survey of the supernatural in japan of my peers

THIS IS NOT A PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE!!!!!!!!

i've been very curious about this for along while because i love folklore, so out of curiosity i asked my colleagues and my girlfriend's family members.

the question was "do you think the supernatural exist"? 

to my surprise, the majority actually responded with "probably yes", "according to someone i know it does" or even "ive encountered it personally". the rest was mostly "i dont know but probably not" or "i dont know but i wouldnt be surprised"

some of the more interesting responses were: 

my gf's grandparents were completely convinced and told me that they encountered zashikiwarashi. they lived in a rather old home, it was over a hundred years old and they had to move because it was a hazard. what they described is that they heard rumbling across the kitchen at night frequently and they heard children giggling and vaguely saw their silhouettes. they were not afraid but instead happy that they get to keep a spirit at their home. they were saddened that they had to move to a new home

my gf believes that aliens already exist on earth. i could not figure out whether she's joking or not but she consistently said the same story. the thinks that at some point in very early history humans got in contact with aliens and that current humans by extension carry this alien gene. i asked her if she thinks if this is the reason for human sentience but she said its not a prerequisite so im kind of confused but very intrigued by it lol. 

on that space theme, my boss, of all people, believes that some humans have extraterrestrial origin and have a duty to create world peace through accommodation of technology. he exclusively hires people whom he believes to be extraterrestrial. its not even that he believes that these aliens are better, but just that they carry a perspective outside of the mould from japanese culture. there is 0 tatemae in this business and i love that a lot lol. 

my gf's brother said "i dont know but i act as if regardless of the truth". so he follows the superstitions and traditions despite no serious belief in them. which is actually rather common, even more common than "no i dont believe it"

my gf's parents and a whole lot of other people also follow that mindset. they go to the shrine for good luck despite not being devout in anything. in japan the religion is actually a combination of buddhism and shinto, both of these have contradictory beliefs about the afterlife (you reincarnate vs you become a spirit). when i asked them which of these two possibilities they believed in, their responses were almost always "i hope that when i die i reincarnate, but when my family dies they become spirits so i can take care of them". 

what about you? do you believe in the supernatural? do you have any experiences with it?