Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, aliens, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, EVPs, ancient artifacts, strange facts, odd sightings or just the plain unexplainable.
Japan is a country known mostly for deciding tax rates based purely on the Dance Dance Revolution scores of randomly selected lower class citizens, and for constantly rebuilding after Godzilla attacks.
This is really too bad if you think about it – because Godzilla is a fictional monster that’s come to stereotype Japan’s culture. If their culture absolutely has to be stereotyped by scaly monsters? that emerged from the water,? at least let it be the Kappa. After all – the Kappa are real, according to multiple alleged encounters.
The Kappa are creatures looming in Japanese mythology – but they seem to have stretched their webbed hands into the real world too. There’ve been encounters, you see. Encounters that include visual sightings and scientific analysis of some weird slime they’ve left behind.
Wikipedia gives a brief description of the weird creatures:
“Most depictions show kappa as child-sized humanoids, though their bodies are often more like those of monkeys or frogs than human beings. Some descriptions say their faces are apelike, while others show them with beaked visages more like those of tortoises or with duck beaks. Pictures usually show kappa with thick shells and scaly skin that ranges in color from green to yellow or blue.
“Another notable feature of the kappa is the saucer-shaped depression on their scalps, which must at all times be filled with water if the kappa is to retain its strength and powers. Should the depression be emptied of water, the kappa will instantly be weakened and may even die if the water is not restored.”
Well that’s good to know, right? If you’re ever getting mugged by a Kappa, punch it in the head bladder – then you can take it’s wallet.
Lesson learned, Kappa.
And now for a few reported encounters. This first one is off of the Pink Tentacle:
“At around 11 PM on August 1, 1984 in the town of Tsushima in Nagasaki prefecture, a squid fisherman named Ryu Shirozaki? was walking home from the local pier after work. As he passed near the Kuta river, he came upon a small group of children playing at the water’s edge. While it was not entirely uncommon to encounter people fishing in the river at night, it was rather surprising to see youngsters there.
“As Shirozaki approached the children, he was struck by how bizarre they appeared in the moonlight. He could make out swarthy faces, unusually spindly arms and legs, and glistening skin. Suspicious, Shirozaki called out to them as he neared, but they seemed startled and quickly disappeared into the water.
“The next morning when he returned to the same spot, Shirozaki discovered a set of moist, teardrop-shaped footprints on the nearby pavement. The prints, which appeared to consist of a slimy substance that had begun to coagulate under the hot morning sun, stretched for about 20 meters…
“When police forensic investigators arrived on the scene, they determined that the slimy footprints consisted of an unknown secretion. They took a sample to the lab for analysis, but the results unfortunately turned out to be inconclusive because the sample was too small.”
Well that’s pretty weird, but not unheard of. Here is the other typical case recounted when speaking of the kappa. It’s got no actual encounter, but it does feature their slime. It’s from Phantoms & Monsters:
“Another recent kappa encounter occurred on June 30, 1991 in the town of Saito in Miyazaki prefecture, when an office worker named Mitsugu Matsumoto and his wife Junko returned home for the evening. Upon opening the front door, the Matsumotos were confronted with a strange smell inside their home. Inside, they found dozens of small, wet footprints around the front door and in the hallway, bathroom, and two tatami rooms. At first they suspected a burglar, but they soon realized nothing had been stolen.
“The police briefly surveyed the house, but found nothing except a floor soiled by 30 footprints, each measuring about 7 centimeters long and 6 centimeters wide, and having 4 or 5 toes. To Matsumoto, the footprints did not look human, nor did they appear to belong to any animal he could imagine.
“Later that night, as Mrs. Matsumoto was putting laundry away, she discovered an unusual orange stain on some clothing. The next morning, as Matsumoto inspected the house more closely, he discovered a deposit of orange liquid on the portable stereo in the tatami room. He took a sample to the local public health center for analysis, and the results indicated the liquid had an extremely high iron content and a chemical composition resembling spring water.
“Troubled by the incident, Matsumoto decided to visit a shaman. After listening to Matsumoto’s story, the shaman encouraged him not to worry, explaining that the kappa indigenous to the nearby swamp enjoyed playing the occasional prank on local residents. The kappa were harmless, the shaman told him.”
Well we don’t know about harmless – after all they slimed his stereo. Of course it’s Japan, and we’re pretty sure that stereos grow on trees – making them very cheap according to the laws of supply and demand.
Surely the Kappa wouldn’t have ruined it had it been more rare and valuable – like a suit any bigger than a child’s large. We’ve heard that those things are pretty hard to come by in the Land of the Rising Sun.