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Info
Title: SCP-4004-JP - The (Plentiful) Hope That Remained in the Box
Author:
solvex (SCP-JP Author Page)
Translator:C-Dives (Author Page)
Source: SCP-JP Original / SCP-INT Mirror
Original Posting Date: 2025/12/28
SCP-4004-JP-A
Item #: SCP-4004-JP
Containment Class: Archon
Special Containment Procedures: Both components of SCP-4004-JP are to be placed under the management of Site-81YH. SCP-4004-JP-A is to be contained in an opaque case within the anti-cognitohazard storage vault. SCP-4004-JP-B is to be contained in a standard morgue. Outside of testing, bringing SCP-4004-JP-A and SCP-4004-JP-B within 10 meters of each other is prohibited.
Given that SCP-4004-JP-related events are widely perceived as non-anomalous, and that the affected individuals themselves are unaware of SCP-4004-JP’s anomalous nature, standard countermeasures regarding information about pre-containment SCP-4004-JP and the affected individuals are to be limited to monitoring only. Annual memorial ceremonies are to be held under the guise of a support group for SCP-4004-JP-B to control the affected individuals' desire for assistance. Various related events are to be explained using a cover story regarding irrational enthusiasm arising from in-group bias.
Description: SCP-4004-JP is the collective designation for a cardboard box (designated SCP-4004-JP-A) and its former owner, Handa Taiga (designated SCP-4004-JP-B). Although SCP-4004-JP-B was confirmed deceased upon discovery, related events indicate that its anomalous properties have not changed since its lifetime. SCP-4004-JP exerts a mental influence on individuals who have directly observed both -A and -B (referred to as "Subjects").
Subjects feel compassion toward SCP-4004-JP-B and develop a strong desire to provide some form of assistance. However, they consider any form of assistance, with one exception, to be inappropriate for SCP-4004-JP-B. Subjects ultimately conclude that the only acceptable assistance is to place a piece of paper bearing the word "希望"HOPE inside SCP-4004-JP-A, and they experience a significant sense of accomplishment upon doing so. This psychological effect cannot be reversed by administering amnestics or similar means.
Events attributable to SCP-4004-JP have been confirmed to have occurred since at least 20██/██/██. Each incident shares the testimony of having been given hope by SCP-4004-JP-B, who was a homeless person at the time. However, these incidents could not be definitively determined to be anomalous, resulting in a significant delay in detection through anomaly screening using the Paranormal Evidence Database, which began in 2007.
SCP-4004-JP-Related Incident 001
Date: 20██/██/██
Summary: Hakozaki, a college student, posted a mention of SCP-4004-JP-B on the social media platform Twitter. This is the earliest piece of SCP-4004-JP-related information found on the Internet. The following is a transcript of the interview with Hakozaki.
Subject: Hakozaki
Interviewer: Agt. Baba
Note: Agt. Baba has a high Cognitive Resistance Value.
<Begin Log>
Agt. Baba: Hakozaki-san, could you tell me how you came to know about that cardboard box?
Hakozaki: Well, it wasn't so much the box as that old man, right? So, how I came to know about him… I was just out and about, hanging around that area, and that's where I spotted him, and right then and there, I knew I absolutely had to help him.
You know, it's embarrassing to admit, but I'd never really felt the urge to actually help someone that much before. But the fact that I felt that way there means I've finally become a grown-up who can be kind to someone, I guess.
But, like, just handing him some money would feel kind of shallow, right? Humans aren't so simple that you can say for sure that money equals happiness. And it'd be insulting, like, basically implying he's the kind of person who'd get happy just from some cash.
Agt. Baba: Personally, I do think money is pretty important.
Hakozaki: Yeah sure, of course there are all sorts of things you need money for, but I felt like now wasn't the time for that. Then I thought about other options, like food, clothes, or letting him stay at my place… but none of them really clicked. I just knew none of those things were what this man truly needed.
Just as I was agonizing over it, a guy, probably an office worker, came up to me and asked if I was worried about what I could do for this man. I asked how the heck he knew, and he said he'd once felt the same way. Turns out he was my predecessor in this very choice.
Then he took a piece of paper and a pen out of his bag, wrote "Hope" on it, and put it in the cardboard box. I was totally confused and I guess it showed on my face. He said he understood why I was puzzled, handed me the paper and pen, and told me to just give it a try.
So, I tried it myself, and to my absolute surprise, instinctively knew this was exactly what I — no, what both the old man and I — needed. It really hit me that the most precious thing a person can give another is hope, and I felt so deeply ashamed of myself for ever thinking about money or food.
Apparently, the office worker had learned this from his own senior, and now it’s been passed down to me, making me realize that this is how the chain of hope keeps going.
Agt. Baba: I think the story is nice enough, but in the end, it's just a word written on paper, isn't it?
Hakozaki: Well, people who don’t know that old man would think that. So please go meet him at least once. You'll see him overflowing with hope and smiling happily. He’s still in a tough situation, but the reason he can still smile is because he’s filled with my hope, and everyone's hope. He taught me firsthand what we really need to cherish.
<End Log>
SCP-4004-JP-Related Incident 019
Date: 20██/██/██ ~
Summary: Moral education involving SCP-4004-JP was conducted at ████████████ Kindergarten in the town of ██████. The majority of the teachers at ████████████ Kindergarten had been affected prior to this incident and were actively exposing the kindergarteners in their care to SCP-4004-JP. The following is a transcript of the interview with one of the teachers who conducted this educational program.
Subject: Fukuda (████████████ Kindergarten Teacher)
Interviewer: Agt. Baba
<Begin Log>
[IRRELEVANT PORTION OMITTED]
Agt. Baba: First of all, Fukuda-san, were you familiar with Handa-san, that homeless man?
Fukuda: Familiar? There was no one in that town more well-known than Handa-san. He was truly the embodiment of morality, no, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was morality itself. So when I heard he had passed away… I couldn't help but feel that we had lost a truly, truly precious person.
Agt. Baba: I completely agree. So, what do you mean by using him for moral education?
Fukuda: Well, as I'm sure you know, Handa-san embodied the idea that even when faced with hardship, people can survive as long as they have hope. I don’t know of anyone else who lived such a noble life. Because we wanted our kindergarteners to grow up to be like Handa-san, we provided our hope-based support to him.
Agt. Baba: I see. But as is evident from the fact that he passed away shortly afterward, Handa-san was also facing a serious physical health crisis. Obviously, this is something the local authorities should have handled, but shouldn’t we also teach the children that such material assistance remains a practical necessity?
Fukuda: I certainly understand your point. Perhaps people can't live on hope alone. But conversely, can we really say that someone without hope is truly alive? I hear that these days, increasingly more young people are apathetic and indifferent to life. I don’t want our children to become people who merely exist like walking corpses. I hope that through this experience, they'll learn that there are things in this world more important than life itself. Handa-san, thank you… thank you so much.
[Fukuda begins to cry.]
<End Log>
SCP-4004-JP-Related Incident 067
Date: 20██/██/██
Summary: Hagiwara, a YouTuber primarily active in Yokohama, has been producing a video series featuring well-known figures associated with Yokohama; one of these videos features an interview with SCP-4004-JP-B prior to his death. The interview was filmed in an outdoor location where SCP-4004-JP-B was living as a homeless person, and he appeared to be severely emaciated at the time of filming. The following is a transcript of the interview video posted on YouTube.
Hagiwara: Hello everyone! This is Hagi-chan, your Yokohama YouTuber! And here's the Hamakko I'll be talking to today!
SCP-4004-JP-B: …Uhm, oh, hi.
Hagiwara: It's Handa-san, the homeless guy everyone's been talking about these days! Thanks so much for agreeing to be on my video today.
SCP-4004-JP-B: Well, you're welcome.
Hagiwara: Well then, let's get right to it, Handa-san, please share your honest feelings about receiving so much hope from all these people!
[Hagiwara holds up SCP-4004-JP-A in front of the camera.]
SCP-4004-JP-B: Well, you know. I'm happy about it. Yes.
Hagiwara: I know, right? In this modern society where human connections have gotten so thin, being loved by this many people is, in itself, nothing short of a tremendous achievement! Handa-san, how do you yourself feel about becoming such a prominent figure? …Hey, Handa-san? Handa-san?
[SCP-4004-JP-B's response is delayed due to debilitation.]
SCP-4004-JP-B: …Ah, yes. I wonder why. I'm not quite sure myself.
Hagiwara: Don't be so humble. You truly are someone who gathers this amount of hope, you have such a noble character. Surely it’s precisely because you’re this type of person that so many people have come to want to place their hopes in you. Now, as one last question, could you tell us what your greatest hope is, Handa-san. Please forgive me if this is a bit of a mean question.
SCP-4004-JP-B: My… my hope!
[SCP-4004-JP-B overturns SCP-4004-JP-A and rummages through the papers scattered on the ground.]
Hagiwara: Handa-san?!
SCP-4004-JP-B: F-found it.
[SCP-4004-JP-B picks up a single piece of paper from the pile and holds it up for Hagiwara to see. Like the others, the paper is crumpled and bears the word "希望"HOPE.]
SCP-4004-JP-B: This, this is my hope. This is the hope I put into it. Because of this, I'm able to keep living.
Hagiwara: Written on a flyer, huh. Why on earth is this your greatest hope?
SCP-4004-JP-B: This was my hope for when I really, genuinely thought I might die. It was cold, I was freezing and starving… but even then, I was able to survive because I had this hope. For me… this is my one and only hope.
Hagiwara: You're really passionate about this. If you don’t mind, may I ask who wrote that hope?
SCP-4004-JP-B: Sure, I wrote it myself.
Hagiwara: What, you yourself?
SCP-4004-JP-B: Yeah, I put it there. Not long after I started living here, I thought it was all over for me. Plus, this situation is entirely my own fault, entirely self-inflicted because of my debts. So I —
[SCP-4004-JP-B coughs violently.]
Hagiwara: Handa-san, are you okay?! Look, you have so much hope right now.
SCP-4004-JP-B: A-ah, just fine… So I put it in the box out of self-deprecation, thinking I had nothing but this tiny bit of hope left. But then, the moment I put this hope in there, real hope actually welled up inside me! I realized that I had become my own hope! That this single remaining hope was meant to keep me from despairing about life! …So just knowing that I have this hope is enough for me to keep living.
Hagiwara: …I see, thank you very much! Let's all do our best to continue being sources of hope for him, everyone! Alright then, bye-bye!
Among the recovered pieces of paper, one was confirmed to be identical to the piece presented by SCP-4004-JP-B in the video. This particular piece of paper originated from a flyer created by a local organization supporting individuals facing poverty, and its distribution date predated all confirmed SCP-4004-JP-related incidents. Considering its behavior in the video, it is believed that SCP-4004-JP-B itself was also under the influence of SCP-4004-JP.
SCP-4004-JP-Related Incident 108
Date: 20██/██/██
Summary: A local man discovered the deceased SCP-4004-JP-B and subsequently organized a large-scale funeral with the help of other residents. The funeral took place at night in ██████ Public Park in the town of ██████; it had no religious elements and was more akin to a farewell gathering. Despite this funeral having been held in a public space without permission from local authorities, there were no reports from residents nor any police intervention. The incident only came to attention the day after the funeral, when Foundation personnel discovered the corpse of SCP-4004-JP-B abandoned in ██████ Public Park. SCP-4004-JP-B had been placed in a large cardboard box designed to resemble a casket, with a large quantity of pieces of paper bearing the word "希望"HOPE placed inside.