its the same working class people of you with the same worries as you. Maybe they ride the train more than you but their tunnels and stairs aren't "terrifying," they're instead the cherished memories of their hometowns. Maybe the L in Chicago is ugly to you, but its my beloved train system I ride every day. The L is the source of many of my warm childhood and young adult memories the same way stations like this are to the Japanese there too. I dont know if its accurate to portray these systems as weird exotic and dangerous things. Its just everyday rail. Its our daily lives.
So much of this orientalism is dishonesty to get engagement, fame, ad impressions, etc. I'd love a good hearted and honest appreciation and criticism of Japan's rail lines over sensationalist junk like this. The Atlas Obscura style of writing and profit-making is ruining the internet and making people divorced from the actual reality of these places and its people. You get the McTourist version of things that don't reflect the reality and people there much, or if at all.
I think the older crowd remembers what it was like before wikipedia got big, near everything was sensationalist and 'blogger' and 'personal diary' like this. You couldn't just bring up the data and facts about stations like this, instead you'd be pummeled with "Atlas Obscura" style narratives like this made to be sensational and often inaccurate and engaging in stereotypes. The people who wrote this article are motivated by money, not information sharing, hence the style. I dislike we're moving back to "Joe and Janes facts on Japan webring" type writing. I really hope people stop and think about this stuff and stop promoting this kind of stuff, especially now when you can just tell an AI to write Obscura-style sensationalism trivially.
I generally agree with you that a lot of ridiculous fake information about Japan gets posted online, though. (especially in spammy Facebook groups and AI-assisted Instagram reels)
I'm guessing like any sane person you just noticed this is a deep tunnel and that's interesting on its own and can be written about and expressed non-sensationally and without Matrix-like filters on photos.
Imagine instead of exoticizing and Orientalizing this we had an article about its unique architecture style, who the architects were, why it is so deep, quotes from the people there, etc. Its bothersome to me that we're regerssing back to the world of grifters and sensationalists. I feel like the popularity of Atlas Obscura-style stuff is a sad reflection of the times we're in. We collectively decided facts, respect, diversity, respecting other cultures, and ethics and merit are put on the backburner for feels, sensationalism, ego pleasing, and stereotypes.
No comments yet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kisaragi_Station
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshioka-Kaitei_Station (located 149 meters below sea level, which made it the deepest station in Japan before it closed)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tappi-Kaitei_Station
Different kind of despair than Tokyo lol
Condensation built up on the train windows. Afterward, there seemed to be a very active thunderstorm outside and it was around sunset time. The condensation made it impossible to see out the window besides some very surreal orange/purple tones and flashes of light. I hope I can experience that again one day, but I've only made the trip once so I'm not sure how common or rare it might be.
There's a draft/wind going through the tunnel… that perhaps can sound a bit spooky for folks with lively imagination?
No comments yet
the only spooky thing is how much stairs you must climb not the lighting lol
-The staircase is 338 meters long and has 462 steps.
Climb the stairs to the top of the 143m (24 steps)
Go through the connecting passage and you will reach the ticket gate.
The elevation of the down platform is 583 meters above sea level, and the elevation of the station building is 653.7 meters, meaning the difference in elevation between the station building and the down platform is 70.7 meters.
It takes about 10 minutes to get to the ticket gate.
Please be careful of your step when climbing.
Doai Station
Welcome to "Japan's No.1 [unclear]"
・This staircase is 338 meters long and has 462 steps. Climb up the steps and go through a 143 meter (24 step) connecting passage to reach the ticket gate.
Also, the altitude of this downhill platform is 583 meters above sea level, and the altitude is 653.7 meters, and there is a difference in elevation of 70.7 meters between this and the downhill platform.
It takes approximately 10 minutes to reach the ticket gate.
Please be careful where you step.
Uhm, yo do realize that the human eye can differentiate the most colors in the green spectrum? Green is literally inscribed in our genes to not be "off" but rather our home.
Inside the green segment, there is little color differentiation. All the green hues between 510 nm and 540 nm wavelength look pretty similar, while in the yellow-orange segment a change in wavelength of 1 nm may cause an easily noticeable change in hue.
Also in the blue-green segment, between blue and green, there is easy color differentiation, with the hue changing strongly even for small wavelength differences.
Inside the red, green and blue segments there is little ability to differentiate the colors, unlike in the regions between these segments. This is exactly as expected, because only in the segments between the primary colors you have 2 photoreceptors in the eye that are excited simultaneously, in a ratio that is a function of the color frequency/wavelength. In the frequency/wavelength segments where only 1 of the photoreceptors is excited, the ability to differentiate hues is lost.