日本の怪談 (Nihon no Kaidan) – Japanese ghost stories

27th May –皐月

As every time on 27th, today’s theme is about ghost stories / urban Legend in Japan.

Have you ever heard of UMA (Yu-ma)? UMA means mysterious / unidentified animals in Japan and several times every year, the TV shows have the programs that shows the videos and stories about UMA. Most likely, summer is the season that showing those ghosts and mysterious phenomenon programs shown on TV.

One of the most famous UMAs in Japan is つちのこ (Tsuchinoko) – this animal is similar to snake but it has fat body with huge head. There are several witness reports so many people still consider this animal is real. Even there are places where will provide prize money if somebody catches it. However, the existence is still a mystery and nobody have them alive.

化け猫 (Bakeneko) / 猫又 (Nekomata) is the another UMA, which is the monster cat. those monster cats often have a tail which separate into two. When the cat in the house live very long, or the cat in the mountain (wild) are believed to become 化け猫. In many places, there are stories about 化け猫 and cats are often considered to have mysterious power – this fact can come from the characteristics of cat: they have eyes that shine in the dark, have sharp nails and walk without making noise.

Not only cat but also dog have believed to have UMA kinds – called 人面犬 (Jinmen Ken). According to the urban legend, this monster dog has human face with dog body and they are able to speak Japanese.

On the other hand, there are mysterious animals actually existing in Japan: one example is 人面魚 (Jinmen Gyo). It is a carp fish which has the human face-alike pattern on the head. In 1990, one magazine introduced 人面魚 in temple in Yamagata. Probably that fish is still alive there, so if you are I retested you should see!