Author's note: This a recounting about my spiritual encounters with a Japanese demon (Oni).
First off, I would like to explain where I was and what I was doing around the time of the events. I was in Kochi, Japan. I was there for photography I was there to take pictures of the whales in the Pacific ocean and the pre-restored Kochi castle. I was in the lower levels where the (Edo time period) pictures and artifacts are held. That is the location of the first event.
I was touring the artwork when I saw a picture of some type of spirit\demon holding a club. I asked the guide about it and he told me that it was "An ancient legendary creature in Japanese culture known as a oni, a demon believed to cause calamity and disasters or awful events."
Three days after the tour of Kochi Castle, I went to get pictures of whales in the Pacific ocean. I was taking a photograph of a whale in mid-flight, and as it was falling I caught a glimpse of some sort of creature in the background. My mind flashed back to the event at the tour, but I quickly discarded the event as a figment of my imagination.
Soon after an unscheduled storm made us leave. The odd thing about it was that no storm was scheduled on the news, and also the storm came soon after the paranormal "thing" I saw through my camera lens. After this, the event gradually made a turn for the worse.
The hotel I was staying at was burned down when we arrived back. The fire department informed me that the fire started in my room. I asked them how a fire started in one room of many in a hotel. He said "It seems that the fire was started intentionally from your room". This thoroughly shocked me and made me think back to what the tour guide said about the painting I saw in the Kochi Castle.
Afterwords I relocated to another hotel (The room was on on the second floor). I journalized the other events so that I could mentally analyze the events and decide how to act on them. The first thing I did was go back to the Kochi Castle to look at the picture once again.
Once I came back and started observing the painting, I noticed that details on the picture seemingly appeared on the painting. For example, in the background another club just "appeared" in the background. I thought it meant that this was definitely supernatural. I returned to the hotel to research and collect my thoughts. As I was on my laptop, I got a call stating that my little sister had gotten hurt while she was at her home.
Apparently she was in a storm and part of a car broke through her window and struck along her head and jaw. She suffered from a partly broken jaw and severe bruising on her face. The part was thrown at a rate at least 10 kilometers an hour. One of the things that saved her from an even more severe injury was the fact that she had thick windows. The odd thing about this was that the storm had to change its trajectory to make it to her house.
At this point, I was honestly scared. I couldn't look in the mirror because when I did I would see a strange creature in the background for a brief instant. I couldn't get help because I didn't know were to turn. At this point it seemed like my life was crumbling around me.
Close relatives were getting hurt and it seemed like someone would just put obstacles in my path. In one particular event, I was taking a walk thinking about what I could do because of these incidents. While I was walking, I looked away for a split second. When I looked back a branch was in my path. It broke my nose so I ran to a convenience store for aid. I was desperate for help so I turned to an expert on Japanese mythologies. He said that the oni would only go away if I participated in a festival or the Setsubun festival.
After this, the issues got worse, leading up to an event in which a storm lifted up a tree branch and threw it in from of my car. After this followed several disturbing dreams and encounters. In one of the dreams I had, a masked demon stalked me in the events of that day.
The demon had red skin and wore a mask made of bone that covered the bottom of its face. It appeared strong and was a little larger than an average human. I could see his oversized red eyes follow me.
He took great pleasure in every misfortunate event I experienced throughout the day. He wouldn't stop watching me until I awoke. Soon after, it was time for the Setsubun festival. During the Setsubun festival I went through the traditional ceremonies.
Kochi Castle Daytime
After the Setsubun festival, most of these oddities went away. Occasionally, odd things have happened since then but for the most part it has died down.