Ikebukuro is a bustling neighborhood in northern Tokyo, known as a major shopping hub and nightlife district. Somewhat sketchy at times, the area has been hit by a number of tragic incidents throughout its history, including the knifer rampage of 1999 and the runaway car crash of 2019.

Ikebukuro's violent reputation is not just a recent smear, but much predating any of these incidents. Back in the Kyōhō era (1716–1736), the district was the haunt of a mad, cut-throat ronin, an unidentified "phantom slasher" who would lurk in the night and assaulted passersby with his sword. The worst record counted 17 victims in a single night, and many were murdered while the killer evaded authorities.

Funded by a committee consisting of 64 Ikebukuro locals, a memorial pagoda was erected in September 1721 to comfort the spirits of the victims, not only those who fell to the phantom slasher's blade but also those murdered by highwaymen and the unfortunate who had hanged themselves on a pine tree that once stood beside it. This memorial is known as the Shimento, or Four-faced Pagoda.

Though the pagoda is supposed to appease the deceased, some locals today believe it to be the source of the deadly curse placed upon Ikebukuro. Even in 1959, the Weekly Tokyo reported that in the span of a single week two cases of mysterious injuries had taken place at the Marubutsu department store, in front of which stood the Shimento pagoda.

Originally, the pagoda stood inside Ikebukuro Station, which was once known as a hotspot of train accidents. Poorly treated and literally pissed on, the pagoda is believed to have caused these train crashes as well as the death of the stationmaster who had been in charge of its relocation.

Believe in the "curse" or not, the pagoda and the victims it is dedicated to are real, and so are the more recent incidents in Ikebukuro. All one can do is hope that no such tragedy happens again in this district (or anywhere else, for that matter).