Tsuchinoko

2025-08-29T17:33:07Z

2601:249:187F:A0D0:B4A2:15FC:EA94:F064: /* Search efforts and bounties */

{{Short description|Snake-like creature in Japanese folklore}}
{{Expand Japanese|ツチノコ|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name = Tsuchinoko
|image = Doeti Nozuchi.jpg
|image_size =
|caption = Depiction from the Shinano Kishōroku
|Grouping = [[Yokai]]
|Sub_Grouping = Reptile
|AKA = Bachi-hebi (North Japan)
|Country = Japan
|Region =
|Habitat =
|First_Attested =
}}

In [[Japanese folklore]], the {{nihongo|'''tsuchinoko'''|ツチノコ {{lang|en|or}} 槌の子|}}, literally translating to "child of hammer", is a [[snake]]-like being. The name ''tsuchinoko'' is prevalent in Western Japan, including [[Kansai]] and [[Shikoku]]; the creature is known as {{nihongo|'''bachi hebi'''|バチヘビ|}} in Northeastern Japan.

==Description==
Tsuchinoko are described as being between {{convert|30|and|80|cm|in|abbr=off}} in length, similar in appearance to a snake, but with a central girth that is much wider than its head or tail, and as having fangs and venom similar to that of a [[Viperidae|viper]].<ref name=japantimes1>{{cite news |last=Moriguchi |first=Kenzo |title=Town touting mythical snake find; is 'rare' creature really a cash cow? |work=The Japan Times |date=2001-06-16 |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2001/06/16/national/town-touting-mythical-snake-find-is-rare-creature-really-a-cash-cow/ |access-date=2010-05-10}}</ref> Some accounts also describe the tsuchinoko as being able to jump up to {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=off}} in distance followed immediately by a second jump while still in the air.<ref>''[[Metropolis (free magazine)|Metropolis]]'', "Fortean Japan", 27 June 2008, p. 12.</ref>{{Failed verification|date=May 2021}}

According to legend, some tsuchinoko have the ability to speak and a propensity for lying, and they are also said to have a taste for alcohol. Legend records that it will sometimes swallow its own tail so that it can [[Rolling and wheeled creatures in fiction and legend|roll like a wheel]], similarly to the "[[hoop snake]]" of American legend.<ref name="Pruett">{{Cite journal |last=Pruett |first=Chris |title=The Anthropology of Fear: Learning About Japan Through Horror Games |journal=Interface on the Internet |volume=10 |issue=9 |url=http://journals.sfu.ca/loading/index.php/loading/article/viewFile/90/87 |format=PDF |date=November 2010 |access-date=July 26, 2018}}</ref>

==Sightings==
In the late 1980s, a wave of purported sightings of the tsuchinoko was reported across Japan, primarily in the village of [[Shimokitayama, Nara|Shimokitayama]] in [[Nara Prefecture]]. In 1988, Kazuo Nozaki, a member of Shimokitayama's village council, launched a "Tsuchinoko Expedition" to find the creature, which offered 1 million yen ($7,800 at the time) for its live capture and 300,000 yen for a sample of its skin. The expedition was joined by around 200 people from across the country and lasted until the beginning of the [[Japanese asset price bubble]] collapse in 1990 without finding evidence of its existence. To commemorate the event, the Shimokitayama Tsuchinoko Park was established in 2023.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Taiga |first=Iyama |title=FEATURE: Village revisiting craze of phantom creature for local promotion |work=Kyodo News |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/01/0f6509d54086-feature-village-revisiting-craze-of-phantom-creature-for-local-promotion.html |date=22 January 2024 |access-date=22 January 2024}}</ref>

=== Tohoku region===
In a mountain close to [[Lake Towada]], a sighting of a 30cm creature with similar shape to Tsuchinoko was reported.<ref>{{Cite web |title=幻のつくり方 |trans-title=How to make the UMA |url=http://taka42da.com/uma/03 |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=taka42da.com |language=ja}}</ref> In 1 April, 2007, a Tsuchinoko-shaped dead body of a snake from a dried grass in a farm located in [[Ōkura, Yamagata|Ōkura]] was found.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-07 |title=【朗報】あのツチノコにとんでもない額の懸賞金が…目撃情報や捕まえ方を掲載 |url=https://matome.eternalcollegest.com/post-2142643245423339101 |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=おにぎりまとめ |language=ja}}</ref>

==Search efforts and bounties==
This is a list of municipalities and companies offering rewards for capturing Tsuchinoko, including those who ended the bounties.
*[[Chikusa, Hyōgo|Chikusa]], [[Hyogo Prefecture]] - 2 million [[Japanese yen|yen]] (bounty ended after merging into [[Shisō, Hyōgo|Shisō]].)<ref>{{Cite web |title=世界と日本の「超常現象」写真特集：時事ドットコム |url=https://www.jiji.com/jc/d4?p=ufo100-jlp07388380&d=d4_int |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=時事ドットコム |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-24 |title=かつて賞金２億円の夢に思い馳せ幻の「ツチノコ」、木材アートのオブジェで登場道の駅ちくさ |url=https://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/seiban/202204/0015244512.shtml |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=神戸新聞NEXT |language=Japanese}}</ref>
*[[Yoshii, Okayama (Akaiwa)|Yoshii]], [[Okayama Prefecture]] - 20,000,000 yen<ref>{{Cite web |last=岡山県観光連盟 |title=ツチノコ発見現場、今にも落ちそうな岩…。不思議がいっぱい赤磐市！ |url=https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/okatabi/402/page |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=岡山観光WEB |language=ja}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of cryptids]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* [http://sow.ggnet.co.jp/works.htm?id=151 A model of the tsuchinoko by Hajime Emoto] ([http://www.pinktentacle.com/2006/07/gallery-of-fantastic-creatures/ English introduction])

{{Japanese folklore long}}

[[Category:Yōkai]]
[[Category:Mythological and legendary Japanese snakes]]

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Tsuchinoko