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Issie

Issie (イッシー Isshī) is a legendary Japanese lake monster; it is said to lurk in Lake Ikeda, on Kyushu Island. The name is formed in analogy with "Nessie" (the Loch Ness Monster).

Description[]

It is reported to be black or red in color, 20 to 30 meters long, with a hump on its back and an extremely elongated body shape similar to an eel or snake. No head sightings have been reported since the 1970s, but combining sightings from the 1940s with reports of undated sightings, it appears to have a head the size of an oil drum and a jaw with fangs.

There are Issie statues in the area, but these do not reflect any of the reported Issie features.

220px-Issie

A statue of Issie

Sightings[]

An ilustration of Issie
An ilustration of Issie

The creature was reportedly photographed in 1978, by a man who went by the name "Mr. Matsubara". Twenty other people reportedly also saw the creature, which they described as black and about 5 meters (16.4 feet) long, swimming in the lake in 1978. In 1991, another visitor to the lake caught video footage supposedly of a bizarre-looking creature estimated to be 30 meters (98.4 feet) in length.

Explanations[]

There is a theory that this is a large eel. Lake Ikeda is home to many giant mottled eels. Some say that when several of these swim on the surface of the water, they look like the silhouette of one giant creature.

When Bintaro Yamaguchi asked local residents if Issie had been sighted yet during his field interviews, a local resident told him, “We stopped insisting that just a big eel is Issie.”

Source and other information[]