Japan's 20-Million-Yen Snake That Talks, Lies and Drinks
Cryptids are creatures people report but science has never confirmed. In each episode Poss Jonah tells where the legend comes from, what people say they saw, and what a sensible explanation might be, then lets you decide.
The story
A town in Japan has offered 20 million yen for a snake that supposedly talks, tells lies and likes to drink. So we're talking about a politician, yeah? All right, y'all, I'm fixing to mispronounce the heck out of some words. Meet the tsuchinoko, child of the hammer, a fat-bellied snake up to two and a half feet long with fangs and venom like a viper.
Now legend says it can jump three feet and spin around in midair. Some say it bites its tail and rolls like a wheel, like our old hoop snake, you know? In 1988, a councilman in the village of Shimokitayama launched a Tsuchinoko expedition. One million yen for one caught alive, about 200 people joined in.
They hunted till 1990 and found nothing. The village still opened a Tsuchinoko Park in 2023. Now in 2007, a dead tsuchinoko, something like that, shaped snake was reportedly found in imported hay on a farm, but the body went missing. So is this a real creature or a story that grew with every telling? Well, 20 million yen is still waiting.
Personally, I think I ought to be able to collect that because we got a whole bunch of these snakes in Washington, D.C., but you decide. This redneck can't say these words.