For more than a decade, Matsubara Tanishi, a Japanese comedian, has lived in houses where others met gruesome ends(遭遇可怕结局). One tenant murdered his brother. Another hanged herself. In a third an old man died alone and lay undiscovered for two years. “I used to think I might get cursed(被诅咒的),” he says.
十多年来，日本喜剧演员松原大西一直住在别人惨死的房子里。一名租客谋杀了自己的兄弟，另一名上吊自尽，第三处则是一位老人孤独死去，两年后才被发现。“我以前觉得自己可能会被诅咒，”他说。
In Japan such unfortunate houses are known as jiko bukken, or “incident properties”. Though many recoil(退缩；畏缩) at the thought of living in one, they have long fascinated the public. Mr Matsubara has built a career from inhabiting(居住；占据) dozens of them; his memoirs have become best-sellers and inspired films. Now rising housing costs are making these properties look less unappealing(看起来不那么令人反感) to the wider public.
在日本，这种不幸的房子被称为“jiko bukken”，即“事故物件”。虽然很多人一想到住在其中就退避三舍，但它们长期令公众着迷。松原先生以入住数十套此类房子为生，他的回忆录成为畅销书并被改编成电影。如今不断上涨的住房成本正让这些房产对大众显得不那么令人反感。
Incident properties are priced anywhere from 10% to 50% below market value, depending on the grisliness(恐怖；令人毛骨悚然) of the previous occupant’s demise(死亡；终止). Such discounts of course exist elsewhere, but Japan’s culture around them is unusually elaborate(精心的；复杂的). Oshima Teru, a property investor, runs a popular website mapping jiko bukken across the country, marking each with a fire icon and a description of the death. “It frightens me, but I can’t stop checking it,” says Kobayashi Yoko, a housekeeper in Tokyo. If she discovers that a client’s house is on the map, she invents an excuse not to go.(如果她发现客户家在地图上，就编借口不去。)
事故物件的定价通常低于市场价10%至50%，具体取决于前任住户死亡的恐怖程度。这种折扣当然在其他地方也存在，但日本围绕它们的文化格外精致。房产投资者大岛輝运营着一个受欢迎的网站，绘制全国的事故物件地图，每个地点标有火焰图标和死亡描述。“这让我害怕，但我忍不住去查，”东京保洁员小林洋子说。如果她发现客户的房子在地图上，就会编个借口不去。
