Category: Animals

The Tsuchinoko

June 21, 2017

It’s time for another cryptid post, or in today’s case a ‘UMA’, since that’s what cryptids are called in Japan (it stands for Unidentifed Mystery Animal).

Ladies and gentleman, the Tsuchinoko!

First reported in the 7th century, the tsuchinoko is a snake-like creature about 60 cm in length. Rarely sighted, this creature is said to be native to mainland Japan (Honshu) and is either just an animal or a supernatural creature depending on who you ask.

Tsuchinoko are said to be able to jump, can apparently move very quickly and may even have a poisonous bite. The more unusual attributes of the creature include rolling along with its tail in its mouth, teleportation (in a literal flash of light) and even intelligence! Some say the creature can speak and is very deceptive, often telling lies to obtain its favourite drink: alcohol.

There seems to have been a surge in interest and sightings of these beasts in the last decade or so, elevating it from myth into a full-blown cryptid. Some notable sightings in western Japan lead to well-publicized (but fruitless) searches and in one case even a skeleton (that was a simple snake). In 2008 one district in Japan – possibly as a tourism stunt – offered a $1 million reward for anyone who found one!

As with the flatwoods monster (which I blogged about a few years back), tsuchinoko are quite popular in video games, either appearing by name or as an influence in games including Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, Pokémon and numerous RPGs.

So what is this thing? Do they really exist? What could have inspired it?

Take a look at this photo of a skink, which I present in its original form and with the legs edited out:

Looks a bit like our tsuchinoko doesn’t it? It seems likely therefore that the origin of the beast first drawn and described in the Kojiki in the 7th century was just… a skink!

That said, this hardly explains what an old woman in Okayama saw in 2000. The tsuchinoko, she said, had a human-like face and paralyzed her with its sight!

Maybe there’s two creatures here: the skink relative and an evil demon snake. What do you think?

Finally, owls!

June 7, 2017

When you first enter Akiba Fukurou, they sit you down amidst the owls and explain the rules: no loud noises or talking, no flash photography, how to touch the owls and how to let them sit on you. While the small group in attendance (advance reservations are mandatory; it’s always booked full) was paying attention, we were all mostly dazzled by the fact we were sitting in a beautifully clean and decorated smallish two-room space with 30 different owls!

Whilst technically an ‘owl cafe’, this was 100% owls and no cafe. We could touch the owls, photograph them, hold two each and mostly just he charmed by them. They ranged from very big (Yossie sized!) to very small (look in the top far left corner in the first photo) and all had a little plaque displaying their name, age, weight and species.

They were human-raised and perfectly calm and ‘friendly’ (for owls, I suppose), always seemingly more interested in watching what the other owls were doing than the people looking at them!

They have 34 owls in total, from all over the world, but 4 had ‘a day off’! They were all incredibly handsome birds, and the hour we had in there flew past.

That guy – Spring Onion was his name – was 1 kg and the third biggest they had. His half-orange eyes indicate he is not a nocturnal animal. I learned that yesterday 🙂

Some of the owls are ‘friends’, and we saw a little one preening a much bigger one. A few made noises too, rarely like the ‘hoo’ we all think of!

Akiba Fukurou was a remarkable place and a highlight of the trip. For such a relatively low cost (¥2000/person, which includes a custom laminated photo) it was absurd value for such a unique experience. If you’re ever near Akihabara, don’t miss it!

The rest of yesterday was Akihabara, which means heaven for an aging geek like myself. I trolled game/anime/card shops like a fiend, dazzling at everything I saw.

This Zelda game-and-watch is one of the few things ‘on my list’ but I’m not paying ¥39800 (about $400) for something I passed up at £50 in Cardiff last year!

This limited famicon-edition Gameboy Micro surprised me not just because I own it already, but because I actually brought it with me on this trip! I suppose I’ll treat it with a tad more respect now I know it’s worth hundreds 🙂

Akiba is pretty special. I feel like I could spend days here and never get bored. Alas, there’s never enough time…

Finally, deer!

June 2, 2017

Yesterday we went to Nara. Originally we were going to visit Universal Studios Osaka but for arcane reasons changed our minds. Besides, there’s no deer at USJ!

We’ve been here a few times before, but it’s so much fun we were obviously going to go again. The deer are more abundant than ever (as are the – mostly Japanese – tourists) and we fed them many biscuits and made a lot of friends.