Hibagon - Japan's Bigfoot


Hibagon - The Hibagon or Hinagon is the Japanese version of the American Sasquatch. This ape stands about five feet tall, has a bristle-covered face, and in general resembles a gorilla. He is said to have reddish brown or black fur and some reports say he has a white patch of fur on its chest or arms. The main sighting took place in the fall of 1972 in Mt. Hiba, Japan. Most sightings suggest that the Hibagon is a smelly, snub-nosed mountain-dweller with glaring eyes. Although the Hibagon is for Japan what Sasquatch is for America,it seems to have more in common with a chimpanzee or gorilla than the 10 foot tall, upright walking, man-like giant of America. However, these two cryptic apes do have something in common-their big feet. Hibagon footprints can be 10 inches long and 6 inches wide. Other notable features are the Hibagon’s apparent lack of fear of people and the absence of any sort of vocalizations in the reports.

 

The Hibagon gets its name from the Hibayama Mountain Range, the area it’s said to inhabit in northern Hiroshima prefecture.

 

He's Really Scary!!

 

 

 

 

Sightings:

 

The Hibagon is mostly known from a series of sightings lasting from 1970 to 1982. Probably the first Hibagon sighting account occurred in early 1970, when a group of elementary school students out picking wild mushrooms in the forests of Mt. Hiba were terrified to come across an ape-like creature crashing through brush nearby.

 

That same year, in July 1970, the creature was spotted again by a utilities truck driver. The driver reported seeing a gorilla-like creature on two legs walk across a field near a dam, run across the road, and disappear into the forest. Several days later, on July 23rd 1970, the creature appeared again, this time out of brush and long grass in front of a surprised farmer, who described the Hibagon as being as tall as an average man, covered in black fur, and having a grotesque face with piercing, intelligent eyes. The Hibagon was also sighted walking through a rice paddy in the town of Saijo around the same time. In December of that same year, strange tracks of the alleged creature measuring 21 centimeters in length were found in the snow of Mt. Hiba.

 

By this time, the reports were becoming well-known and well publicized in the media, while at the same time the rural residents of the area were growing increasingly uneasy about the strange animal being seen in their forests. Sightings continued, and area residents became so uneasy that the county now known as Saijo Shobara actually set up a department to deal with the phenomena. In addition to documenting eyewitness accounts and trying to get to the bottom of what was going on, the department also launched patrols around the area in hopes of finding whatever was causing the reports. Kobe University conducted an investigation of the area in 1972 to try and find physical evidence of the Hibagon, and police managed to make plaster casts at a construction site of some tracks allegedly made by the creature. No evidence was turned up by the University, and the tracks were found to be inconclusive.

 

Sightings continued through 1972 and 73, almost always during summer months, and in 1974 there was a significant spike in the amounts of reports. One such sighting occurred on August 15, 1974 when a motorist spotted a large, blackish animal walking near the road on four legs. When the creature sensed the approaching vehicle, it is reported as standing up and walking along on two legs. The shocked driver then stopped the car and snapped a photo of the creature trying to hide itself behind a persimmon tree. The photo is of poor quality yet it received wide publicity and became probably the most famous photo of a Hibagon (see directly below).

 

 

 

 

Other sightings in 1974 include a Hibagon that was spotted crossing a road on June 20, 1974. The driver described it as moving along in a series of hopping leaps. On July 15, 1974, a woman saw one near her house and described it as very ape-like, like a gorilla walking around on two legs, and about 1.6 meters tall. There was even video footage taken of one walking along a remote mountain road, however the footage is blurry and of poor quality. Many tracks were also discovered in the year of 1974, including a series of prints found on August 21 in a mountain valley. The footprints were 30 cm long, which is not large for a sasquatch but some of the biggest prints found for an alleged Hibagon.

 

After the surge of eyewitness accounts in 1974, sightings of the Hibagon dropped off almost completely until 1980, when one was seen fleeing across a river with a bounding gait near the town of Yamano, where it became known as the “Yamagon.” It was spotted in the same area again in 1981 on a road near a health center, but perhaps the most remarkable sighting of the time occurred in 1982 in Mitsugi, which is located about 30km west of Yamano. In this report, the Hibagon was described as being more along the lines of sasquatch in size, estimated at 2m tall, but the most bizarre feature of the account was that it was said to be holding what looked like some sort of stone tool like an axe. This is the only account of a Hibagon being that large or wielding any sort of tool or weapon.

 

After 1982, sightings abruptly stopped, and the Hibagon seemed to just fall off the face of the Earth. There are practically no reliable reports of the creature after this time.

 

So what was it that people were seeing?

 

 

 

 

 

"Dear Hinagon"

 

The Hinagon, or Hibagon, was featured in a 2005 movie, "Dear Hinagon", directed by Takayoshi Watanabe and based on the novel by Kiyosi Shigematsu. It is the strong movie of the local color dealing with "a Hibagon disturbance" which took place in Hiba-gun, Hiroshima in the 1970s. It is the talk of local school kids that have seen the monster from afar. Many get involved in the search and everyone betters themselves as a result of the search. Friendships and bonds are formed as they search for the elusive Hinagon. What follows is the trailer from the movie and the front jacket of the DVD.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Higabon Novelties

 

Whatever the Hibagon was or is, it still lives on in the memory of the area’s residents. There are many regional, Hibagon related goods such as “Hibagon eggs” (which are actually Japanese sweet bean cakes), Hibagon “donburi” (a type of Japanese food), Hibagon company mascots, signs announcing the presence of Hibagon in the area, and even a giant Hibagon statue near one highway. The Hibagon’s image can be found everywhere and is a fixture of the local culture in some towns of the area.

 

 

 

“Hibagon eggs” that are actually a type of Japanese sweet bean dumpling.

 

 

Little Hibagon at a park in Saijo

 

 

 

This Hibagon statue welcomes visitors to Shobara

 

A road sign announcing the presence of Hibagon in the area.

 

A sign advertising “Hibagon-don,” a type of “donburi” which is a Japanese dish.

 

 

A truck for a company with a Hibagon as its mascot.

 

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So If You Are Ever In Japan, Watch Out For The Hibagon!!

 

 

 

 

Other Names for the Hibagon across the World:

 

 

Sources:

http://www.cryptozoology.com/glossary/glossary_topic.php?id=186

http://www.teamnesra.net/drupal/node/45

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xomno_dear-hinagon_shortfilms

http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/hibagon/

http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Hibagon

http://www.wideislandview.com/2009/10/bigfoot-lore-lives-on-in-saijo/