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.

Urban Legends: The Nanshan Company

The story, The Headless Nanshan Company 南山連的無頭部隊, I am going to talk about today comes from Taiwan (aka. Republic of China).

http://city.udn.com/65094/4104165

It comes from Qingqi village 青岐村 in Kinmen. The village was heavily shelled by the PLA (People's Liberation Army) during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, which happened between August 23, 1958 and September 22, 1958. Today, many places in the village bored scars from the battle.  The village was also largely depopulated, as many young men and women have left the village for better opportunities in Taiwan, leaving behind the elderly. Qingqi village is truly haunted by its past. 


The best narration of this legend I found  came from a soldier who was once stationed in Kinmen. According to the soldier, his story came from an elderly store owner who ran a general store in Qingli Village. For the 60 years he lived, the old store owner stayed on Kinmen. Hence, he knew everything about Kinmen and is well versed with its many ghost stories. 

One day, the soldier, who already know a little about the story, pestered the old store owner to tell him more on the Nanshan company. The store owner was at first reluctant but eventually gave in. "Well, I guess it is a firsthand experience", he sighed. 

The story began in 1958, not long after the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. Special Forces from both the ROCAF (Republic of China Armed Forces) and the PLA were constantly crossing the strait to sneak up on one another. During this time, a company of ROCAF soldiers was stationed in Nanshan hills, not too far away from Qingli village.

At the time, the store owner made a living doing the laundries of this company of soldiers. One morning,  the store owner was following his routine and went to the barracks to return their clothes. Surprisingly, no one was there at the entrance to greet him. He knew something was wrong right away. Specifically,  the sentries were not on duty. He went inside the living quarters, and there, he saw the whole company of soldiers, with their throat slit, lying dead in a pool of blood. He hurriedly went for help.  

For a short time after, when the company had been wiped out, there were no soldiers stationed in Nanshan hills. However, the villagers continued to hear soldiers marching at night. Eventually, some curious villagers went to explore the barracks at night. There they saw a whole company of headless soldiers marching in full uniform. The stories about the sighting ran rampant around the islands. Not long after, the army sent priests to exorcise these men. However, exorcisms never worked. Villagers still heard ghost soldiers marching every night. Naturally, no one dared to fill the vacuum in the barracks. 

According to the priests who tried exorcising the soldiers, the soldiers were ashamed for having their whole company wiped out by the enemies. Hence, they decided that if they could defend their position in life, they would do so in death. The ROCAF sent ranked officers to convince the soldiers to leave. They first tried a major, colonel and then a commander, however, the ghost soldiers would not heed to them. 

http://city.udn.com/65094/4104165

This happened for a year until the visit of Chiang Kai-Shek, the leader of the Republic of China, to the islands. Chiang was furious to know no military units were stationed in Nanshan hills, a considerably important strategic location. In response, his subordinates briefed him in on the story and why there were no units stationed there. Hence, later that night, Chiang decided that he will go there and personally try convincing the company to leave. According to the old man, the ghost soldiers were moved by their leader into leaving their position and decided to rest in peace. 

"Afterall, Chiang is the highest ranked officer in the country" the old store owner ended his story. 

Some time ago, Taiwan television made a coverage about the story. Apparently, the tale is quite a phenomenon to local Kinmen residents. 

There were reliable sources stating this story is true. Specifically, there was no evidence indicating that a whole ROCAF company were completely annihilated at Nanshan hills. Moreover, there was a nationalistic tone behind the story. Making it seems like propaganda.

No matter what the case is, the scars of war in Kinmen were clearly seemingly preserved through this story. 

Urban Legends: Kisaragi Station (Part 2)

Here comes part 2 of my Kisaragi Station coverage. 

In 2011, a story came up on twitter. A twitter user claimed to board a train in Kanto that brought him to a mysterious station. There, the time was not only an hour faster than the internet he was using, but his GPS was also malfunctioning. Moreover, while there was a level 5 earthquake warning in Kanto, he felt nothing that night. 

The twitter user later found a convenience store with people inside. He entered it. When he exited, the station mysteriously disappeared. He took some photos and later uploaded them. Naturally, they received scrutiny. Many were quick to point out that the supposed train and station was similar to that of Kansai's. Attached below are some cross-analyzing photos done by the Japanese internet community. 

Most deemed the story mentioned above to be a hoax. However, there were believers who believe that Kisaragi Station is a portal to the spirit world and whom believe this story affirmed the hypothesis.

Urban Legends: Kisaragi Station (Part 1)

Ghost trains are a common theme for urban legends across the globe. Stories mostly revolve unexplained or paranormal encounters with late-night trains. The story I am going to mention below is of no exception. It is an incidence of late-night train travelling to a station not listed as existing in Japan. Similar to the train station in the animated film Spirted Away by Hayao Miyazaki, these stations are viewed as portals to the spirit world.  

Source: http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/xxxxxxxhirokixxxxxxx/46591842.html

Back in 2004, a 2ch (a popular social network site in Japan) user named Hatsumi posted a cry for help, saying the late-night train she had caught was not stopping at the stations it was supposed to. After passing through an unfamiliar tunnel, the train stopped around midnight at a station named "Kisaragi Station きさらぎ駅". Other users were quick to reply, saying there was no such station in Japan.

Source: http://seesaawiki.jp/persona_sai/d/PersonaCoC%3A%A4%AD%A4%B5%A4%E9%A4%AE%B1%D8

Hatsumi continued communicating with other 2ch users. She says she saw no one when exiting the station and that she has call home for help. She also contacted the the police, but her plea was treated as a prank call. She stated her mobile phone GPS unable to pinpoint her location. Hence, she decided to leave the station to look for a taxi. At around 2am, she began hearing the sound of taiko drums and bells and encountered a one legged man. Other 2ch users noticed something was wrong and advice Hatsumi to walk back along the train tracks toward the tunnel. Hatsumi heed their advice but upon reaching the other end of the tunnel, she came across a man waiting near the entrance. The man offered to give Hatsumi a lift in his car. Although the 2ch users strongly questions his presense and strongly opposed any interactions with the man, Hatsumi accepted the offer and entered the man's car. Hatsumi posted that at first the man was friendly , but had stopped answering questions after a few minutes as he drove the car towards the mountains. At 3:44am, Hatsumi stated her phone battery was almost depleted, the man started speaking gibberish and that she was going to escape at the first chance. This is the last of her messages. 

Like many urban legends, it is impossible to verify its authenticity IMO, the story also have a large plothole. For instance, did anyone filed any missing person report? Hatsumi did call her parents, right? Nevertheless, the story did receive a cult following not only in Japan, but also in the Greater China region (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau). Recently, the story was made into comics, Ruyue Chezhan 如月車站, by Hong Kong comic author and artist, Cheng Kin Wo 鄭健和 (who is the co-author of Feng Sheng Ji 封神記). The story (only 3 issues long) was recently finished. So if you are interested, please check it out! 

On a side note, there were more reports of sightings of the Kisaragi Station, along with some interesting hypothesis and theories. However, I will save them for another time. 

Site under Construction

Hi Everyone:

I have some issues with blogger recently.

For the regular contents, please go to http://3-archaeologist9.blogspot.ca/ .

Everything should be fixed and be back to normal soon enough. Sorry for the trouble.

Getting Started

Hello. Here is my first blog post so please bare with me.

I thought I should start with explaining the reason I blog?  Recently, I found out I have dyspraxia. Frankly, my feelings toward this condition are mixed.  On one hand, I am proud to have made it so far undetected. On the contrary, I noticed I am screwed...? As an aspiring archaeologist and educator, I need to be clear in writing and speech to get my ideas across. Being a dyspraxic pose a serious hindrance. Particularly, because my brain thinks faster than the speed by which I can process information , it takes me at least twice, if not thrice, the time and energy to organize myself for writing, speech and do physical work. And even so, the quality of my presentation has a lot to be desired.

I always thought I could somehow improve through time. Now, I am not so confident anymore. I admit I can still work harder. And it is for this reason I am making this blog to improve my writing. There are no plans for a blog theme. I will just write about random things I enjoy here. So let's see what this leads me.