The Red Umbrella - Where is Noriko Shizuka

When a mother goes missing in Japan, possible explanations range from the practical to the supernatural.

Thank you blog.gaijinpot.com, en.namu.wiki, parasearcher.blogspot.com, min.news/en/world, medium.com, inf.news, psychicGaleStJohn.com, laspina.org, nationalgeographic.com, wisdomlib.org and Wikipedia for  information contributing to today’s story.

This episode was written by Christy Arnhart, edited by John Lordan and is produced by LordanArts.

Do you have any comments, or a case you’d like to suggest? You’ll find a comment form and case submission link at LordanArts.com.

This is not intended to act as a means of proving or disproving anything related to the investigation.  It is a conversation about the current known facts and theories being discussed.  Everyone directly or indirectly referred to is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

LordanArts 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:20):
In Japan, Spring is a season of renewal. It's a
time when families gather, when prayers are offered, and when
life feels suspended between the sacred and the ordinary. During
this seriously mysterious holy season, when the world usually seems
most alive, fear and panic would grip a family when

(00:40):
a mother vanished without a trace. What happened to her
is more than a mystery, It's a story lodge between
the ordinary and the unthinkable. I'm John Lorden, and today
we're looking into the disappearance of Noriko Shizuka. From April
twenty ninth to May fit Japanese residents celebrate Golden Week.
It's one of the largest holiday seasons of the year,

(01:01):
with four of those seven days designated as different public holidays.
Families travel all over the country to visit relatives, attend festivals,
and pay their respects at various shrines to those who
left this life before them. Some people take the whole
week off from work to relax and enjoy this holy time,
and for the Shazuka family, it was no different. At

(01:23):
the very end of Golden Week, on May third, nineteen
ninety eight, forty eight year old Nroko Shazuoka and her
family were winding down from their holiday when her mother
in law made a simple suggestion, why not drive to
the Akagi Shrine in Gunma Prefecture. The journey would take
just under a few hours from their home in Chiba Prefecture.

(01:43):
There they could admire the beauty of the day and
pay their respects at the shrine as many others were doing,
and there would be another benefit. Golden Week doesn't just
bring the holidays to be celebrated. It also brings the
flowering season. The mountains and pathways of this ancient land
spring to bloom in full force, blinding the senses with
the colors and scents of rhodendrons and aalea bushes. It

(02:08):
was an easy decision and the family quickly agreed to
take the trip. At about ten am, the entire family,
six family members, including Noriko and her husband, their daughter, uncle, aunt, grandmother,
and grandson started the drive. Their destination was a Kagi
Shrine located on the south side of Mount Akagi in

(02:28):
Gunma Prefecture. Mount Akagi itself is more than just a mountain,
rising tall. Among its surroundings, Akagi's dormant volcanic slopes are
steeped in reverence. It's said that thousands of years ago,
gods fought over this area, and their destruction created the
landscape that everyone enjoys today. For centuries, pilgrims have made

(02:48):
their way up its winding paths, whispering prayers to the
gods and spirits said to dwell there. And there are
many different mysterious legends associated with Akagi, including the legend
of the Samurai warriors. During the mid eighteen hundreds, as
the Tokugawa Shogunate's power was beginning to crumble, whispers of
uncertainty spread across Japan. To safeguard their future, it was

(03:11):
decided that millions of dollars worth of gold, then measured
in tails, would be hidden deep within Mount Akagi, a
place both sacred and strategically remote. On January fourteenth, eighteen
sixty six, thirty Samurai warriors arrived with eighty hired workers,
carrying twenty two heavy boxes and twenty large bundles filled

(03:33):
with gold. At the time, Mount Akagi belonged to the Tokugawa.
Its rugged, difficult to approach terrain made it the perfect
hiding place for such a treasure. A year later, when
the operation had been completed, all the hired workers were
killed by the samurai, and they themselves disappeared into the mountain.
Some say the samurai still wander it today. They are

(03:56):
said to kidnap villagers who travel at night and force
them to hide the Showjogenate's gold yet again, and after
their work is done, they are also killed. Long ago,
villagers believed the stories and avoided this seemingly cursed area,
but now many view it as a legend with a
wild story. Though there are those that think the gold

(04:16):
could still be there, hidden and waiting to be discovered
if someone were brave enough to go looking for it.
At eleven thirty am, Noriku arrived at the mountain with
her family. Sadly, as they drove up the path to
the shrine, clouds rolled in and rain began to pour down.
The beautiful sights of the blooms that they were looking
forward to were now dampened with blocked sunlight and terrible weather.

(04:41):
How would they pay their respects to their ancestors and
enjoy the area in weather like this. While most of
the family wanted to turn around and return home, some
of them were determined to visit after their long drive.
Riko's husband and her uncle finally decided that they would
brave the rain and walk the slippery path up to
the shrine. About a half an hour later, Nourico decided

(05:01):
that she too would visit and leave an offering. I've
already come to the shrine, so I'll put money in
before returning, she said, before taking one hundred and one
yen from her wallet and grabbing her red paper umbrella.
Everyone in the car begged her to wait until the
rain stopped, but Noriko would hear none of it. While
her daughter stayed in the car and attended to her

(05:23):
newborn son, she watched her mother carefully walking the path
to the shrine. When Nourico had traveled about three hundred
feet from the family car and reached the edge of
the shrine grounds, she suddenly turned, facing away from the
shrine itself. Her daughter said that her mother stood unnaturally
still in the rain, looking at something her daughter couldn't see.

(05:43):
Nourico seemed to walk away from the path in the
direction that she was looking towards, but as her daughter
wondered what her mother was doing, her son began to
fuss and he needed attention. Once he was settled, she
looked out the car window again, but Noriko was nowhere
to be seen. Worried, she exited the car and called
out to her mother several times, looking around for her.

(06:05):
With no response and no indicator of where her mother was.
She returned to the car to tell everyone what had happened,
and that's when she saw her mother's hearing aid still
in the car. Nourico suffered from tendis in her right ear,
which also drastically affected her hearing. Its thought that on
that day she had opted not to wear the hearing

(06:26):
aid on her small journey up the path because the
sound of the rain would have bothered her toenidis. Nourico
could have wandered off the path and possibly been lost,
and the act of calling out for her would now
be much less effective with her leaving that hearing aid behind.
Not only that, Noriko's tenidis gave her a lot of trouble,
making her so dizzy at times that she would faint.

(06:48):
This could have caused her to become disoriented and lost
on the mountain. Figuring her family members would appear soon,
the daughter turned her attention back to her son and
waited as the rain began to slow and stop. More
people returned from having their lunch and started to populate
the paths and shrine once again. Her husband and uncle

(07:08):
soon returned, but claimed that they had not met Noriko
on the trail nor saw her inside the shrine. As
her daughter's worry began to grow, the family set out
to search for Nourico. Bathrooms were checked to no avail.
Noriko was wearing her glasses, a pink long sleeved shirt,
a black skirt, blue sandals with a hibiscus print, and

(07:30):
carrying a bright red paper umbrella that would have stood
out in a crowd. As they called her name, the
family asked if anyone had seen the middle aged housewife,
but none of the people they asked had any helpful information.
Once they felt that they had searched everywhere, the family
decided to call the police and report Nourico missing. When

(08:01):
officers arrived, they immediately began a large search of the area.
The initial searches found no signs of Nurico, and the
efforts and resources were stepped up. This led to a
much stronger search effort, employing the help of over one
hundred people. People who had visited the area that day
were questioned and came forward to offer what they had seen,

(08:22):
but none of that information would lead to Nurico. As
a matter of fact, it seemed that no one but
her family had seen Nurico that day. There were also
no CCTV cameras at the site back at that time.
Over the next ten days, volunteers, officers, and firefighters all searched.
At no point was Narico found. However, search dogs were

(08:43):
brought in and they picked up nurko scent on the
side of the road nearby. This meant it was possible
that she may have met someone in a car and
had been driven away. Sadly, if that is indeed the case,
there are no witnesses, which is a strange issue in itself.
How could there be such a lack of witnesses during
this Holy week when more Japanese residents are out than

(09:04):
almost any other time of the year, and in an
area where not only Japanese residents but even tourists traveled
to to witness the beautiful scenery. The rain had only
kept people away for a short period of time, and
as soon as it cleared, the mountain was flooded with people.
Yet again, when absolutely no leads were turned up during

(09:25):
their search, it was decided to ask the public for help.
For months, tips were called in and each one was
thoroughly investigated, but none of them helped answer the question
of what happened to Nurico. Investigators even went so far
as to hang signs in the area that warned of
black bears, as one of the theories was that she could

(09:45):
have been dragged off and killed by one. In December,
hope was rekindled within the family when a local television
station that had covered the disappearance received a home video
taken the day of Narico's disappearance at the shrine. In it,
a woman carrying a red umbrella can be seen that
hope would soon be dashed. This woman was identified and

(10:07):
found not to have any connection to the case. Another
video surfaced of yet another woman on one of the
mountain paths holding an umbrella for someone. Even though she
bore a resemblance to Nourico, her family was certain that
it was not her. However, in the lower right hand
corner of that video, there is a woman standing there
who looks like Norico. She is also holding a red

(10:30):
paper umbrella and she has the same haircut as Nourico. Sadly,
even though the family feels that it could actually be her,
the possible sighting just didn't lead them any closer to
finding her. There were several things that happened that day
and after Nourico's disappearance that have left the family with
more questions than answers. First was the offering Nourico took

(10:53):
with her to the shrine. She took one hundred and
one yen, which consisted of a one hundred yen coin
and then a one yen coin. According to Japanese customs,
five yen is the traditional amount of money given in
an offering like this, as five coins are thought to
be connected to good luck, fate, and connection. It's believed

(11:13):
that by leaving an offering, the gods will be pleased
and offer blessings to you and your family. Why did
she take one hundred and one yen? Some people believe
that the amount was meant to be used as a
metaphor for starting a new life. In some beliefs, and
even in regards to Western numerology, one hundred and one
can symbolize a new beginning and the power to create

(11:36):
your destiny. Some have speculated that Noriko had a lover
that she chose to leave her husband and family for.
If the person was waiting for her that day at
the shrine, it would explain how she disappeared so quickly,
and possibly even the scent trace that the search dogs found.
The police's investigation has turned up no evidence that Nurko
was anything but happy in her marriage. Some have even speculated,

(12:00):
in fringe theories that she was abducted and taken to
North Korea as she was studying the Korean language at
the time that she disappeared. No proof of this has
been found. Another interesting point is that no one heard
any cries for help that would suggest that she was
taken against her will by a person or animal, or
that she had a tragic accident like a fall. Months

(12:23):
after her disappearance, Narico's family began to receive telephone calls
at their home. In those calls, the person would not
speak and just sat on the line in silence. The
calls were traced to both Osaka City and Yonago City,
but could not be directly connected to Nurko. As word
of her mysterious disappearance began to spread beyond Japan, others

(12:44):
began to interject themselves into the investigation, namely psychics. Nurko's
disappearance was featured on TV's Asahi's Door of Miracles Power
of TV on July twenty fourth, two thousand and six.
Soon after, her family was contacted by American psychic Gail
Saint John. We've encountered Gail before on this show in

(13:06):
connection to another case. In this instance, she claimed to
have witnessed what happened to Norico while she was dreaming.
According to Gail, as Noriko walked up to the shrine
that day, a young man off the trail asked for
her assistance. He said that someone had fallen nearby and
needed help. Noriko then agreed, and that's why her daughter

(13:26):
saw her walk away from the shrine. Sadly, the young
man only tricked her into venturing to an isolated spot
before he and a friend grabbed her and dragged her
to their car. The two men tied her hands behind
her back and placed a blindfold over her eyes. According
to the psychic, she was then taken to an unknown
location where she was tortured and sexually assaulted. When the

(13:49):
men were done with her, they took her back to
the shrine, where she wandered, injured and dazed until she
fell from a cliff and died the next day. A
harrowing tale that I hope the family did not hear
more detail about. But someone did listen to all those details.
Every clue given by Saint John was investigated by police

(14:09):
in Japan, and no part of it was ever proven
to be true. Actually, there are many problems with her vision,
one of which being that while there is steep terrain,
there are no actual cliffs anywhere near where Nurko was
last seen. There were certainly no witnesses on that busy
day to any abduction, and again no one heard any

(14:31):
cries for help. It appears that the information from Saint
John's vision was unreliable, as we have seen in other
cases of psychics attempting to help police investigations. Years later,
with no trace of Nurico being found, she was declared
legally deceased, closing the search efforts for her. Today, many

(14:52):
believe that Noriko left her family to join a cult.
It's thought that a cure for her hearing disability was
offered by some cult and she agreed to join them
by telling them that she would meet them at the
Akagi shrine that day. However, this theory also has its holes.
For example, it was Nurko's mother in law who wanted
to go to the shrine, not her. But the most

(15:14):
fanciful hypothesis comes from Japan's rich tapestry of beliefs and legends.
Some say that Nuriko was the victim of Kama Kakushi,
that she was hidden away by the gods. According to
this belief, when a god or yokai has been angered,
they can steal a person away, hiding them forever from
the human world. In essence, you are quite literally spirited away.

(15:39):
It's a story that echoes in the cultural imagination, even
inspiring modern tales like the two thousand and one animated
film Spirited Away, where a young girl named Schihiro becomes
trapped in the realm of the yokai after her parents
fall victim to their own greed. She must fight her
way back. But for Nuriko, no such return ever came,

(16:01):
and there is an eerie coincidence between the film and
this real story. A red umbrella plays a prominent role
in the film, and on the day that Nurico vanished,
she carried her own red umbrella into the rain. To
this day, no evidence has ever been uncovered, There have
been no confirmed sightings, and no real answer is ever discovered.

(16:23):
All that remains are the questions, the legends, and the
quiet devotion of her family. Every year, on May third,
they climb Mount Akagi and call out her name, hoping
against hope that somehow somewhere Noriko Shizuka can still hear
them and maybe even come back home. Do you have

(16:43):
any insights or even a case you'd like to suggest,
Feel free to send it to me. You'll find a
comment form and case submission link at lordenarts dot com.
Thank You, blog dot guidjinpot dot com, Ian dot namu
dot wiki, parisearcher dot blogspot dot com, min dot news,
Medium dot com, i n F dot news, Psychic Gail

(17:05):
Saint John dot com, Laspina dot org, National Geographic dot com,
wisdomlib dot org, and of course Wikipedia for information contributing
to today's story. This episode was written by Christy Arnhardt,
edited by John Lorden, and produced by Lordenarts. Thank you
to our audience here for the live recording session hosted
on the YouTube channel Lorden Arts Studio two. Special thanks

(17:27):
to seriously mysterious financial supporters Robert Martin, Candybishop, and Lindsay Morgan.
Most of all, thank you for listening. I'm John Lorden.
Please join us again next week for another case I
know you'll find seriously mysterious.