Jika Anda memiliki informasi, mohon hubungi saya. Teman saya adalah editor baru yang sempat memegang proyek untuk edisi khusus sebuah majalah okultisme. Karena tugas tersebut, ia mengumpulkan dokumen dan materi dari berbagai sumber hingga akhirnya menyadari keanehan yang tersembunyi di suatu tempat di wilayah Kinki ….
Buku ini merangkum berbagai tulisan dari sejumlah media yang ia dan saya kumpulkan. Sebagian besar dari tulisan di dalamnya memiliki keterkaitan dengan “suatu tempat” di wilayah Kinki.
Oleh karena itu, saya butuh bantuan. Jika Anda memiliki informasi, mohon hubungi saya.
Tương tư như tác phẩm trước đó là 口に関するアンケート cùng tác giả mình đã đọc, cuốn sách này cũng được viết theo thể loại giả tài liệu. Theo chân một biên tập viên - người đang điều tra về sự biến mất của người cộng sự có cùng sở thích về những chủ đề kỳ bí, mọi thứ đưa người đọc đến với những hiện tượng và sự kiện kỳ quái liên tục diễn ra ở những nơi thuộc vùng Kinki.
Ban đầu tác giả khiến mình rất mong chờ, bởi không chỉ được viết dài hơn tác phẩm trước mà 發生在近畿某處的那些事 mở đầu với những bài phỏng vấn, các đoạn trích từ sách báo về những hiện tượng kỳ quái ở những nơi thuộc vùng Kinki, càng đọc những thông tin càng chồng chéo và mình càng mong chờ tác giả sẽ giải quyết một cách thỏa đáng nhất. Nhưng thực sự là quá đáng tiếc... Việc viết theo phong cách giả tài liệu này khiến mình cảm thấy không hiệu quả khi viết sách, bởi cách trình bày của tác giả quá dài dòng, có những chi tiết phù hợp để làm kịch bản phim hơn là sách.
Ngoài những phần tác giả nói về quan điểm về các chủ đề về sinh vật, sự kiện và hiện tượng kỳ bí, bóc tách và phân tích trong cuộc điều tra của nhân vật thì toàn bộ cuốn sách quá bình thường. Càng đọc thì cái cảm giác hứng thú của mình bị mất đi nhanh chóng vì các đoạn phỏng vấn, thông tin chỉ càng thêm rối. Từng vụ việc được bày ra nhiều vào cũng chỉ cố tỏ ra kinh dị, rồi lại giải quyết quá bình thường, không đủ thuyết phục. Khi cảm giác nhàm chán gần tới đỉnh điểm tác giả tung ra một cú twist nhỏ mà chẳng thấm vào đâu =D Đến cái kết mình thấy nó tầm thường khiếp. Vưa cứ cảm giác tác giả đang cố viết theo Uketsu, vừa tỏ lòng kính trọng cho hiện tượng kinh dị Ring, mà còn cố làm theo phim Incantation (2022) nên đâm ra chả đâu vào đâu.
Sah, inilah salah satu buku terseru yang saya baca di tahun 2025 ini! Yah, walaupun saya kecele, karena mengira ini sebuah kisah misteri pembunuhan, ternyata horor supranatural... Tapi tidak masalah, karena membacanya bikin ‘nagih’. Saya yang tadinya ingin mencoba mengintip sedikit saja—karena ingin menyelesaikan The Thursday Murder Club terlebih dahulu—malah jadi menyelesaikan buku ini dalam kurang daripada 24 jam.
Penulis buku ini memperkenalkan dirinya dengan nama pena, 'Sesuji'. Ia mengatakan sedang mencari seorang kawannya yang hilang, dan buku ini adalah himpunan bahan-bahan penyelidikannya yang ia sajikan dengan harapan pembaca bisa membantu menemukan si kawan. Akan tetapi, narasi tidak bergulir dengan 'lurus' dengan tuturan pencarian si kawan oleh Sesuji langkah demi langkah. Yang akan kita baca benar-benar kumpulan berita, transkrip wawancara, obrolan forum internet, dan lain sebagainya, yang dikumpulkan Sesuji. Semuanya ada kaitannya dengan sebuah tempat di Kinki yang namanya selalu disensor, hanya dicantumkan sebagai ●●●●●. Bahan-bahan itu pun tidak diberikan secara kronologis, sehingga ‘PR’ kita adalah mencari-cari unsur-unsur yang menghubungkan cerita-cerita itu, termasuk dengan mempertimbangkan urutan kejadian.
Kekuatan Tentang Suatu Tempat di Wilayah Kinki (ngomong-ngomong, saya sangat suka karena Penerbit Phoenix memilih menggunakan judul berbahasa Indonesia!) adalah pada strukturnya, memang. Kejadian-kejadian yang secara individual terlihat seperti legenda urban atau kisah horor biasa dirangkai menjadi suatu skema raksasa tentang kengerian yang bercokol di ●●●●●. Dan ketika akhirnya buku ini mencapai ‘kesimpulan’-nya… silakan pembaca tentukan sendiri, apakah kesimpulan itu memuaskan, atau malah meresahkan. Bisa dibilang itulah hook terakhir buku ini sebagai sebuah novel horor. (Di bagian belakang buku ini, ada sejumlah foto ‘bahan liputan’ yang ujung-ujung halamannya masih tertutup rapat, harus kita robek sendiri. Kalau Anda gampang merasa ‘terusik’ oleh tampilan visual… berhati-hatilah saat ingin melihat foto-foto itu.)
Membaca buku ini tidak akan sememuaskan ini seandainya terjemahannya tidak bagus dan mulus. Terjemahan ini pun tahu kapan harus menggunakan ragam bahasa yang lebih resmi, kapan ragam bahasa percakapan atau obrolan di internet. Oleh karena itu, salut untuk sang penerjemah, Opi Ruhiana.
Dibandingkan novel terbitan Phoenix sebelumnya yang saya keluhkan karena banyak sekali catatan kaki yang tidak perlu dan malah mengganggu, Wilayah Kinki juga relatif bersih dari catatan kaki semacam itu. Catatan kaki yang ada masih cukup informatif dan tidak terlalu mendistraksi. Hanya dua yang saya ingat terasa mengganggu:
1. Ketika digambarkan sebuah mobil menggunakan lampu jauh, istilah yang digunakan adalah ‘lampu high beam’, mungkin karena aslinya dalam bahasa Jepang menggunakan istilah itu. High beam ini lalu diberi penjelasan panjang di catatan kaki, padahal kalau di teks utama langsung diganti ‘lampu jauh’ saja kan sudah cukup.
2. Halaman 162: ada catatan kaki yang menjelaskan kepanjangan ‘UMA’. Catatan ini SANGAT tidak perlu, karena di teks utama di halaman 163, sudah ada penjelasan tentang UMA! Penerjemah dan editor sungguh harus menahan diri agar ‘tidak kebelet’ menambahkan catatan kaki yang tidak diperlukan.
Terlepas dari itu, saya sangat senang Phoenix menerbitkan Wilayah Kinki, tidak begitu lama pula berselang terbit aslinya di Jepang. Bahkan edisi bahasa Indonesia ini terbit duluan daripada edisi bahasa Inggris. Untuk yang menggemari kisah horor dan supranatural, novel ini sangat direkomendasikan!
A mixed media format of supernatural horror in a book filled with mysterious scary stories, all connected in an unnamed place in Kinki region. I came across this book on my timeline that Seulgi was reading this, and immediately was intrigued by the synopsis. As someone who loves horror, this book sounds exactly what I like in horror and when I saw that it was adapted into a film by one of my favourite director, Koji Shiraishi, I knew I have to read it asap. And I'm happy that my request for an e-arc was approved by the publisher Yen Press because OMG THIS BOOK CREEPS ME OUT.
This book used a very clever narrative of mixed media where there are newspaper articles, magazine articles, letter to editors, internet threads, interview transcripts, short stories written in a certain monthly magazine featuring these horror tales from readers and I found this storytelling to be brilliant. We opened up with the reason for these stories are shown to us readers as the author addressed themselves in the beginning by saying that they need help to find their missing friend that investigated these stories about a place in Kinki region. As we go deeper, we get more and more information& details from these transcripts shared to us on supernatural/ghostly encounters on curses, mountain, dam, of ghosts, and various spooky stories and we are pulled into this book in wanting to believe and also to not be deceived. As I read along of these creepy stories, I found myself need to stop reading this late at night as my mind started to create these chilling apparitions and I become scared.
I don't want to say much for the fear of spoiling the story but best believe me, just dive into this story blind. Don't look up anything online, don't search for any images, don't even read a review about it. All I can say, this is not a typical horror story, it does not have a storyline, its very much collection of stories on the place in Kinki region but go deeper and you will see whats waiting on the other side.
I am fond of Noroi, Cult and Occult by Shiraishi and I can see how this book is so up to Shiraishi's style and very much screams his movie so I'm looking forward to watch the movie next
Thank you to Edelweiss and Yen Press for the e-arc!. I will certainly purchase the phsyical hardcover since it had a hidden section and I'm dying to get it in my hand and marvel on this book
Sometimes you like the *idea* of a book more than the actual book itself, unfortunately.
“About a Place in the Kinki Region” does have an excellent premise; originally published as an online horror web serial, it has the framing device of a writer for an occult magazine who has gotten missing, and a friend of theirs who is publishing the bits and pieces of the story they were working on online to try and get some closure into their disappearance; eventually, it becomes clear that all of these stories relate to an area within the Kinki region of Japan, and disturbing trends begin to emerge. For anyone who has rea
The book has some multimedia elements, such as photo of letters, drawings, or other images, that give the book a unique identity and helps play into the framing device (think House of Leaves but far less ambitious), but the bulk of the rest of the novel is essentially a collection of short horror stories with minor interview pieces sprinkled in that advance the framing narrative. Horror is subjective, and especially difficult to get right in the written form, but I will say there were some standout great stories, such as the one involving a certain house, and even when the stories weren’t terrifying they usually at least had a great atmosphere or a disturbing final note.
Ultimately, though, many of the stories felt a bit too short, and the way the book ended, though conceptually interesting, felt far too rushed to land with the impact it should have.
Honestly, I think this would have been far more impactful if it had leaned more into the idea of being a multimedia project cobbled together from a variety of sources; have video clips of interviews, images from past issues of the magazine, newspaper clippings and more. The stories already have a feel of scrolling through a thread on an old forum and falling deep into some rabbit-hole, and an ideal version of this project would have leaked far more heavily into that feel (though for a single author working on what started and a small project I can understand why the scope was so much more limited).
Buku ini awalnya nakutin banget, tapi lama kelamaan kok lucu ya? Atau mungkin ini cara aku aja biar gak terlalu takut? Menurutku buku ini kreatif, penulisnya kayak ngajak pembaca untuk ikut serta dalam pencarian temannya yang hilang. Jadi ada banyak banget riset yang dilakuin si penulis di buku ini. Mulai dari artikel, surat pembaca, sampe ke penelusuran di internet. Ini mungkin kompleks tapi bagi orang yang suka ngulik, cocok banget deh baca buku ini. Nanti cuplikan-cuplikan cerita kecil itu bakalan saling berhubungan menuju ending. Endingnya sendiri gimana ya? Kocak sih. Plot twistnya gak terlalu yang dar der dor, malahan bisa ketebak kalau pembaca jeli. Cuman agak kurang puas aja. Di versi Indonesia ada bagian yang disegel di halaman paling akhir. Gong sih. Itu serem banget! Berasa nonton film dokumenter kalik ah wkwkkw.
i started reading this book because of fomo. it isn’t a typical ghost story; rather, it’s an anthology of real life uncanny and supernatural events from across the kinki region. it started off strong some of the stories genuinely gave me chills but after a while, it began to feel like it was going in circles. beyond a certain point, the repetition became hard to ignore. overall, it’s a modest book nothing more, nothing less.
the formatting of the book piqued my interest, seeing that i really enjoyed Uketsu’s books. but upon finishing it, it didn’t really match my expectations.
from the start I knew it was more towards the supernatural side of things, but the flow made it confusing and the scares were enjoyable but a bit cheap in my opinion. i think good horror is the unknown where it makes you feel very uneasy and unsafe, and sad to say that this wasn’t it :(
4,5/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ seremm banget sampe kejeda-jeda bacanya tapi overall bagusss poll horrornya dapet banget padahal ceritanya lebih banyak ke cerita-cerita jurnal pendek gitu dan makin dibaca kayak ada satu kesatuan yang bikin ceritanya jadi nyambung..
Surprisingly good read! I thought that the format of internet articles and community threads was really interesting. Though I feel like some of the stories could've been shortened.
Left me with more questions than answers tbh. The stories are kinda scary on their own but the main plot that's supposed to tie them all just felt disappointing.
ABSOLUTE BANGER OF A BOOK. This might be my favourite book of all 2026, I knew my desperation to read it was onto something.
The feeling this gave me was similar to when I took my first steps into the internet. Back then when every horror piece you found had chances of being true. It makes you go “What if it’s all true?” And you’re both itching to continue and wanting to stop before you know too much. THAT is what the Kinki region will make you feel.
You follow the protagonist, a freelance writer desperate to find their missing friend; a fellow writer who went missing after getting too deep in the mysterious Kinki region. As the dots connect in your mind you’ll have many chances of dropping out and letting this cursed book go, but you won’t want to. I know I didn’t.
Also there’s secret content in the physical copies of this book??? So make sure to grab one if you can, what’s the worst that could happen? :)
Eu tenho uma quedinha por horror asiático, não nego. E esse livro aqui representa o gênero de maneira formidável! Impossível não lembrar de alguns clássicos do cinema japonês de terror ao ler About A Place In The Kinki Region.
Ele é construído todo com recortes de jornal, transcrições de entrevistas, relatos e outros materiais, tudo em meio à história principal do jovem editor que sumiu ao or para a região que ele estava investigando. Acaba sendo uma espécie de found footage em forma de livro, o que achei muito bem feito. E super instigante. O material adicional incluído no final foi também uma jogada de mestre.
Como referência para os amantes de horror, esse livro me lembrou muito os filmes “O Chamado” e “Marcas da Maldição”. Quem gosta desse gênero, com certeza vai gostar desse livro.
I do not ever post reviews but I feel compelled to this time. This book had me thinking about it and desperate to read more in a way few pure horror novels have. And those last few chapters….hair raised on my arms, full body chills, the whole works; the twist had me genuinely blindsided. Absolutely recommended, particularly to fans of the ju-on/ringu/silent hill f/fatal frame.
Also, to anyone who reads this review…thank you for finding me.
creo que por la mitad me di cuenta a donde iba pero la emoción de querer adivinar (?) el misterio me pudo.
sin spoilers diría que es buenísimo, atrapa desde el primer momento por como está contado 🙏🏻 encima hay un relato que me dejó re inquieta 🚬🚬
con spoilers diría que es the ring pero moderno. y no, no termine de leer the ring así que quizás es hasta mejor, porque claramente a este si lo pude terminar.
Read this because I saw people talking about it on Twitter, and the format intrigued me. Saw that there's a film adaptation as well (which I promptly watched after finishing this book), and I'm glad I read before watching. The experience was unmatched. It's superior in all the ways. Hitchcock once said, "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it," and that's absolutely correct for how this was written while the film missed the mark completely.