For years, residents living along the western coast of Japan have witnessed a disturbing annual phenomenon. During the rough winter months, battered wooden boats drift out of the fog and wash up on the sandy beaches or crash against rocky seawalls.
These vessels rarely carry living passengers. Instead, they often contain decomposing corpses or heaps of skeletons. Known locally as obakebune or “ghost ships,” these vessels drift across the Sea of Japan, carrying a grim cargo that has baffled authorities and horrified coastal communities for over a decade.
A Macabre Discovery on Japanese Shores
The numbers are staggering. In 2017 alone, the Japanese Coast Guard reported a record 104 of these wooden vessels washing ashore. Inside these boats, authorities found dozens of bodies in various states of decay. In many cases, the remains were skeletonized, making identification impossible without DNA testing, which is rarely cross-referenced with North Korean records due to diplomatic silence.
Occasionally, survivors are found, often emaciated and dehydrated, asking only to be returned to North Korea. The boats themselves provide the only clues: hull markings often bear Korean script or numbers identifying them as property of the Korean People’s Army trading unit.
Primitive Technology in Rough Seas
The construction of these vessels reveals the desperate nature of the voyages. Unlike modern fishing trawlers made of steel or fiberglass, these “ghost ships” are constructed from heavy, rough wood and coated in black tar. They lack basic navigation equipment like GPS or radio systems.
Most critically, their propulsion relies on small, noisy engines originally designed for agricultural cultivators, not for navigating high-seas currents. These underpowered engines frequently fail, leaving the crews drifting helplessly in the notorious winter storms of the Sea of Japan, hundreds of miles from their home ports.
The Deadly Search for Squid
The driving force behind these perilous journeys is a specific economic commodity: the flying squid. Investigations revealed that the North Korean government sold fishing rights in its own waters to foreign industrial fleets, specifically “dark fleets” from China.
A 2020 study using satellite technology by Global Fishing Watch identified hundreds of large, steel-hulled Chinese vessels operating illegally in North Korean waters. These massive trawlers depleted local stocks, forcing the small, wooden North Korean boats to travel much further than their vessels were designed to handle.
The Displacement into Danger
Pushed out of their coastal safe zones, North Korean fishermen ventured into the Yamato Bank, a rich fishing ground located within Japan’s exclusive economic zone. This area is known for turbulent weather and high waves. Ill-equipped for the open ocean and lacking sufficient fuel or food reserves for the extended journey, the engines of these wooden boats often stalled or ran dry.
Once power was lost, the prevailing Tsushima Current carried the vessels eastward toward the coast of Japan. The crews, unable to call for help or navigate back, succumbed to exposure and starvation long before their vessels made landfall.
Every winter, battered wooden boats drift out of the fog onto Japanese beaches.
Known as "ghost ships," they rarely carry the living.
Instead, they arrive filled with decaying corpses and skeletons.
In 2017 alone, 104 of these floating tombs washed ashore…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/R9o7aOkQmN
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) January 28, 2026