Ghost Tour Near Me in Asakusa: Hanayashiki's Curse of Kubizuka Haunted House

The cheapest proper scare in central Tokyo sits a few minutes' walk from Senso-ji. Asakusa Hanayashiki, at 2-28-1 Asakusa in Taito ward, is the country's oldest amusement park, and since 18 July 2025 it has run a walk-through haunted house called The Curse of Kubizuka. Entry costs seven ride tickets, which is ¥700, on top of the ¥1,600 adult admission. If you typed ghost tour near me while standing in Asakusa, this is the five-minute fright you can fit between dinner and the last train.

Hanayashiki began in 1853 as a flower garden, which is where the name comes from, and grew into a tightly packed amusement park on a plot surrounded by houses and shops. Its roller coaster weaves between neighbouring rooftops, and the park celebrated its 170th anniversary in 2023 with a new area. That compact, slightly worn setting is part of the appeal: the haunted house feels like something tucked into an old neighbourhood rather than a mega-resort set piece.

The park has run haunted houses for years. Before The Curse of Kubizuka, the attraction was themed on the classic Edo ghost tales, including Yotsuya Kaidan and Bancho Sarayashiki. The current version replaced it in 2025 and is the park's first new attraction in two years, according to its July 2025 announcement.

The house was planned and built by Shochiku Obakeyashiki Honpo, a professional haunted-house production team, and is designed to feel like walking into a Japanese horror film. The story follows a girl named Botan who breaks a roadside shrine known as the kubizuka shrine, a mound dedicated to a severed head, and sets off the curse you walk through.

The route is about 70 metres long and takes around five minutes. That is short, so the scares are dense rather than drawn out. Children aged five and over can go through alone, while those aged four and under must be accompanied by someone of junior high school age or older. Going in pairs is the usual choice, and it is worth letting the person who screams least lead.

Hanayashiki separates entry from rides. Admission alone is ¥1,600 for adults from junior high school age to 64, and ¥800 for children aged five to primary school and for seniors aged 65 and over; under-fives enter free. Rides are paid with ride tickets, sold at 11 for ¥1,000 or ¥100 each, and the haunted house takes seven of them.

If you plan to ride more than a few attractions, the one-day pass that bundles entry and unlimited rides costs ¥4,600 for adults and ¥3,400 for children and seniors. A ride-only free pass bought inside costs ¥3,000 for adults. The haunted house accepts the free pass, so heavy users should do the maths before buying single tickets at the gate.

Standard opening hours are 10am to 6pm, with last entry 30 minutes before closing, though the park says hours change with the season and weather. Check the daily hours on the official site before you go, because extended evening openings are announced as separate events, such as the 2026 summer night programme and the September Silver Week extension.

Weekday afternoons are the quietest time for the haunted house. Weekends bring families and school groups, and a queue of even twenty people adds up quickly when each group spends five minutes inside. The park's website also posts live waiting times for each attraction.

Hanayashiki's other dark ride is the Thriller Car, a slow track ride through spooky scenes that runs on ride tickets too. Pair it with the haunted house and you have a short horror double bill for a fraction of a theme-park ticket. The vintage roller coaster is the park's other headline and gives a strange rooftop view of Asakusa.

If you want ghost stories with actual history behind them, the Asakusa area has plenty. The Thriller Car and haunted house are fiction, but the neighbourhood's real past includes the old Yoshiwara pleasure quarter to the north and Edo-era fires and floods along the Sumida River, which local walking tours draw on after dark.

Leave through the park and you are on the streets behind Senso-ji, where the temple's five-storey pagoda rises over the rooftops. Walk south through the temple grounds to the Kaminarimon gate and Nakamise shopping street, which is quieter in the evening when the shops have pulled down their shutters and the temple is lit.

Hoppy Street, a row of outdoor izakaya stalls near the park, stays busy into the night and is the obvious place to calm your nerves afterwards. Asakusa station on the Ginza and Asakusa lines is about a five-minute walk from the park entrance.

The Curse of Kubizuka is pitched at casual visitors rather than horror fans, which is part of what makes it useful. Five minutes is enough for a proper jolt without the hour-long ordeal of the big theme-park houses outside Tokyo, and the age rule means a confident child of five can go through. Adults who have done Fuji-Q Highland's famous hospital house will find it tame, but they are not the target audience.

The theme is distinctly Japanese. Instead of chainsaws and zombies, the scare comes from a broken shrine, a cursed girl and the idea that disrespecting the dead invites punishment. That ties neatly into Asakusa itself, where shrines and small roadside memorials are part of daily life, and it is the reason a short visit here reads as a ghost story rather than a fairground ride.

If you are going in a group, decide the order before you join the queue. Staff send people through in small groups, and the person at the front sees everything first.

Asakusa Hanayashiki, 2-28-1 Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo. Opening hours usually 10am to 6pm, last entry 30 minutes before closing. Admission ¥1,600 for adults, ¥800 for children and seniors. Haunted house: seven ride tickets (¥700), free pass accepted. One-day pass: ¥4,600 adults.

Web tickets are sold through the official site and skip the entrance queue. The haunted house is a walk-through with low light and sudden noises, so it is not a good fit for anyone with heart conditions. The nearest stations are Asakusa on the Ginza, Asakusa and Tobu lines and Tsukuba Express Asakusa.