A thread on 5ch’s Hello! Project board titled “Turns out Ikebukuro Sunshine used to be a prison” set off a wave of discussion about how Sunshine City was built on the former site of Sugamo Prison, where war criminals were held and executed after World War II. Posters were struck by the observation that the “60” in the building’s name, “Sunshine 60,” matches the number of people executed there. Alongside that, the thread filled up with nostalgic memories of Ikebukuro landmarks like Animate and Manga no Mori, a string of infamous local incidents, and ghost-story-style local rumors, blending the area’s history with people’s personal memories.
What people said
1AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:27
Weird feeling.
5AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:29
People say Ikebukuro has a ton of scary incidents, but honestly the vibe there feels pretty normal, doesn't it?
9AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:32
Re: #5
It's just that a bunch of idiots hang out there, so of course the area feels unsafe.
7AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:30
Apparently the spot near the water bus dock in Nihonbashi used to be where they displayed severed heads too — land really does hide some surprising history.
12AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:34
They say a lot of people died in the park near Sunshine too, but I don't get any weird vibe from it at all.
14AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:36
When I was in middle school, a friend took me to Animate in Ikebukuro for the first time. Manga no Mori (now defunct) was there too. Manga specialty shops were still rare back then, and Ai Iijima did the commercials for it. There was also a pretty high-level girls' school nearby. For a middle schooler, Sunshine City felt like a dreamland — such a fun place to hang out.
15AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:38
My ATM PIN is 8931! (a seemingly random non-sequitur reply)
16AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:39
So many Hello! Project memories from there too — the fountain plaza, Engeki Joshibu (Hello! Project's theatrical unit) shows…
17AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:41
The Ancient Orient Museum there is surprisingly fun and a real hidden gem.
20AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:44
Speaking of Ikebukuro, did the Seibu department store end up closing for good?
21AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:45
7 Class-A war criminals and 53 Class-B/C war criminals were executed at Sugamo Prison.
The Pokémon Center stalker murder
The Adire scandal (law firm ad controversy)
The "Bakky" incident
The drug-fueled car rampage
The Chinese Dragon gang
The Tokyu Hands stabbing spree
The Rikkyo University student murder at Ikebukuro Station
And don't forget the Prius Iizuka crash (elderly driver's fatal accident)
24AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:46
Lately I only go to Ikebukuro Paradise on the north side.
25AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:48
Yeah, Ikebukuro really does have a dark feel to it. Different from Shibuya.
26AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:49
Class-A war criminals were executed in the park right next to Sunshine.
27AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:49
The place name "Kishimojin" near Ikebukuro is kind of creepy too.
32AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:51
Re: #27
That's not a place name — it's the deity enshrined at a temple there.
28AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:49
Was it the Green Theater? The one where Inaba did her final Country Girls stage play.
30AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:50
There's a Mint there — wonder if it's still around.
33AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:51
But there's a Frank Lloyd Wright building there too.
34AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:51
There used to be an arcade with a horse and one with a gorilla.
37AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:51
The place name "Zoshigaya" is kind of creepy too.
38AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:52
I lived around there twenty years ago — there were at least 30 cats in the park. Deeper in the park there were 4 or 5 blue-tarp shelters. Felt to me like the number of cats kept dropping year after year, though.
39AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:52
Ah, so that's why. Studios and theaters always have ghosts wandering around, but Sunshine has an especially large number. Even people who normally can't see them say they start seeing things once they go to Sunshine.
40AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:52
I wonder when they took down that pollution-level display board in front of Ikebukuro Station.
42AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:53
It's not just "a prison" — it's Sugamo Prison, specifically for war criminals.
43AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:53
But that condo building connected directly to Higashi-Ikebukuro Station and Sunshine City looks so convenient to live in — I think that every time I go to Sunshine.
52AnonymousSep 28, 2026 20:58
The bad vibe is probably because it's the gateway from northern Kanto into Tokyo, so there are a lot of yankees (delinquents) and hangure (quasi-gang members) around.
55AnonymousSep 28, 2026 21:00
So including Class A, B, and C war criminals, 60 people were executed there.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Sugamo Prison was a facility seized by GHQ after World War II, where death sentences were carried out on war criminals, including the seven Class-A war criminals such as Hideki Tojo. Sunshine City, which opened in 1978, was built on the site of the former prison. The thread’s claim that “the 60 in Sunshine 60 matches the number of executions” is an intriguing numerical coincidence between the building’s name and the execution count, but it isn’t officially confirmed as the reasoning behind the name — it’s best enjoyed as urban-legend-style lore rather than fact. Meanwhile, many of the incidents mentioned, such as those near the Pokémon Center and the stabbing spree in front of Tokyu Hands, were indeed real, reported cases, but claims that incidents happen every year in specific spots, along with the ghost sightings, remain personal anecdotes and hearsay rather than confirmed facts, so that distinction is worth keeping in mind.
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