Urban Legends: Jinmenken

Jinmenken from the live action film, Yokai Watch

Jinmenken (人面犬) is among the most popular Japanese urban legends. 

Jinmenken are human-faced dogs that roams quiet streets of urban areas at night. 

The mutts are not known to be harmful. Supposedly, when approached, it will ask to be left alone or throw an insult before running off. Nonetheless, Jinmenken are harbingers of bad luck and it is considered a bad omen to see one.

Tomb guardian from early China

We don't know when and where the story of Jinmenken enter the Japanese conscious. However, we know stories of Jinmenken first gained prominence during the Edo period (1603-1868 CE). More likely than not, they are derived from stories from Chinese or Japanese myths. However, the stories could also be stuffs from freak shows.

Popularity rewnewed in late 1980s. In 1989, a reporter from a female magazine fabricated a story. According to the false report, someone was driving a car fast on the highway in one rain night. All of a sudden, she notice a creature that looked like a dog running after his car from the rear mirror. 

It wasn't long before the dog caught up, cut in front of his car, taunt him before running off. The false report have the driver testifying that the supposed creature have the face of a human and the body of a dog. 

Jinmenken from the manga, Jigoku Sensei Nube

What began as a harmless prank grew into media frenzy. Since then, there were many reports of Jinmenken sighting. Usually, these accounts involve someone taking out that trash at night and see one going through the trash. Most reports come from suburbs and rural areas, but some also come from urban and high rise complexes. One famous supposed sighting was in the late 1980s when it was digging around in a dark alley in Shibuya District, one of the most crowded and bustling area in Tokyo. 

Over the years, there are also renewed discussions onto its origins. Some believed they are spirits of people who were reincarnated as dogs, other believed these dogs are possessed by spirits. Other even suggests that they are result of secret experiments. It is very clear that Jinmenken continue to haunt Japanese conscious and are a common theme of fictions.