Thursday, July 8, 2010

Issie - The Japanese Lake Monster

In Kyushu Island, in Lake Ikeda (which is the largest caldera lake on the island), there lives a lake monster that goes by the name Issie. According to the mythology behind the lake, Issie was once a white mare living with its little foal on the shore of the lake. This little foal was then kidnapped by a samurai, which caused Issie great despair. Issie then jumped into the lake and transformed into the humongous saurian beast that frequently goes to the surface to look for its long lost foal.
In terms of what this creature might really be, if eyewitnesses are to be believed; then this might be a creature similar to the very infamous Loch Ness, or the lesser-known Champ. If not a Suaropod, then Issie, pronounced as Isshy by the locals, might be a serpent-like creature measuring almost 30 feet long.
Although there have been a lot of people who have claimed to seen the mysterious creature, no real concrete evidence have yet been put forward. The best proof that Issie exists is due to sightings by Yutaka Kawaji as well as 20 people from his family. Issie suddenly made an appearance during a family get-together in 1978 and people claimed to have seen humps on the lake measuring 16-feet long and rising 2 feet high from the lake's surface. Yutaka was so enthralled by the creature that he actually chased it in a motorboat.
Other proofs include the photographs taken by Toshiaki Matsuhara, who was able to photograph two humps that had spiral ridges. He was able to photograph the creature because he noticed a whirlwind in the water, apparently caused by the creature. Another proof is the 1991 video of 30-foot long creature swimming in the lake.
People who do not believe that Issie exists state that having a huge creature like that in the lake is impossible since the lake was formed due to rainwater and surface water, with no real connection to the sea (making it impossible for sea-creatures to go to the lake). One possible explanation for the Issie-argument is the fact that large Malaysian eels were introduced to the lake but since the largest recorded eel was a mere 5 feet in length, these are too small to even cover one hump witnessed by the people.
Whatever one might believe, one fact remains; there is something in that lake. It might be a giant serpent, or merely an over grown eel but as long as it hasn't been caught, Issie the Japanese Lake Monster lives on.
There is a website that describes the Issie and numerous other creatures of Cryptozoology in detail, this website is called: Unknown Creatures and it may be found at this url: http://www.unknown-creatures.com
You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.
Robert W. Benjamin has been in the software business since the 1970's on the C64, AMIGA, and WINDOWS Computer Systems. He has won magazine awards for the 'Game of the Month', and more, in several European computer magazines.
Unknown Creatures
http://www.unknown-creatures.com

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