Issie

The Issie is an aquatic cryptid reported from Lake Ikeda in Kagoshima, Japan. Lake Ikeda is a caldera lake formed when rainwater accumulated in a depression caused by an eruption approximately 6,400 years ago（Another theory is that 5,700 years ago）, and there are no rivers flowing into the lake. Legends of monsters and sightings of aquatic cryptids have occurred at this lake for some time, but it became famous after a sighting in 1978.

Description

Issie is 20 -30 meters long and has a body shape similar to a snake or eel, with a hump or dorsal fin-like projection on its back. Some testified that they saw caudal fins similar to those of whales. It is said to be black or red in color.

Issie statues of plesiosaur type have been made by the lakeside, but contrary to this, there are few reports of Issie in plesiosaur-like form.

Local folklore

There are several folk tales about the Lake Ikeda monster in the area. The record of giant creatures in Lake Ikeda is old in origin, and stories of the giant dragon god living in the lake can be found in documents from the Edo period (1603-1868).

Sangoku Meisho Zue, a book written in the Edo period that describes the geography and places of interest in the neighborhood, contains a description of the dragon god of Lake Ikeda. According to the book, a farmer walking near the lake saw a dragon-like creature with a human-like head lying in the grass. He attacked the creature by thrusting a dagger into its neck, which caused it to bleed and flee into the lake. The farmer suddenly fell ill and died that night, and his wife went insane and uttered the following words. “I am the Dragon King of the Lake. In retaliation for murdering me, I will annihilate all your descendants." When the relatives declared to the Dragon King who had possessed the wife, "We will build a shrine for you to atone for our sins," the Dragon King was appeased and the wife came to her senses.

The Brooklyn Paranormal Society presented local lore that Issie was once a white mare whose child was kidnapped and in desperation she jumped into the lake and became a monster. According to the Ibusuki City web page, there is indeed a legend of a mare in this area who jumped into Lake Ikeda after her child was kidnapped by people, but the mare is not named and nor is it said to have turned into a monster.

According to Satsuma-Hanto Shiseki Meisho Shashin-cho（薩摩半島・史跡名所写真帖）, a record of the area published in 1942, carp as large as three feet sometimes wash ashore in the southern part of the lake with their bodies cut in half. It is also said that at dusk on rainy evenings, an "island" the size of 10 tatami mats can suddenly appear in the center of the lake. Residents of the area believed that the mutilated carp were the work of giant crabs living in the lake, and that the "islands" that appeared at dusk on rainy evenings were the backs of crabs.

It is also said that the bodies of those who drown in Lake Ikeda never rise to the surface because the monsters at the bottom of the lake eat the corpses.

Timelines

Undated

One day, two divers dove into the lake to investigate the lake bottom and encountered a huge creature. This thing opened its fanged mouth and attacked the two divers.

According to a 2015 Tokyo Sports web article, Mitsumasa Matsuoka, president of the lakeside Tabi no Eki Ikeda-ko Paradise facility, said Issie is spotted several times a year. According to the article, anglers and birdwatchers visiting Lake Ikeda have seen swells and bumpy waves on the lake's surface. Eisuke Kawata of the nearby store, Ikeda-ko Marina WARNA, also says that several times a year he hears from customers that the lake was heaving and that there were big waves.

A recent sighting in a 2019 Tokyo Sports web article described a bus driver who saw a 5-6 meter shadow moving across the lake. No specific time frame was mentioned for this.

1943

In the fall of 1943, Tamekichi Kohama was on a boat with a friend when he saw an eel 20 meters long with a head the size of an oil drum.

1975

In 1975, Matsu Inokura was resting on the side of the road leading from the Ibusuki Skyline to the lake when he spotted a very long creature floating on the surface of the lake.

1978

John Kirk introduced the spring of 1978 when Yutaka Kawaji saw the lake creatures from his garden.

Shortly after 6 p.m. on September 3, 1978, 11-year-old Hiroto Kawaji and his cousin, 17-year-old Satoshi Kawaji, were playing catch on the shore of a lake when they saw what looked like two black bumps on the lake surface. They went to Hiroto's home to inform him of this sighting. At this time, there were about 20 relatives at Hiroto's house for a memorial service, and when they went outside after the two testified, they saw the same strange thing. Two bumps, 5 meters long and 40 cm - 50 cm high, were lined up 5 meters apart on the surface of the lake, which advanced 400-500 meters and submerged into the water. This object was moving very fast. According to John Kirk, “Yukata Kawaji” chased it in a motorboat but was unable to catch up with the creature. However, he was able to observe the creature for 20 seconds. Around this same time, five high school students at another location on the lakeshore saw a strange object floating on the surface of the lake.

The incident quickly became well-known and was the talk of the local community. Along with this, more than 200 people came forward claiming that they had seen the same thing. The local tourism association decided to take this opportunity to establish an "Issie Committee" and use it as a tourism resource. The Issie Committee decided to install a 24-hour surveillance camera at the lakeside lookout, as well as a 100,000-yen reward for anyone taking Issie's picture.

On October 4 of the same year, several employees of the agricultural cooperative discovered what appeared to be a bump on the surface of the lake.

Issie pictured on December 16, 1978.

On December 16, Toshiaki Matsubara, who had been visiting this lake since December 14 to photograph Issie, succeeded in taking the photo. Around 1:30 p.m. that day, a vortex was generated in the center of the lake, which soon disappeared. Later, while he was focusing near Meoto-iwa (couples rock), something strange appeared and he took a picture. The tourism department of Ibusuki City received the photo, recognized it as an Issie, and presented Matsubara with 100,000 yen as a prize. The photos were sent to GSW, a U.S. UFO research organization, where they were examined in detail. They, too, could not determine the details of the object, but found no traces of forgery in this photograph. They also analyzed that this could be a reptile-like creature.

1979

An Issie survey was conducted by TV Tokyo from May 9 to 15, 1979. During the survey using a fish finder, two objects over 3 meters in length were found at a depth of 10 meters. On May 14, 400 meters offshore from Meoto-iwa, while lowering an underwater speaker from a boat to a depth of 30 meters, a violent vibration was felt from the bottom of the lake.

1990

Issie videotaped on October 21, 1990.

On October 21, 1990, around 1:00 p.m., Kazuo Kono and his mother were looking out over the lake from a lakeside observation platform when they saw a series of black bumps on the surface of the lake, repeatedly floating and sinking, moving across the lake. He succeeded in capturing this object with a video camera.

1991

On January 4, 1991, while driving along the Ibusuki Skyline with his family, Takashi Tomiyasu spotted a black bump on the surface of the lake and filmed it with a home-use video camera. Another object, different from the one he first spotted, also appeared on the surface of the lake, and the two objects approached, moved straight to the right, and disappeared into the water.

On February 2, the video shot by Tomiyasu was broadcast on TV, and the following day the lake was flooded with tourists as a result. This led to 10-20 sightings per day, and many photos and videos were taken.

On March 19, 1991, a black bump appeared on the surface of the water 40 meters from the shore of the lake and disappeared into the waves about 30 seconds later. This was witnessed by concession stand employees and tourists.

On March 24, 1991, KYODO NEWS reporter Shimada witnessed Issie. There was a splash on the surface of the lake, and a black bump-like object moved through it, finally diving into the water. During this process, the bumps were sometimes two, sometimes one.

On April 1, 1991, a Fuji Television crew successfully videotaped Issie on two occasions.

1993

Issie videotaped on October 25, 1993.

On October 25, 1993, what appeared to be Issie was videotaped on 8mm film.

2007

On May 17, 2007, four bumps were seen floating on the surface of the lake.

Theories

Giant mottled eel

Lake Ikeda is known to have many giant mottled eels. It is not certain where they came to the lake from, but a survey in 1950 showed that they were already present in the lake. （Cryptozoologist John Kirk describes these eels as "introduced”. ）

The prevailing theory is that Issie's identity is this giant mottled eel.

Cryptid researcher Bintaro Yamaguchi conducted a field interview about Issie and asked local residents, "Is Issie still around?” The local residents replied, "We have stopped insisting that a mere giant eel is an Issie”.

In a web column on Issie, Tokyo Sports introduced a local official's opinion that a giant mottled eel came up to the surface and several of them were swimming together, which might be Issie's true identity.

Eel-like organisms

Rei Hani of the Paranormal Skeptics Group pointed out that Issie has not been observed to have a horizontal body wiggling behavior, that the fang-like teeth testified to in Issie sighting reports by divers do not exist in eels, and that Lake Ikeda fish, including eels, are not biologically capable of reaching 20 meters. This led him to believe that Issie was a creature that looked like an eel but was not an eel, but he did not know what kind of creature it was or where it came to Lake Ikeda from.