The Kazan Tunnel (a pedestrian tunnel connecting Seikanji- yamanouchi Town and Kitakazan Town) (花山トンネル)
The Kazan Tunnel (also known as the Kazando Tunnel) is a pedestrian tunnel connecting Seikanji-yamanouchi Town in Higashiyama Ward and Kitakazan Town in Yamashina Ward of Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture.
Summary
The tunnel was opened as a part of Shibutani-kaido Road in 1903. It was pedestrianized when the Higashiyama Tunnel of Gojo Bypass (National Route 1) opened. Pedestrians can still walk through the tunnel today. The portal on Yamashina Ward side is renovated with tiles, imitating brick walls.
The haunted Kazan Tunnel
There used to be an execution ground in Awataguchi in the Edo Period, and around the tunnel are Kyoto Chuo Saijo (Kyoto Central Funeral Hall) as well as graveyards of Honka-ji Temple, Jomyo-in Temple and Hokke-ji Temple, and so on. It is said that a samurai ghost can be seen here because fugitive Mitsuhide AKECHI was killed around the present-day Kazan Tunnel after he fought in the Battle of Yamazaki. A man riding a moped in fact died from an accident in the nearby Higashiyama Tunnel of National Route 1 in July, 1994. Some people claim that they have seen a beheaded moped rider or a ghost of the dead man.
The above-mentioned two stories are famous stories about the haunted Kazan Tunnel while they may or may not be true.