Hibagon - ヒバゴン - [Cryptid/UMA/yokai]
• About this Cryptid: Often touted as 'Japans Big Foot' or at least classified as the same sort of sasquatch-like or mysterious-ape-man creature. Hibagon was most often spotted in the 1970s near Mt Hiba, Hiroshima Prefecture, and named "Hibagon" for that reason. - Hibagon are said to be bipedal apes, standing about 2-3m tall [not even half the size of bigfoot.] they have long arms and They are said to move by hopping, or with a slight limp. - The size of the feet vary from 26 to 30 cm big. - it has brown or black fur (some say grayish-brown, or orange. (Female Hibagon are often Illustrated bright pink.) - it's has also been said that it has a hairless bottom, similar to a baboon. - it has a triangular face, with wide, glaring "intelligent" eyes, the creature is said to emit a foul odor similar to 'rotting flesh.' (as most sasquatch do.) There have been reports of it being able to use stone tools such as hand axes. According to Tourism: Hibagon are monotremes and are said to lay "dangerous eggs!!!"*
Theories about the creature range from it being simply an oversized wild Macaque, to a "wild man" to a nuclear mutant. (Among other standard theories for any bigfoot cousin.) - Of course the creatures true identity remains a mystery.
• History: The Hibagon was first reported on July 1970 by a man in a utilities truck driving near Saijo, Hiroshima who came across an large gorilla-like creature walking across the mountainside road near a dam he saw it run across the road and disappear into the forest. - Shortly after this report others came out as having witnessed a similar creature. - The creature had been seen more than 30+ times since!! - in the early 70's, Summer "Hibagon Hunts" had became something of a summer tradition and eventually, a famous photograph of what 'appeared to be Hibagon', was taken on August 18 of 1974.
[The 1974 photograph. its old so you cant really see much eh?]
[does this help?]
[Police sketch of hibagon.]
In April of 1971, The local government set up a task force with Kobe university called the "Ape Section" to deal with the media surrounding Hibagon, those that reported eyewitness information were apparently charged with a 5,000 yen "nuisance fee." - in 1975, as eyewitness testimonies began to decrease and the government officially declared that it was "The end of the Hibagon disturbance." - none the less, sightings continued through til '82 when reliable sightings stopped rather abruptly.
• Hibagon today:
Despite the measures taken against the initial reports, beginning with a festival in 1999, The town & local government embraced Hibagon as their Mascot & Official Government PR character, he features widely in tourism, products & artwork for the area. - Official Hibagon bus-rides and guided tours have been available since 2010. - in 2015 the old mascot outfit even got a redesign.
"*Hibagon eggs" are a local specialty sweet bean dumpling. (According to the packaging, which tells the history of Hibagon, the eggs are 'dangerous!!!)
[chocolate hibagon eggs, yummy. you can get them here.]
• Similar "Yokai": Of course being so strange, Hibagon has on occasion been classified as a yokai as well, sometimes the creature has even been called the mountains kami. - Hibagon was even classified as a yokai by Shigeru Mizuki who also drew it for one of yokai encyclopedias! - There are a quite few ape-men like yokai that appear in old scrolls & books dating back to the edo period (1700s) such as Toriyama Sekiens, Gazu Hyakki Yagyo (below) Some theorize that perhaps Hibagon is related to or is infact the same thing as these yokai. - However experts on the book mention that two specific yokai are originate from Chinese myths, so doubt theres any true connection. - [For the purpose of my website i'll be covering each yokai in further detail another time! below are miniature descriptions about each.] - See also: Enko, Hihi, Satori.
[Sekiens "Hihi" - a powerful, gigantic monkey from China. The same name is the modern word for baboons.]
[Sekien's "Satori" - said to have the uncanny ability to read people’s minds & speak their thoughts faster than they can get them out.]
• Pop culture : Hibagon surprisingly gets mentioned in quite a few American cartoons such as "Big hero 6" & "Secret Saturdays." [in both of those appearances, he appears much closer to a 'weird big foot' than anything close to actual witness descriptions. I dont like them much they just dont feel like hibagon] Hibagon also has its own 2005 movie called "Dear Hinagon" by Takayoshi Watanabe.