Sokodo Port and Mount Hachijo-Fuji (Nishiyama), viewed from the Camellia Maru ferry / Wikimedia Commons, photo by Nagoya Taro
Roughly 300 kilometers south of mainland Japan lies Hachijo Island—a remote volcanic outpost known for its historical role as a place of exile. Most famously, it served as the final destination for Ukita Hideie, a defeated commander of the Western Army in the Battle of Sekigahara. From the early Edo period through the Meiji era, this island was a dumping ground for criminals, political exiles, and those out of favor with the shogunate.
After World War II, Hachijo gained a new identity as a tropical tourist destination, often called “Japan’s Hawaii.” But beneath its lush beauty lies a long, troubled history—of famine, disease, and folklore steeped in darkness.
Among its strangest tales is that of the Seven Monks’ Curse—a haunting that ties famine, ghostly apparitions, and the number seven together into one chilling legend.
【The Curse of the Seven Monks】
Uramigataki Waterfall behind Mount Higashiyama, Hachijo Island / Photo AC
One of the island’s most persistent legends begins with a shipwreck. Long ago, a boat carrying seven Buddhist monks set sail from the Osaka region and was eventually cast ashore on Hachijo Island. The details are murky—some say they were exiled convicts, others claim they were simple survivors of a maritime disaster.
By the time they reached the island, they were starving. After days of wandering, they finally arrived at Nakanogo village, hoping for aid. But the island was in the grip of a brutal famine. The villagers, barely able to feed themselves, rejected the monks. Some even believed the strangers were infected with smallpox and drove them into the mountains.
Abandoned and starving, the seven monks collapsed one by one in the wilderness of Mount Higashiyama, dying with bitterness in their hearts.
That’s when strange things began happening.
【A Haunting That Would Not End】
AI-generated image of the Seven Monks / Photo by the author
Soon after their deaths, villagers reported sightings of spectral monks in white robes wandering the area. Crops began to fail. Silkworms and livestock died mysteriously. Panic spread. When a local mystic was consulted, the answer was clear: this was the work of the seven monks.
Terrified, the villagers climbed Mount Higashiyama and built memorial mounds to apologize and appease the spirits. But the curse didn’t end. It became taboo to even mention the monks near the mountain—doing so, especially with disrespect, was believed to invite disaster.
【A History of Hunger: Life on a Starving Island】
Grave of Ukita Hideie on Hachijo Island (Tokyo-designated cultural property) / Wikimedia Commons, photo by Sakaori
Though now known for its subtropical appeal, Hachijo Island was once dubbed “The Island of Hunger.” Food shortages were constant. While the legend says the monks were cast out by heartless villagers, historical accounts tell a more nuanced story. In fact, islanders were known to be hospitable—even to exiles.
But the reality was grim. Even in normal years, volcanic soil, salt-laden winds, and frequent typhoons made agriculture difficult. Add to this the burden of feeding a constant influx of exiles, and starvation became a way of life.
Epidemics such as measles and smallpox, brought by outsiders, often swept through the small population. During the Meiwa Famine of the late 1760s, Nakanogo village alone lost 733 people—about two-thirds of its population—to starvation.
Memorial stone for victims of the Meiwa Famine / Town of Hachijo official website
Local legend also speaks of a “Human Dumping Pit,” where elderly villagers—once past the age of 50 and deemed unfit for labor—were cast away to die. This gruesome practice allegedly persisted until the 1800s, when sweet potato cultivation finally eased the island’s food crisis.
Another historical clue lies in a tomb known as the “Grave of the Fushufuse Monks.” The Fushufuse-ha were a sect of Nichiren Buddhism that refused both to give and receive alms from non-believers. Persecuted during the Edo period, many of their monks were exiled to Hachijo Island.
【Legend or Echo of Reality?】
The tale of the Seven Monks bears striking similarities to legends found across Japan, such as the “Seven Misaki” spirits—vengeful souls who died together and bring misfortune in groups of seven. While it’s unclear whether Hachijo’s monks ever truly existed, the island’s harsh past gives the legend a chilling plausibility.
【Accidents and the Curse of ‘Seven’】
AI-generated image of landslide disaster / Photo by the author
Whether coincidence or curse, several tragic events involving the number seven have occurred on Hachijo Island—adding fuel to the legend.
The first happened in 1952. On November 19th, a landslide struck a construction site in the forests of Mount Higashiyama. Eight workers were buried under the debris. One survived. The remaining seven perished.
Though officially blamed on typhoon-related soil erosion, many whispered of the monks’ curse.
The second incident is even stranger. On August 11, 1995, human bones were discovered in the town-run crematorium. The staff had no record of any recent cremations. Forensic analysis revealed the remains belonged to seven individuals—one of them a child. All had died more than a decade earlier.
Image: Concept illustration of crematorium / Photo by the author
How did these bodies get there? Crematoriums are locked outside of use. No paperwork for “reburials” had been filed, and no graves on the island appeared disturbed. The chilling implication: the corpses may have been transported from off-island and secretly cremated.
Despite a police investigation, the case expired with the statute of limitations. No suspects were ever identified.
【The Samurai Killer and the Number Seven】
The site of the Yarigasaki Incident in Edo-era Meguro. Art by Utagawa Hiroshige / Public domain
Curiously, the island’s final exile was also connected to the number seven. His name was Kondo Tomizo, the son of a high-ranking Tokugawa official known for annexing Ezo (modern Hokkaido).
In 1827, Tomizo was exiled to Hachijo after committing a shocking crime: the murder of seven townspeople in a land dispute, a case that came to be known as the Yarigasaki Incident.
Though later pardoned by the Meiji government, he chose to return to Hachijo, where he lived out the rest of his life as a schoolteacher and caretaker of a local temple. He died at age 83 in 1887.
His detailed records of island life, the Hachijo Nikki, remain a key source on the island’s cultural history.
【Where Nature, History, and the Supernatural Meet】
Mount Hachijo-Fuji viewed from Tōryūdake Pass / Wikimedia Commons, photo by Hirohiro Akabane
Today, Hachijo Island remains a small, under-the-radar getaway for urban Japanese seeking tropical escape. But its past is anything but idyllic. A place of exile, suffering, and deeply rooted superstition, the island blends beautiful nature with unsettling legacy.
Many exiles were of high rank and brought with them art, culture, and language. Their influence remains etched in the island’s food, dialect, and customs.
Even Kondo Tomizo, the killer of seven, married into a prominent family on the island and fathered three children before returning voluntarily to live out his final years there.
Though it has lost its spotlight to destinations like Okinawa or Guam, Hachijo Island remains a hidden gem—rich in nature, culture, and a touch of the occult.
If you ever visit, don’t speak ill of the monks on the mountain. Just in case.
References:
・Asanuma, Ryoji (ed.) Japanese Folktales Vol. 40: Legends of Hachijo Island
・Inui, Hiroshi Kaishō: The Story of Itsu and Tomizo on Hachijo Island
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