I Don't Believe in Ghosts. But I Do Believe in People Who See Them

Do ghosts really exist?

Basically, I don’t believe they do. But I do believe that “people who see ghosts” exist.

In fact, I have known two such people personally. And both of them live perfectly ordinary lives.

The Onmyoji Next Door

In an apartment building where I used to live, the man next door called himself an onmyoji. Onmyoji were court diviners and exorcists in ancient Japan, a tradition that goes back more than a thousand years and still shows up in Japanese films and fiction.

Apparently his family had been in that line of work for generations, and he said he could see spirits as a matter of course.

When we passed each other in the hallway, he would sometimes suddenly say something like this:

“Oh, you’ve got something strange attached to you.”

Then he would start an exorcism right there on the spot.

I never asked for it, but he removed evil spirits for me free of charge. Quite a service-minded neighbor.

He was married with a family, and in everyday conversation he was completely normal.

He apparently had many devoted followers, and he often received souvenirs from all over the country. Some of them got passed along to our household. He also seemed to have connections with well-known celebrities.

Still, getting too involved looked like it could become a hassle, so I kept a reasonable distance.

The exorcism may be free, but that doesn’t mean everything after it will be.

The Friend Whose Ghosts Disappeared After a Renovation

The other person is an old friend I have known for nearly 30 years.

He also says he can see ghosts. But in his case, it is not a business. If anything, it is a nuisance.

In the past, he would sometimes wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and see a stranger standing behind him.

He never needed to watch horror movies. He had a screening at home every morning.

Recently, however, he told me something unexpected.

“After I renovated my house, the ghosts stopped showing up.”

Apparently, a renovation solved the problem.

It is strange that physical construction work would make ghosts go away, but if he is more comfortable now, that is what matters.

Maybe renovation works better than exorcism.

Actually, I Saw One Myself, Once

I have been dismissing ghosts this whole time, but I have actually seen something like one myself, just once.

In a dark spot, a faint white human figure seemed to be floating.

Honestly, it was terrifying.

But if I ran away, it would bother me for the rest of my life. So I gathered my courage and walked toward it.

It turned out to be the reflection of a streetlight.

The ghost vanished, just like that.

Still, until I checked, it really did look like a person, and my fear was absolutely real.

The experience of seeing a ghost and the fact of a ghost actually being there are two different things.

If I had run away that night, I might now be telling people with a straight face, “I once saw a ghost.”

There May Be No Ghosts, but People Still See Something

What I find strange is that both of these men are completely ordinary people in daily life.

They have jobs and families. It is just that they seem to see things I cannot.

The human brain can show us things that are not really there, through illusions and hallucinations.

I myself once mistook a reflection of light for a human figure.

So I don’t doubt their experience of having seen something.

Then again, they might simply have been making it up.

If a friend of nearly 30 years has been pulling my leg this whole time, that would take some serious commitment.

Whether ghosts actually exist and whether the experiences of people who say they have seen them are real are two separate questions.

Even when we live in the same world, different people see different things. The human brain really is fascinating.

That said, I am glad I can’t see ghosts.

If a stranger were standing in the hallway every time I went to the bathroom at night, I couldn’t take it.

But if I ever do start seeing them, I plan to call a renovation contractor before I call an onmyoji.

That way, at least my house is guaranteed to end up looking better.