Encounter Atlas
Issie is Japan's best-known lake monster, said to live in Lake Ikeda, a deep volcanic caldera lake near Ibusuki at the southern tip of Kyushu. The name copies Nessie of Loch Ness.
A local tale says Issie was once a white mare who lost her foal and threw herself into the lake in grief, becoming a giant beast that still surfaces looking for it. In 1978 about twenty people said they saw a dark animal with two humps swimming in the lake, and a man named Matsubara took a photograph.
Lake Ikeda is home to very large eels, some around six feet long, which are the most common explanation. Issie is now a local mascot.
What witnesses report
- Two dark humps moving across the lake
- A large wake on calm water
- Something long just below the surface
Famous cases
- 1978About twenty people see a two-humped creature; a photo is taken
Ibusuki, Kagoshima, Japan
Seen the Issie?
Tell us what happened. Every report is read by a person before it goes on the map, and you can stay anonymous.
