Kōji Shiraishi, Subtitled
There is a particular kind of fear that Kōji Shiraishi catalogs — the dread of the investigator who, very late, realizes that the act of investigating is itself the curse. The camera, the microphone, the tape. We have subtitled the master's work for years: the early Map of Grudges investigations, the Kowasugi serial, and now the 2024–25 features. Read in order, they form a single argument about looking.
Investigation: The Curse of Sugisawa Village (2001)
Where we tell newcomers to begin with Shiraishi. The 2001 investigation into a village that isn't on any map is the seed of everything — NOROI, Occult, all of it. Our sub finally renders the interview audio cleanly.
Investigation: Curse of the Sea of Trees (2002)
The follow-up walks into the Sea of Trees, and the documentary form starts to buckle under the weight of what it's recording. Watch it second; it rhymes with the first.
Anna Ishibashi: The Missing Actress (2012)
A faux-doc on a vanished actress, newly upscaled to 4K. The pleasure here is structural — how slowly Shiraishi lets you realize what kind of film you're in.
Kowasugi! File 07 — Final Chapter (2015)
The final chapter of the Kowasugi serial, re-subbed and upscaled. If you've only ever seen rough rips, this is the version to keep.
KINKI (2025)
His 2025 work, circling the folk dread of a region whose name hides a second reading. The most recent Shiraishi we've finished.
House of Sayuri (2024)
House of Sayuri (2024) is where Shiraishi turns the haunted-house film inside out. The second-floor sequence is, for our money, the best thing he's shot since Occult.