Kussie

Kussie is the creature people have reported since the 1970s in Lake Kussharo, the largest crater lake in Japan, in Akan-Mashu National Park on Hokkaido. Like Issie in the south, the name copies Nessie.

Kussie became famous across Japan in August 1973, when a group of about forty junior-high students on a school hike said they saw it from the shore. Reports followed through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s: dark humps, a head like a horse's, and great splashes. Since the 2000s sightings have almost stopped. A statue of Kussie now stands on the lakeshore and the creature is part of the area's tourism.

Sceptics point out that a big animal would struggle to live here. After an earthquake in 1938 the lake turned acidic and most of its fish died, and it has been restocked only since. Ainu stories tell of a giant serpent in the lake, but nobody can say whether they have anything to do with the modern sightings. Waves from boats, large trout and the long ice ridges that push up across the frozen lake in winter are the usual explanations.

What witnesses report

• Two dark, triangular humps moving fast across the lake
• A long neck or a head like a horse's above the water
• A sudden loud splash, like logs thrown into the lake

Famous cases

1. 1973Forty schoolchildren on a hike
   Lake Kussharo, Teshikaga, Hokkaido, Japan

   In August 1973 about forty junior-high students on a school outing to nearby Mount Mokoto said they saw a large creature in the lake. The story made national news and gave Kussie its name. A driver had already reported an object like an upturned boat moving toward the shore in November 1972.

   Source: クッシー - Wikipedia (Japanese)

2. 1974Two shining humps
   Lake Kussharo, Teshikaga, Hokkaido, Japan

   On September 18, 1974, about fifteen people watched two triangular humps, together 10 to 15 metres long and glistening, move across the lake as fast as a motorboat before sinking out of sight. That same month a Hokkaido TV crew filmed a round object floating on the lake, but the footage was too unclear to identify.

   Source: クッシー - Wikipedia (Japanese)

3. 1975The face that scared a horse
   Lake Kussharo, Teshikaga, Hokkaido, Japan

   At about 9:30 on the morning of July 5, 1975, a forestry worker hauling logs with a horse by the lake saw the animal take fright. Looking out, he said he saw a dark brown face, much bigger than a horse's head and with shining silver eyes, about 50 metres offshore before it sank.

   Source: クッシー - Wikipedia (Japanese)

4. 1997Firefighters see two creatures
   Lake Kussharo, Teshikaga, Hokkaido, Japan

   On the afternoon of June 22, 1997, staff from the Teshikaga fire station said a fast, foaming wave came toward the shore near the Sunayu beach pier and stopped about 100 metres out. They described two animals 10 to 15 metres long with slender heads and wet, shining skin like a dolphin's, which dived head first and showed a finned tail.

   Source: クッシー - Wikipedia (Japanese)