Geography of the dead in East Asia

How the dead are housed across East Asia's spirit geography — from Osorezan to the ghost islands. Open the world map to see them plotted.

1. Fengdu Ghost City

   A · Chongqing, China — A temple complex on the Yangtze dedicated to the entire Chinese underworld — not one haunted house but a whole city of the dead, with a Gate of Hell, a Last-Glance-to-Home tower and judges who weigh e…

2. Osorezan — The Mountain of the Dead

   A · Mutsu, Aomori, Japan — An active volcano whose crater lake and smoking vents are, in Japanese folk religion, the entrance where the dead gather — staffed by blind itako mediums who speak with them.…