In a chilling turn of events, some taxi drivers in Japan are claiming to have picked up 'ghost passengers' in the aftermath of the tsunami that devastated the nation in March 2011. As many as seven of the 100 drivers interviewed by Yuka Kudo, a student of sociology at Tohoku, admitted to having encountered phantom fares.

2011年3月，东日本海域发生地震，席卷而来的大海啸重创全国。灾难过后，曾传出的士司机在灾区载到“鬼乘客”的报道，听来颇为骇人。就读日本东北大学社会学系的工藤优花采访了百位的士司机，七人承认曾载到过鬼魂。

Kudo conducted the interviews as a part of her graduation thesis, traveling to the coastal town of Ishinomaki every week for a year to speak to taxi drivers waiting for fares. She asked over 100 drivers the same question: "Did you have any unusual experiences after the disaster?" Many of them ignored her, some even got angry, but seven drivers agreed to describe their strange encounters.

工藤优花每周都会前往海滨城市石卷，采访当地正在候客的的士司机，为自己的毕业论文做准备。一年来，她采访了一百多位的士司机，问题只有一个：“海啸过后，你碰到过什么离奇事件吗？”不少人闭口不谈，有些人甚至对她恶语相向，但其中有七人则向她讲述了自己的灵异遭遇。

One driver recounted a particularly unsettling story—in the summer of 2011, a woman dressed in a coat climbed into his taxi near Ishinomaki station. She said, "Please go to the Mianmihama Station." When he pointed out that there was nothing left standing in the district, she asked him in a shivering voice, "Have I died?” The driver immediately turned around, only to find the back seat empty.

有位司机的故事格外惊悚。那是2011年的夏天，一位身着大衣的女士在石卷车站附近坐上了他的车，并告诉他：“麻烦去南滨车站。”这位司机告诉她，南滨已在海啸中被夷为平地了。听到这儿，女乘客哆嗦着问他：“我是不是已经死了？”一句话，吓得司机赶紧扭头，发现后座竟空无一人。

Another driver recalled how a young man who looked to be in his 20s got into his taxi. When the driver looked in the rear-view mirror for directions, the man kept pointing towards the front. The driver then asked for a destination, to which he replied, "Hiyoriyama" (mountain). When the taxi reached the area, the man had disappeared from the taxi.

另一位司机回忆道，自己曾载过一名20多岁的男子。他盯着后视镜，问乘客要往哪儿开，可这名男子只是一直往前指。于是他不得不问了句，到底去哪儿？男子答道：“日和山。”当司机开到目的地时，发现男子早已无影无踪了。

It’s easy to dismiss these stories as hallucinations or imaginations, but the drivers' logs are proof that they really might have occurred. When these 'ghosts' got into their cabs, the drivers started the meter, which is recorded. So even though these passengers disappeared during the ride, they were still counted as clients. The drivers then had to pay their fares out of their own pockets. Some of the drivers even wrote down their experiences in their logs.

不少人会说，他们一定是产生幻觉了，或者故事是编的。可的士上的计程仪不会骗人啊。“鬼乘客”一上车，计程仪便开始运作，记录着行车全程。哪怕乘客半路消失，依旧算一次行车记录，也就是说，司机们不得不自掏腰包，支付车费。有些司机甚至在行车册上写下了他们的遭遇。

All these phantom travelers were described to be young, which compels Kudo to believe that they were indeed victims of the 2011 tsunami. "Young people feel strongly chagrined (at their deaths) when they cannot meet people they love," she said. "As they want to convey their bitterness, they may have chosen taxis, which are like private rooms, as a medium to do so."

据司机们的描述，所有的鬼乘客都是些年轻人，因此工藤优花认为，他们确实是2011年的海啸遇难者。“年轻人死不瞑目，放不下对爱人的牵挂，”她说，“为了宣泄痛苦，他们选择坐的士，因为的士空间密闭，是理想的载体。”

Interestingly, none of the drivers reported feeling any fear, instead holding their special passengers in reverence. Having lost loved ones in the disaster themselves, they perceived the encounters as a spiritual experience, meant to be remembered and cherished forever. "It is not strange to see a ghost here," a driver said. If I encounter a ghost again, I will accept it as my passenger.”

有趣的是，接受采访的司机纷纷表示，自己并不害怕，反而对这些特殊的乘客心生敬畏。不少司机也在海啸中失去了他们的至爱，因此，他们将搭载鬼乘客视作通灵的经历，值得铭记与珍惜。“在这里见鬼并不稀奇，”一位司机坦言，“如果我再载到鬼，肯定会送它到目的地。”

Kudo herself was moved by the interviews. "I learned that the death of each victim carries importance," she said. "I want to convey that to other people."

此番采访，让工藤优花深受感动。她说：“这些司机让我明白了，每一位遇难者的死都意义重大。我要让更多人了解这点。”

According to official records, over 15,000 people died during the magnitude-9 earthquake that lasted for six minutes and triggered a 133-ft high tsunami that swept six miles inland. Numerous sightings of 'ghosts' and 'spectral figures' have been reported in residential districts in the affected areas in the aftermath of the disaster.

官方资料称，东日本地震强度高达9级，虽仅持续6分钟，却引发了133英尺（约合40米）高的海啸，深入内陆达6英里（约合9.6公里），共造成1.5万多人丧生。海啸过后，多人曾在灾区目睹了“鬼魂”或“幽灵”出没。