Lake Ikeda is a lake in Japan formed by volcanic activity 5000 years ago. The Lake is located at the southern end of the country, right adjacent to the scenic volcano, Mt. Kaimondake. Known as Japan’s 4th largest lake with a depth up to 700 feet and a shoreline of 15km, Lake Ikeda has an important role in Japan’s culture and history.
In the first half of the Empire of Japan, named the Meiji Era, the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society. to a modern, industrialized nation state and emerging world power. In this era, a canal was built, one that would connect the ocean to the lake. Almost immediately, it was discovered that many saltwater fish and animals began flowing in. Giant eels began surfacing in the lake, with reports up to 8 feet in length and being renowned for being some of the biggest in the world. With all that was let in, one other creature too allegedly came in. One that was witnessed in the late 1970’s by multiple Japanese citizens. This creature is known as the Issie.
Issie is described as being a reptilian, dinosaur like creature that lurks in the depths of Lake Ikeda. Similar in appearance to the Loch Ness Monster, the creature is described as being about 20 feet long with black leathery skin.
There has have been some word-of-mouth sightings by Japanese residents who live around the lake over the decades, but most often 2 sightings are deemed most credible and certainly the most popular.
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On September 3, 1978, twenty people living in the city of Ibusuki witnessed a black object swimming quickly on the surface of the lake. They described the creature as being around 20 feet in length.
Later that same year, a man named Toshiaki Matsuhara caught the creature on film. Matsuhara claims The video footage shows the strange creature to be around 90-100 feet in length.
Many dispute this though as the picture is quite blurry and there is nothing of scale to compare the alleged monster too.
Still though, these incidents made the monster a hot topic, and it became famous spreading across the country of Japan, and the world.
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As tourism authorities saw the popularity increasing, they capitalized on this. They began promoting stories around it and building things around the community in an effort to market Issie in an attempt to attract visitors to the region.
They even created a mythology to explain Issie’s beginning. In the story, a white mare lived on the shores of the lake with her foal. When the foal was captured by samurai, the white mare jumped into the lake due to devastation, transforming into a huge water creature. The creature surfaces now and then to look for her child.
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So, is there any truth that Issie might actually exist?
It seems more plausible that this cryptid is perhaps a case of mistaken identity.
There have been some sightings, but in my opinion, it seems more likely than not that the witnesses saw giant eels or perhaps something else. It seems plausible that an eel could reach 10 or 12 feet as some right now are around 8 or 9. It should be said that gauging length in the water is not an easy task either, especially if there is nothing of known size to compare it against.
As for the video footage, it’s quite blurry, and from the footage it is difficult to estimate any length. With the alleged creature under the water, it seems this might just be branches or leaves in a pattern that looks like an animal. We also have to remember that this footage was taken at the height of the Issie Mania, as many people were scouring the lake to see it. It’s also possible as well that Matsuhara faked the incident and created some sort of Issie look alike to float in the water.
Despite the low probability of this cryptid’s existence, we shouldn’t dismiss other water cryptids as mere folklore. Others, such as Ogopogo (Read About Ogopogo Here) and the Loch Ness Monster have had multiple independent witnesses over decades. These, and other water cryptids, certainly deserve our attention and appear legit. On top of that, oceanic cryptids, is another area where other unknown animals exist.
Despite all this, the lake itself is absolutely panoramic with volcanos surrounding the crystal blue water. It’s certainly a place worth visiting in Japan.
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