Urban Legends: Pishtaco

According to folklores, the Pishtaco is a vampire-like creature indigenous to the Andean region to South America. Unlike the European Vampires, however, pishtaco do not feed on blood but on fat.It is believed that pishtacos often take the form of a stranger and often in the form of a white man, preying on unsuspected natives.

At first thought, fat sucking vampires sound more pretty than scary. However, there is a cultural reason . The preoccupation with  fat has a long tradition in the Andes. So much so that the ancient Incans have a deity called Viracocha (meaning sea of fat) existed for it. Naturally, the rural poor also view excess body fat as a sign of life, health, strength and beauty. In fact, the Incans believed the loss of body fat is the cause of many illnesses.

There are some debates as to when the legend originated. Nonetheless, most scholars generally agreed that the legend's genesis began with the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. It had been suggested that the Spaniards practiced a rather barbaric from of practice to their natives enemies where they killed the natives and boiled their corpses to produce fat to grease their metal equipment. This practice horrified the natives who began all white men as evil fat stealing monster-like men.

While the origin of the legend had been long forgotten. Pishtacos persisted as something like a boogeyman to the very present. Specifically, many  natives associated any foreign white men visiting their homes as being Pishtacos, a trend that proved problematic to many international cooperation. This label had been applied not only on European missionaries, but also scholars and foreign aid workers. The natives thought that the real purpose of any of the aforementioned men in the Andes were not to help them, but to fatten and exploit them for fat. Consequently, many natives not only rejected foreign aid but sometimes even attacked foreigners as they thought they are pishtacos.

Urban Legends: Moo-Sin-A

Moo-Sin-A 魔神仔 is a mythological creature endemic to Taiwan.

The name Moo-Sin-A is derived from its Taiwanese pronunciation. According to folklores, Moo-sin-a is a mischevious creature that enjoys pulling pranks on humans, especially children and the elderlies. One common prank is to lure people into the hills and mountain, where they lived and get them lost. They may also pull other pranks. For instance, they may invite people to what seemingly look like a delicious human meal which really is bugs and feces. Nonetheless, relatively little accounts indicate the Moo-Sin-A to have any malicious intentions. This is because most people who have encountered a Moo-Sin-A were always found unharmed. However, the Moo-Sin-A was not known to be selective on their human victims. There were accounts when they chose to pull pranks on the sick and the weak, which result in injuries and fatalities. According to folklores, Moo-sin-a fear loud noises, and one way to deter them is to make them.

There were some debates as to how it look. Some say it is a small agile goblin-like creature (like the picture above) while other say it is more man-like. Some say Moo-Sin-A are ghosts of the deceased while others believed they are forest sprites. Currently, no one knows where the folklores of moo-sin-a originated. Ethnographers could not trace the creatures to any peculiar culture or time in Taiwan.
What is interesting is that the folk beliefs of Moo-sin-a were found not only among not Chinese Taiwanese communities but also aboriginals'.

Urban Legends: Sai Kung Barrier

The Sai Kung Barrier 西貢結界 is an energy barrier that purported to exist in Sai Kung Peninsula 西貢半島, on the outskirts of Hong Kong. Sai Kung Peninsula is one of the most popular hiking destination. Over the recent years, several disappearances were reported from the area, causing many citizens to compare the peninsula to the Bermuda Triangle. 

The most infamous incident took place in September 2005. An off-duty police officer got lost while hiking and dialed for help. When asked to name his coordinates (as Hong Kong trails were numbered with signs along it to help hikers locate themselves) to the dispatcher. He gave out numbers that could not be located by the dispatcher using the government registry. To this very day, he remained missing. 

A month later, another incident happened. It involved five hikers, an experienced Boy Scout leader and four women. The company took a rest near where the off-duty policeman went missing. The man, the most experienced member of the lot, says he is tired and wants a longer rest Consequently, he asked his friends to go on ahead, saying he will catch up soon after. He never did. When the women noticed their friend is missing, they called the police. Two days later, the police located his lifeless body near the trail.

Skipped forward. In 2009, a bus driver also went missing while hiking in Sai Kung. His family called his cell phone and a fisherman answered. He said that he found the cell phone while fishing. In 2011 another person called the emergency number for help while hiking in the area. The conversation was mysteriously halted. These men went missing to this very day. 

No one really knows what happened to these missing men. There are many competing theories. Not surprisingly, the most popular theory is that the area has an energy barrier that swallows people in a parallel world/time. Others suggest the area have bad feng shui and is haunted. Scholars, however, argued the rocks in the region have a magnetic field that malfunctions compass and affected phone receptions. Moreover, they noted that while the Sai King trail, while beautiful have rough terrains that are difficult even for experts. Consequently, it is probably not wise to hike alone there. Their answer while most dull actually seems most convincing, after all, everyone who went missing did hike alone. 

Uruban Legends: Tsat Tsz Mui

Tsat Tsz Mui 七姊妹 means seven sisters in Cantonese.

It was the namesake of a former village in what is now eastern North Point in Hong Kong.

According to local legend, there were seven girls who once lived in the area. They were as close as sisters and pledged to never get married and always be together. Tragedy struck when the third sister's parents betrothed her to a man who she did not like. Unable to speak out against the parents, the sisters committed suicide, jumping into the sea while holding hands a day before the wedding. There were contradicting stories whether the bodies were recovered. Nevertheless, in all accounts, the villagers found seven boulders appearing along the coastline. The villagers take the blouders as the incarnation of the sisters and named them, Tsat Tsz Mui shek (七姊妹石 Seven Sisters Rock). The village renamed Tsat Tz Mui Tsuen (七姊妹村 Seven sisters Village).

According to old residents, those seven boulders indeed existed and were visible along low tide before reclamation. Unfortunately, the rocks are no longer here as they are buried under reclamation for urban development in 1948. It was also once a popular swimming spot, but men were warned to stay away. Like folktales with similar contexts, people thought the sisters would take revenge on men. The author, however, was not able to found any specific stories (fictional or not) about this during his research.

Anyhow, a swimming shed was eventually built there in 1911 but destroyed by the Japanese during the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941, and never rebuilt. The village is gone too, and is replaced by a cluster of office, residential buildings, shopping malls and restaurants today. What remains of the legend was a road named Tsat Tsz Mui Dao (七姊妹道 Tsat Tsz Mui Road)  built and completed on December 15, 1939, and a post office bearing the namesake.

Reference
1. Cheung, Rachel (10 June 2016). Stories behind Hong Kong street names: the haunting past of Tsat Tsz Mui Road. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/1970584/stories-behind-hong-kong-street-names-haunting-past-tsat

Urban Legends: Oiran Buchi

It was said that people can sometime hear screams of women in Oiran Buchi 花魁淵 (Prostitute Gorge). The site is off Highway 411 in 山梨県 Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. During the Sengoku Era, the eminent Takeda Clan of Kai was known to run gold mines in the area. To keep the miners and guards entertained, there were also many brothels and prostitutes. Following the Battle of Nagashino in 1575 CE, the Takeda clan's fortunes were forced to give up the area to their enemies. Before they retreated from the Yamanashi area, however, it was decided they will kill the prostitutes and workers to prevent their enemies from ever knowing about the gold mines. The Takeda leaders constructed a wide, wooden platform, suspended above the steep gorge and under the guise of  a party, invited the prostitutes to dance there. Unsuspected, the women compiled. Once they got onto the platform, the Takeda soldiers slashed the ropes holding the platform and all the women (55 in total) plunged, screaming to their deaths. Today, visitors, especially men, are cautioned to be wary of standing too close to the edge.

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. 

Urban Legends: Turbo Bachan

Today, I am going to talk about Turbo Bachan (ターボばあちゃん). 

Turbo Bachan as depicted in the video game, Megami Tensei

Turbo Bachan, also known as turbo-granny, is a popular urban legend originating around the highways of Mount Rokko in Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. The story soon gains traction. Soon, there were sightings all over Japan.

Source: http://twitpic.com/a2uum3

The general premise of these sightings involves a driver driving on the highway at night. Suddenly, he/she will catch the glimpse of an old lady speeding at the rear mirror. In most stories, the driver could only catch a glimpse of her, before she dashes away.

Nevertheless,there are alternate versions. In some malicious variants, Turbo Banchan would purposely tail someone or  knock on the windows. In these cases, the goal of Turbo Bachan is to cause an accident.

In other times, it was said that only people going over speed limits will end up getting hurt during their encounters. In these interpretations, the legend acts as a parable to those who disregard traffic regulations while driving.

On a side note, there was a Japanese film based on the legend. It is a small production but for those interested, they can check it out here.