Kozukappara Execution Grounds

So Landon woke me up at 2am and I couldn't get back to sleep. I then decided to browse the web, and as usual, my attention turned to Japan. I found this awesome website called thE qUirKy jaPan. Really interesting stuff! Anyways~

You know, I've got that big list of places I want to go visit in Japan? Well, in these wee hours, it seems to be getting much longer. One of the places I've found out about is here: http://www.quirkyjapan.or.tv/kotsukappara.html

It's called the Kotsukappara Execution Grounds and it's in one of Tokyo's special wards. It was opened in 1651 and closed in 1896. Between 100,000 and 200,000 were executed here. The graveyard is locked and visitors are not allowed in, however...

You can get some good peeks inside. Also, on route to said death pool is a bridge called Namida-bashi aka the Bridge of Tears. There also used to be a river running through the area called Omoide-gawa aka River of Memories. I shall now give more information about the significance of this randomness:

The Tokugawa Shogunate did not usually execute people in public. After all, the executions could get very gory. From the site

"executions took the form of beheadings, burnings at the stake, and a particularly nasty form of crucifixion in which the person would be stabbed 20-30 times by two spear-weilding executioners who alternately drove their weapons from the side of his or her belly, through the inside of the rib cage, and out the armpit. Finally he or she would be beheaded."

Talk about overkill! The prisoner was usually paraded through the streets prior to the execution. They say that when the condemned passed over the Namida-bashi, that they would burst into tears at knowing their fate was sealed. After the execution, their heads would be speared and displayed for the public.

Kozukappara was actually near a red light district, and many people stopped by for a view on their way home from their sexual exploits. (Why? I don't know. You've already been promiscuous, why not go admire a speared head?)

Most of the bodies were just covered with sand and not given a proper burial. This was so the birds could pick at their bodies. There are two temples in the area called Ekoin and Enmei, that were founded for the people who lost their lives.