I had the oddest feeling when we arrived in front of the Sergeant Clinic in Nagoya, a in very residential area. The place had a special aura but also some kind of unsettled atmosphere; it did not feel right.

When the clinic was built in 1914, it was probably smaller and only made of wood. Later on, a new concrete facade was added, making it ugly. Many people were walking around, trying to avoid looking at the ghostly structure. Someone could have put the portal back up but nobody ever dared to touch it. The local inhabitants stayed away from this place and their feeling is understandable.

The clinic was plunged in the dark and had been obviously vandalized. It looked like a murder scene. I am pretty sure the locals are keeping the stories of this place to themselves in the fear of getting bad luck. My first visit was cut short by my friends who wanted to run away, but one year later, I came back. I knew I had missed something the first time. I went up the fragile stairs, cautiously. There, carefully labeled, I found hundreds of tiny bottles containing organs, looking very similar to each other. It was just written formalin (ホルマリン) on them so I had no clues about what they all were exactly. Also mentioned on the bottle, there was the owner’s sex. It was surprising to find those mesmerizing and strange little bottles left there, untouched, after all this time.

After this scary discovery, I took some time to relax downstairs, looking at the old photos and belongings those people have left. They seem to have been a happy family after all.

The clinic closed in 1996.

FACTS

• 1914 – 1996
• Nippon No Haikyo #105