The Haunted Abandoned Nakagusuku Hotel Okinawa 

My dad took me and my sister there when we were in High school. It was during the day but there are some rooms of the hotel that were pitch black. Me and my sister wandered around just the two of us and dared each other to go into the creepy pitch black rooms. We made it a few steps in when we heard a loud crash from inside and we RAN out of there!! There was another moment when I was looking down a long hallway and swear I saw someone standing in the shadows. Me and my sister also swore we heard footprints in areas where there were no people. I was so uncomfortable the whole time I was there! We made sure to pray to the spirits and apologize for any disturbances and told them we were there for the history, not for trouble.

Your voice really is perfect for these kind of stories. I like that you tell the haunted stories and then go back and tell what happened 'officially'. . .Nakagusuku Castle was one of my favorite places to go when I lived on Okinawa. . . there was a small zoo (only a few actual animals; monkeys, a pair of bears and even a camel (notorious for spitting on tourists). It is a beautiful space. We knew about the hotel being built, as it looked out of place behind the castle. We actually visited a couple times while construction was going on, but didn't hear the haunted stories until after work had stopped on it, almost as if the haunted stories started after work was stopped on it.

I lived on Camp Foster for 27 months back in 1983 to 86. I hiked up there a couple times. There were beds that were still made in parts of the hotel (weird)! It was a huge burial sight with thousand of people who would come to pay respects to their loved ones ! Incense burned everywhere you walked. Lot of snakes, spiders and jungle!

My friend took me there when I was stationed in Kadena from 1999 to 2001. The place looked like a cemetery to me.

My dad was in the Air Force and stationed on Kadena AFB for a few years when I was a kid. While I enjoyed visiting the castle ruins, on at least two occasions we ventured into this hotel. Honestly and personally, I hated being there. It was totally trashed. My main memory was finding some old photographs of nicely dressed Okinawans on the dirty ground. I felt kind of guilty looking at them, and left them right where I found 'em. This would have been around '92/'93.

Yes I was on Okinawa when Expo 75 started around July 1975. Love Okinawa I was stationed at Camp Foster.

I was on island from 94-97. As young restless teens we would go there to drink and explore. We also met the homeless man that lived there. Looking back it's amazing no one ever got hurt while exploring. Although I almost stepped on a habu nest trying to get there one time.

It looks haunted. I'm going to say haunted for sure on this one. Cool video

Interesting video. I remember seeing and parking by this hotel during a visit to Nakagusuku Castle back in the 1980s. We had the kids with us and we certainly didn't walk around the hotel, but I remember that even from a distance, the hotel looked strange but mostly sad to me because it was a dream never completed. At that time it was just an abandoned project in a very nice location. There are many other places in Okinawa that have changed or disappeared over time, not because they were haunted, but for changing times and different business reasons. They are too numerous and I don't know but a handful, but the ones I remember are the Mitsukoshi building on Kokusai Street with the revolving restaurant, the Skytop Restaurant in Awase with the airplane on top of the building, the Hilton Hotel in Awase, the huge gift shop on Moromi street, the military Naha Port with the Seaman's Club, not to mention most of my favorite diving and beachcombing spots. Oh well, things change and you either learn to live with them and maybe enjoy them or you will be miserable all the time.

Great job Matt! Doing the urban legend than the real story. You're voice does lend to the mystery of it all. His plan sounded amazing. It would've been a great place to stay for a visit

I am stationed out at Kadena Air Force Base and got the opportunity to go by the ruins. It’s an eerie feeling walking through. We never really experienced anything but we did hear some weird noises that we think were wildlife

Went here while my stepdad was stationed on kaduna from 92~98. It was scary going at night so we did for fun. There was a homeless man living there that we came across. I do remember hearing the stories you mentioned, so it’s nice to know the truth. I do remember a cave in the far end of the hotel that went deep into darkness and there was a carving of a dragon holding a girl. Real spooky. I was only 15 at the last time we went. Always talked about this place, and the cages for animals, even with restaurant style kitchens just left there, along with furniture.

You are a great storyteller!

Nice. I really like that you did both sides of the story. I had never heard of this place before. I’ll have to check out the location when I’m in the area.

I explored there back in 2005 when I was stationed there & never knew the name of it!

Great story with your explaining both sides, Matt. I love your visual effects and also your reference to your famous word "jungley".

Well researched. I first started going there around 1986 while I was in high school, and have spent hundreds (no exaggeration) of nights there with my brothers and friends. Most of the time it was pretty benign, but once in a while the place "lit up" with activity. Even with loads of experience, and most nights not even bringing a flashlight, being so familiar with the layout, I've had the absolute crap scared out of my quite a few times. Later, when the shrine was built and the monk lived there, I had a few sit-down conversations with him on what was going on with the place. I have lots of stories... Contact me if you're interested.

I lived on Okinawa on and off for 12 years, we had a tattoo shop in Naha and we'd go to this hotel as a tourist spot to show US marines and Karate people etc.. it is a fun place to explore, wed often do photo shoots here too. Such a shame it never got to open. The zoo inside is freaky!

Good story, Matt. I didn't know about the abandoned hotel. Thanks for making this video.

We got to explore in 2006. It was around midnight and we ran into some construction workers and had some drinks with them. The were super friendly, but we all only spoke English and couldn’t have a great conversation with them. They pointed out some caves near by. As we explored, we found caves and tombs Everywhere! I took a photo of my friend sitting at the edge of the hotel and directly behind him was a tomb. We couldn’t see it until we looked at the pic last later. We also found the top of the water slide. We sat on our jackets and rode the slide (through the hotel) and dumped out into a massive concrete pool. Of course there was no water and a fall from the slide 9-10 ft down into a pile of sticks and leaves and stones would have been horrific, we jumped off before the fall. Not our brightest hour, but so much fun! I’m sad that it is gone. There is truly something spiritual there and you feel it when you are up there. Thank you for sharing.

I was on Okinawa at Camp Foster Aug74-Sep75. I remember all the talk about this Hotel and area being haunted. There was no way I was going near that place.

Your voice really is perfect for these stories! I drive up to the north end of the island often to take my husband to his base, and I listen to spooky podcasts, and I swear I feel the energy of many things that I pass, and see. This island is truly mysterious but magical in its own right. Keep making these videos! I am a content creator who works mostly through Facebook and Wordpress who writes about true crime, and spooky things, and I LOVE this kind of work! Keep it up!

Cool video! I first came to Okinawa in 1994. That's when I discovered the hotel after visiting the ruins. What drew me over there was the sound of a rock band playing over at the site. A local garage band was in there practicing. They had a little generator for power for their amps and instruments and their small fan base. The area had some really good acoustics! After seeing that we would stop by and check the area at different times. In the evenings young people would go hang out and do whatever. I never got run off by police but I know some people who had. The place had the potential to be a death trap though. Would have been real easy to kill yourself there. Between crumbling concrete and missing floors and people making fires inside the structure we just quit going there to hang out. Been a while since I have been there. (5 year's). I may have to go visit the site see the removal of the structure.

great content!! im really enjoying it

Great video! I really like how you started with the myth about the hotel, then wrapped up with what ACTUALLY happened!

Great video. I wasn’t expecting a resolution, but here we are!

Hey today, my memory of some events happening while I was in Japan. I was stationed on Futenma 2002-2004 or 2005. The hotel came to memory today. Heard stories of the builder’s daughter drowned in the pool. I heard sometimes people could see an old lady sitting at the end of the bar. I remember the story of the cook going crazy and burning the kitchen down. The kitchen was destroyed when we were there. I remember seeing an old rusted canon up there, you could see the whole coast. It was a crazy and creepy place. Wow

Are there any existing haunted places to see not too far away from Naha?

It was creepy as hell, I never saw anything there except for the monk. Certain parts though you felt as if you were being watched. Not to mention the crazy way you had to navigate for safety reasons.

Thanks Matt!

I wish I still had my footage. I went there at night back in 2008. Stuff got throw at me and voices and unexplainable sounds.

I went through that hotel back in 94. We did it at night. Heard a few weird noises but nothing major. We did get the shit scared out of us though, we opened a door and a homeless man came running at us!😅

I loved that place. We even went down into the caves. There were markers and candles placed down there that I couldn't read. I was a ghost. I knew the place soo well, I could navigate without a light. One night on one of my visits, a group of Japanese kids were fumbling around the property. Running along the roof tops tracking them, I would occasionally throw a rock or piece of debris off into the bushes. This spooked them. I could hear their exclamations. That made me excited. Eventually, they made their way to the tower where I suddenly appeared from the dark stairs and revealed myself. They were spooked at first, but after a time we sat and smoked. Neither of us could understand each other, but eventually we came to realize the situation. We were just people exploring a place with a tragic history. My journey in that place was a commemoration of the events that lead up to that event. They even had planned a Zoo and water park there? I went down one of the slides into an empty pool on a broken chair for fun. That place was great. BTW we called it the "Haunted Hotel".

Matt, From my experiences of that hotel are really just a few times of actually going there. The first time I came back to the island a friend to me to it to have a party of my return. I guess they cleaned out a whole wing and deemed it the Party Room. Whole bunch of knuckle heads from OCS/Kubi/Kad. I was in the Marines at that time. So we go there just the two of us. And it looked pretty nice free of debris (the room) did not get to have a big party as the rain came in hard so the others never made it up the hill. He and I stayed until the rain stopped and went back to his apartment where his wife and son were and we crashed. The second time a whole bunch of us guys after I was out of the Corps went up there and played Airsoft it was fun. And absolutely no weird happenings happened saw a Habu or two. And a freaking ton of GoldenOrbWeaver spider that everyone thinks are the banana spider.

That guy made a bad investment lol

I was there from 86 to 2008 and visited many times, from just exploring to capturing images of the hotel and the surrounding areas. I went there several times alone for nature and architectural images and never felt anything strange. Great place to explore, or it was a great place to explore.

Anyone else think it looks like the school in Food Wars?

No way they took it down god damn it

I’ve been there

Great place for airsoft back in the day

It's sad that a building like that is littered with graffiti.