When we talk about the mythical creatures of Japan, we immediately come to mind, the Yokai, a multitude of supernatural figures from folklore. Some of them are well known to manga lovers. Faithful to our approach, we first take as a starting point, the "monsters" that encroach on our reality, these fabulous animals that make the front page of the newspapers, and which manifest a real existence.

Obviously we could not miss the Japanese equivalent of bigfoot, nicknamed Hibagon. Its story is that of a thunderous and sensational appearance at the very beginning of the 1970s, followed by a popular fever and a monster hunt, to end in a total disappearance, at the beginning of the 1980s. proud of this story so often told? Does it really appear out of nowhere? It seems that the lore around a yeti/bigfoot-like creature in Japan is much richer than is often thought. Also, did it really disappear overnight? In fact, he may well have been talked about afterwards, and even quite recently. 

Without further ado, dear reader, let's discover Hibagon, and let's start with its environment: Mount Hiba.

The region where Hibagon is believed to live, the Chūgoku Mountains, and in particular the Mount Hiba region, was relatively uninhabited until about 400 years ago. Could a species have lived there for several thousand years, almost without contact with humans?

Mount Hiba is part of a kind of national park, Hiba Dogo Taishaku, known for its natural reserve of Japanese beeches (fagus crenata and fagus japonica). Like the Iraty forest in France.

All sightings of Hibagon have occurred within a 50km (30mile) radius of Mount Hiba. (original article)

Our story begins in 1969, around Saijô, a small village of about fifteen houses. Right next to it, shortly before, the construction of  Kenmin no mori began in the middle of the mountains, a small ski and tourist resort, with a campground, with an area of ​​​​1164 hectares. and culminating at 1264m. On the development site, a worker discovers strange footprints that form a track several meters long. He calls his colleagues who come to see the facts. This news item spreads very quickly in the surroundings, and the police are soon obliged to carry out the investigation to reassure the population and try to clarify the mystery. Especially since a rumor has it that an unknown creature was also seen during the day, prowling around the dam, in the north of the town.

Did the construction of this infrastructure disturb the one that some residents have nicknamed "the god of Mount Hiba"?

Finally, the local police failing to achieve any result (the moldings of prints made were unusable) she asked for help from the departmental police who did not have much more success. The press then revealed the case to the general public, and a first expeditionary force sent by a Nagoya university went to the scene to launch an investigation, in the hope of recovering the slightest clue, trace, fingerprint, or other. In vain.

However, during this time, the testimonies of sightings and encounters began to emerge. This is the official start of the affair, when the town hall of Saijö opens an anthropoid office (you are not dreaming) in order to collect elements and testimonies. Miko Toshihiro, a municipal employee, becomes the main investigator of this case.

The first reported sighting was on July 9, 1970, when Junji Miyazaki was driving a pickup truck on the Rokunohara Forest Road, which leads to the construction site. 

Viewing location

Footprint attributed to Higabon, 1970

On July 20 of the same year, near the Munohara dam Mr. Yasutaka Marusaki, then 31 years old, observed a creature resembling a gorilla, which stared at him while slowly moving away and disappearing into the woods. It seemed to descend into the valley. According to Maruzaki, it was about the size of a calf, its neck twice the width of a human, and there were footprints of the creature and traces of trampled trees. This is the first accurate eyewitness account. There will then be many sightings around the Munohara Dam.

On July 23, 1970, a man living on a farm in the same area encountered a monster as large as an adult. According to him the body was covered with black hair, the head was unusually large and the face looked like a human.

In December 1970, footprints believed to belong to a monster were discovered in the snowfields of Mount Azuma. original website

The largest footprints attributed to Hibagon were about 30 cm long (12 inches) by 27 wide, although most are much smaller. Its weight is estimated at 80 or 90 kg (180 ft), but this estimate seems a little underestimated for an anthropoid of this size. For according to eyewitness accounts, the creature had a size of about 160cm (about 5ft) to 180cm, the height of an adult human, but a head that was almost twice that of a human, from the neck. His head and face are inverted triangle shape, no sagittal crest mentioned. His entire body is covered in hair, except for his face, and probably the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet, although this is not mentioned in official testimony.

An illustration of Hibagon published in the Chugoku Shimbun at the time. Presumably based on eyewitness accounts. original article

He has no hair, it is said that about 5 cm (2 inches) of dark brown hair stands on his head and his whole body is covered with rough hair the same color as the hair on his head. it therefore does not possess an undercoat, but hairs growing independently on the skin, like the anthropoids, which indicates a kinship with the higher primates.

His face is ape-like, with forward-pointing nostrils, dark complexion, prominent mouth region,

No official and verified information mentions the fact that he wears clothes or uses any tool worked. No one seems to have heard its call either, and there are no known cases of predation on livestock or domestic animals from it, nor is it aggressive or destructive to crops. Only one case of crop destruction is known. A cornfield was found partially ravaged the day after a Hibagon sighting, but the damage was not proven to have been caused by it. However, it is likely that he was the cause during his escape.

To summarize the Hibagon's "spec sheet":

・Height 150cm-170cm. Estimated to weigh between 80kg and 90kg.
・The face is an inverted triangle and the eyes are oddly sharp.
・The whole body is covered in dark brown, almost black hair. Body hair corresponding to the hair stands on end on the head.
・It moves slowly, is not afraid of humans, and poses no threat.

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