He’s instantly recognizable and impossible to miss wherever you might see him, whether in another realm or—surprisingly—playing tsugaru-jamisen in Hachinohe City in Aomori.

While one tweeted image of No-Face would be amusing, it would also be easy to shrug off as a one-time thing, maybe just some college kid having fun. Except that this apparently is the exact opposite—the “anime character” has been playing his instrument and attracting attention since at least May of 2015.

A photo of No-Face rocking out in Hachinohe City last summer.

In fact, someone even captured a short video of the spirit-turned-musician playing in July 2015. It turns out that he's a pretty darn good tsugaru-jamisen player!

But even if Hachinohe City is haunted by a tsugaru-jamisen playing No-Face, we don’t think anyone minds. We have to admit it seems like it might even boost their tourism a bit…in fact, we’re tempted to buy some Shinkansen tickets right now!

Related Stories:
Monsters of Shamisen: New music for an old instrument
Get spirited away in China’s Ghibli-esque tourist complex
Got a question for Haruki Murakami? Website lets you ask the author directly, and in English, too