Hibagon

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Hibagon Category Cryptohominid Proposed scientific names Other names Hibagon Country reported Mount Hiba, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. First reported Prominent investigators

The hibagon refers to a cryptohominid that is commonly sighted within the range of Mount Hiba in the Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The hibagon is described as having a black or a reddish-brown tint to its fur, being neither a dwarf or a giant, approximately measuring around 1.50 to 1.60 meters, sometimes even up to 1.80 meters (with a unique case of 2 meters), having a repulsive smell or stink that one witness compared to manure or a septic tank, and it never seems to produce any sound whatsoever .

Etymology

In Japanese, 'hibagon' seems to etymologically mean 'after the mountain' , possibly in due reference to the oribatic preference of the hibagon.

Description

The hibagon's description varies widely, with the hibagon's fur being described as black-brown, having a black or reddish-brown tint to it, and older hibagon are said to have white hair as a result of aging . The smell of the hibagon is described as that of rotting flesh, or that of manure or a septic tank . The head is twice the size of a human one, inverted triangular in shape, with inverted hairs over 5 cm long. The face resembles that of a human, with a thin coat of hair on the surface.

Physical evidence

On 15 occasions, traces of what are believed to be hibagon footprints were reported. However, these varied in size, ranging from 14 to 30 cm in length and 7 to 23 cm in width, and were not consistent. Many of these footprints were identified as human, but some contained footprints that were clearly neither human nor monkey. In the case of the footprints found on December 16, 1970, town officials and police made a plaster mold, which is still preserved today.

Timelines

Witnesses began coming forward in 1970, and the disturbances subsided in 1974-1975. There were 29 sightings during this period, and a hibagon never harmed a human.

July 1970

On July 9, what appeared to be a "mountain man" with bare skin and fur was spotted between Yuki and Miinohara stations. On the other hand, this was reported in the newspaper on October 25 and was not considered the first sighting.

The first sighting occurred on July 20, 1970 in the Yuki area of Saijo Town (now Shobara City), Hiba County. Around 8:00 pm, Yoshitaka Marusaki was returning home in his light truck when he saw a strange creature pass in front of his car as he crossed the Rokunohara River bridge and approached the Rokunohara Dam. He described this as a creature the size of a calf, too large to be considered a monkey. He took a relative who lived nearby to investigate the scene and found overturned vegetation but no footprints.

Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, on the other hand, describes a case in the early 1970s in which a group of schoolchildren came across an ape-like creature crashing through the grass nearby, which he attributes to the first sighting of hibagon. Cryptid researcher and author Bintaro Yamaguchi also describes this case, and he writes that this happened on July 20.

A second sighting occurred 300 meters from the Rokunohara Dam on July 23, 1970, at approximately 5:30 AM. Minoru Kondo, a farmer who was mowing grass 150 meters from his house, heard a roar and looked up to see a strange face coming out of the grass. He first thought it was a monkey, so he tried to scare it away by making noises and swinging his sickle. But it did not run away. Stared at by the creature's large eyes, Kondo suddenly became frightened and fled back to his home. When the site was later examined, 1.2 meter high grass was found to have been knocked down. The creature was described as being as tall as an average man, covered in black fur, and having a grotesque face with piercing, intelligent eyes. According to Katsuyuki Egi, a town hall employee who collected the sightings at the time, the witness in this case saw it twice, saying that on the first sighting the creature had its hands down and on the second sighting it had its hands up.

The third sighting occurred at approximately 8:05 p.m. on July 30, 1970. The witness was on his way to the sluice gate to fill the rice paddies with water when he noticed someone walking along the path between the rice paddies about 20 meters away. He guessed that this figure was a female relative and called out to her to be careful, but she did not respond. When he looked into this person's face, he saw that it resembled a gorilla, so he fled the scene in surprise and fear, got into his truck, and fled to his relative's house.

Around this time, the area where the creature appeared spread, and several reports of damage to chestnut and corn fields that had been destroyed were received. Saijo Town reported these to the police, and after aligning the times of the local elementary schools' dismissals, neighbors and police officers began escorting the elementary school students out of school.

August 1970

In August 1970, the Saijo Town Office appointed Katsuyuki Egi, a town office employee, and others to be in charge and opened a consultation service regarding apes. The purpose was to prevent the press from coming to interview witnesses and disturbing their daily lives. The staff of the consultation service regarding apes conducted activities to respond to the university's hibagon search team and the media, as well as to obtain information from witnesses, and paid the witnesses 5,000 yen as compensation for their inconvenience.

June 1974

On June 20, a man named Ohta was driving along a mountain road in Kawagita Town, Shobara City, when he saw a 1.6-meter creature with its entire body covered in body hair. Its torso was about twice the size of a human. The creature was startled by the car driven by Ohta and disappeared into the woods.

July 1974

On July 15, 1974, a woman in Hiwa Town saw a 1.6 meter tall brown monkey-like creature on a prefectural road near her house. Its legs were shaped like a human's and its gait resembled that of a monkey. She described it as a "big old monkey."

August 1974

Photo taken by Mitani.

On August 15, 1974, Minoru Mitani was driving with his mother along a prefectural road in Nigorikawa Town, Shobara City, when he noticed a monster in the middle of the road, switching between a biped and a quadruped. He snapped a picture when the creature jumped onto a persimmon tree. The creature tried to jump to a pine tree three meters away, but the branch broke and it fell. According to witnesses, the creature was covered with gray or silver hair, white around the neck, and had a red face.

The photo was not well received. Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman states that "The photo is of poor quality", and Sin'ichiro Namiki, president of the Japan Fortean Association, says, "It is impossible to judge from this photo alone.” Ohta, who saw the Hibagon on June 20, 1974, dismissed the idea that the creature in the photo was a Hibagon, saying "What I saw was not like this, but something more grotesque, like a gorilla, with sharp eyes, a large, black nose, and unusually large ears, and when that thing glared at me, I got goosebumps and shaky limbs, so bad that I had trouble driving. I grew up in the mountains and am used to seeing monkeys, so if it was something like that in the picture, I wouldn't be too upset."

June 1975

In June 1975, Saijo Town issued a "declaration of the end of the hibagon case."

Since 1980

Writer Takeharu Mikami, an editor-in-chief of the occult magazine "Mu", said that the hibagon may have died because a large, unidentified, skeletonized carcass of the creature was found in the mountains near Mount Hiba in 1980. On the other hand, he also noted that a similar cryptid called "Yamagon" was seen in Yamano Town, Fukuyama City, in 1980, suggesting the possibility that there were multiple hibagons or that they could be used as a tourist resource.

Theories

Japanese macaque

Zoologist Tadaaki Imaizumi noted that the hibagon's characteristics were consistent with those of Japanese macaques, except for size, and wondered if it might be an old Japanese macaque that had dropped out of the herd. On the other hand, the witnesses disagree that what they saw was a Japanese macaque.

Known apes

Writer Bintaro Yamaguchi, a well-known cryptid researcher, pointed out that this could be an escaped ape. He speculated that the chimpanzees were released into the mountains by zookeepers who were ordered to kill the animals during the war.

Takeharu Mikami thought the hibagon's true identity might be a gorilla that escaped during transport to or from a zoo or private home.

Human

Cryptozoologist Tatsuo Saneyoshi ruled out the possibility that it was a Japanese macaque based on the reported size of the hibagon. He also ruled out the theory that it was a gorilla that had escaped from a circus troupe, thinking that if it had been a gorilla it would have been easier to spot. He surmised that the hibagon's identity was a Japanese spy hired by the Chinese during the war who fled to the mountains. He also mentioned at another time that the most likely identity of the hibagon is a survivor of a mountain-dwelling tribe.

Mythological interpretation

There are several attempts to interpret the hibagon mythologically.

Kunitokotachi-no-mikoto or Ameno-minakanushi-no-mikoto

Actual painting preserved at Kumano Shrine.

At the Kumano Shrine at the foot of Mt. Hiba, there exists a painting depicting the deity Kunitokotachi-no-mikoto or Ameno-minakanushi-no-mikoto. Here, the deity is depicted as a black, hairy, monstrous figure. The writer states that the person who painted this picture may have seen a hibagon and believed it to be an incarnation of the deity. Another theory states that the hibagon may be a deity that appeared to teach the importance of nature. Katsuyuki Egi had seen this painting and felt "this could be hibagon."

Presence guarding the tomb of Izanami

Because Mt. Hiba is said to contain the tomb of Izanami, a goddess of Japanese mythology, there is an interpretation that the hibagon is the guardian of Izanami's tomb.

Ranba

Bintaro Yamaguchi thought the hibagon might be a descendant of a hairy monster called "ranba," as there were old records of its existence in the Mt. Hiba area.

Similar cryptids

Yamagon

Sketch of the yamagon in a newspaper. Here the yamagon is simply called a hibagon.

At around 6:40 a.m. on October 20, 1980, in Yamano Town, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, a man was on his way home in his truck after finishing farm work when he spotted a figure walking along a prefectural road wearing what appeared to be a black raincoat. When he casually approached the figure in his car, he discovered that it was a 1.5 meter tall gorilla-like monster. This one had a muscular body with grayish-brown fur covering its entire body except the belly. The witness observed this for approximately one minute. The monster assumed a quadrupedal posture, walked down the bank, crossed the river, and disappeared through the trees like a monkey.

In 1981, a footprint of about 30 cm was found on the county road in front of the health center at a place called Tahara in Yamano Town, which is also considered one of the cases of the yamagon. In 1982, a person named Joji Uesako conducted a survey and found footprints, eaten shellfish, and excrement that could be traces of the yamagon.

The first sighting is believed to have been in 1980, but sightings existed before that. That was the case in 1976, when a cab driver saw the monster. At the time, however, this report was not very well known, and only received a few mentions in the newspapers.

Kuigon

Kuigon sketches by elementary school siblings.

On May 9, 1982, two brothers, ages 10 and 7, from Kui Town, Hiroshima Prefecture, saw a 2-meter-tall ape-like monster covered in brownish-brown body hair on a mountain road near their home. A Japanese macaque has a hairless area on its buttocks, but this creature did not have that feature. The monster held a stone axe in its left hand and a stone in its right. As the brothers lay motionless with fear, the monster cried out "ho ho" and leaped over the cliff, disappearing into the mountains.

Giant monkey of Bouji

In 1913, in a place called Bouji in Ekiya Town, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, a man working in his garden discovered a creature, he did not know if it was a man or a monkey, coming down from a persimmon tree. It was 1.6 meters tall, had silver hair all over its body, and its head was the same size as that of a human. When this ape landed on the ground, it stood up on two legs, and the witness and the ape observed each other warily. The monkey escaped and fled to the lavatory of a private home, but was captured and eventually a traveler purchased the monkey. A few years later, the giant monkey of Bouji returned to Fukuyama City as a spectacle, but the monkey on display at this time was smaller and clearly a different individual.

Hibagon junior

Writers Naoshi Tanaka and Bintaro Yamaguchi, who write about cryptids, mentioned that small bipedal apes have been spotted in the Mt. Hiba area in recent years. According to the description, this one was 30 cm tall, and Yamaguchi described it as a hibagon junior.