Jinmenken - 人面犬 - [Yokai | Urban Legend]

Jinmenken - 人面犬 - [Yokai | Urban Legend]

•About this Yokai 

 "'Wan-wan'?" There- You Happy?!? Now buzz off!!” 

it's a foul mouthed, man faced dog... Modern Urban legends say that the Jinmenken roam the streets at night, and are typically met by restaurant workers when they take out the trash, they're spotted rooting through their dumpsters for leftover food. - Those that meet them might assume they're a regular dog and try to scare them off but when it turns around... BAM! MAN FACE!! 

If you try to talk to it or ask it a question, instead of answering: it will just bluntly growl “Leave me alone!!” or they'll insult your looks and then run away! It's probably better to just leave him to his dinner too, as some stories say: if the Jinmenken bites you; you too will become a dog with a humanoid face!!! -- [A rather unfortunate variant of the Curse of Lycanthropy. (ie it sounds pretty similar to a warewolf.)] - Other recent sightings (as recent as the 1950's-1990's) say that they've been spotted running along side moving cars at breakneck speeds [up to 60km/hr!!] distracting the drivers and causing fatal accidents. – Some say that perhaps its a ghost of a crash victim itself, others say its a lab experiment that escaped. like a lot of urban legends a lot of it is rumors spread via playground talk.

The concept of Jinmenken seems to date back to the Edo period where they where mentioned In the Gaidan Bunbun Shuyo -- a book by 19th-century historian Ishizuka Hokaishi -- A litter of "human-faced puppies"  was reported to have been born in 1810 in what is now the Tokyo area. – The dogs became famous and where soon exhibited at a Misemono. (Market exhibition featuring abnormal exhibitors, crafts and plenty of yokai themed oddities.) – It's said that the owner of the litter became very rich because of it! – Though, sadly there is no record of the dogs talking.

One theory which Many people believe is think they're actually monkeys that are being spotted, which would at least explain the man-face. - (Either that or its just a regular dog with a human-set-face that lingers in the uncanny valley.) -

Sticker Art by @Samkalensky (yo thats me!) - Part of my Night parade of 100 Demons - Yokai & Japanese folklore sticker collection, weather-resistant 4" Glossy sticker. Check my shop & follow @samkalensky for many more!