Skip to playerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
dmdmdtvs
  • yesterday
River.Monsters.S03E06
Transcript
00:00I'm Jeremy Wade, biologist and extreme angler.
00:23I travel the world investigating cases of legendary river monsters,
00:27of creatures that lurk beneath the surface of our awareness.
00:32During the course of my investigations, I've found that however fantastic the tale,
00:37there's always a grain of truth.
00:38Fish fact can be just as fascinating as fish fiction.
00:45I've come to Japan, a place that's home to more stories about river monsters
00:48than any place I've been to before.
00:50This is the first time I've been to Japan, and I have to confess I'm a little daunted
00:54by the challenge of separating hard river monster fact from local lore and tradition.
01:00I could be out of my depth.
01:04But one thing I'm sure of, real or imagined,
01:08I'm going to meet monsters unlike any I've ever encountered before.
01:12There's one down here, or it might be two.
01:14Japan, for its size, has a huge population.
01:25Japan, for its size, has a huge population.
01:39Japan, over 127 million people, mostly crammed into the major cities.
01:48As always, it seems a metropolis is an unlikely place to start an adventure to find river monsters.
01:55But Japan still has its wild and remote areas.
02:01Although as yet, I have no idea where my adventure will take me.
02:04I've only just arrived, and already I feel overwhelmed.
02:11But I have to focus.
02:16My first step is to get background information about the river monsters I hunt.
02:22So in the morning, I will head to the kind of place where I know I can get the best local intelligence.
02:34I'm looking for Japan's legendary river monsters.
02:38So I've come to the Tokyo fish market, where you've got an amazing concentration of fish,
02:43but more importantly, the people who know about the fish.
02:57It's five in the morning, and already this place is like Grand Central Station.
03:01The Japanese as a nation are just obsessed by fish.
03:07The figures here are quite staggering.
03:08Something like half a million tons of fish and seafood come through this market every year.
03:12It actually makes it one of the biggest, if not the biggest, fish markets in the whole world.
03:23To help me get started, I brought a translator with me.
03:27Her name is Mai Nishiyama, and she will accompany me around the market.
03:31Straight away, something grabs my attention.
03:36It's off to a bit of a tangent, but this is something I did want to see when I came here.
03:39Different kind of river monster this.
03:40This is small, but it can kill you.
03:43And the way it kills you is if you eat it, and if you eat the wrong bit, that's it.
03:46Called fugu, it contains one of the deadliest toxins in the world.
03:50It can kill within two hours, and an average of six people a year die from eating it.
03:57Why are they selling it here?
03:58If you eat the right bits, you're going to be okay.
04:00It takes, I think, three years to train as a chef to prepare this blowfish.
04:04It's a clear example of the extremely close connection the Japanese have with all things watery.
04:09A mixture of fear and respect.
04:12My search, though, is not for saltwater monsters, but freshwater ones.
04:16So I head deeper into the market.
04:18People start talking.
04:21I'm trying to find Japan's legendary river monsters.
04:24What are they like?
04:26In old times, maybe, was there something?
04:28Like webs, like, but it lives in the water.
04:40That's the helix.
04:41What do people say it looks like?
04:44Normally living in the swamp, it has a tail as well.
04:49This is a story that a lot of people know.
04:50That was actually a very productive morning.
04:59Talking to the people at the fish market, there were two river monsters which kept coming to the surface.
05:05One is this hideous, scaly gremlin called the Kappa.
05:09Now, this is reported to drag unwary children down into the depths where it devours them.
05:15The other is a creature of altogether different magnitude.
05:19It's said to be responsible for more human deaths than all the other river monsters I've encountered in other parts of the world put together.
05:27Its name is the Namazu.
05:30And apparently it's not just a legend.
05:32The people say that it lives to this day in an ancient lake in the middle of Honshu Island.
05:37At 260 square miles, Lake Biwa is Japan's largest freshwater lake and dates back some 4 million years, making it one of the oldest lakes in the world.
05:52To get there, it's two hours by bullet train.
05:59Japan is like nowhere I've been to before.
06:02Ancient tradition and steel modernity sit so comfortably side by side.
06:06But will there still be living evidence of the legends I seek in this day and age?
06:12Or have the river monsters been swallowed up by this progress?
06:17To find out, before I head on to Lake Biwa, Mai has arranged for me to meet with an anthropologist from the Shiga University,
06:24who's going to tell me more about the legends of these monsters and where to find them.
06:28We meet outside an ancient shrine, a place a hundred years away from the city I left only two hours ago.
06:46His name is Professor Kurada, and he grew up surrounded by these legends.
06:52I first ask him about the kappa.
06:54Professor Kurada says that when he was a child, he was told not to go swimming because the kappa would actually come and takes your spirit.
07:05Did you believe that as a child?
07:11Yes, he believed it.
07:12And he tells me that when he was a child, two of his classmates drowned in a nearby river.
07:17He was told then that their deaths had been the work of the sinister kappa.
07:21So what does it actually look like, this creature?
07:24He was told that he was able to find a pot of water.
07:25He was able to find a pot of water.
07:26And he was able to find a pot of water.
07:27And he was able to find a pot of water.
07:28It's about the size of a child.
07:29And some of the details are a bit hazy, but what people are very sure about is that it's got some kind of plate on its head.
07:36Some people say that it has a shell on its back.
07:38But the thing that everybody's clear about is that it's got hands.
07:42But they're not hands like we have hands.
07:43They are hands with webbed fingers, which I suppose makes sense because it lives in the water.
07:49Creatures that live in the water, very often, you can't see them clearly.
07:53You just see a bit.
07:54And I suppose over the years, people see one bit, another bit.
07:57They put them all together.
07:59And what we've got in the case of the kappa is this composite water monster.
08:03This information, although appalling, takes me no nearer to finding the truth about the identity of the terrifying kappa.
08:13I change tack and ask instead about the namazu.
08:17So can you tell me what is the old belief about the namazu?
08:25There is a huge one of these creatures living under the ground.
08:30Legend goes that there is a catfish that lives under the earth.
08:35When it wriggles its massive body, it causes the huge earthquakes that frequently torment Japan.
08:41To protect the people, Kashima, a water god, placed a huge stone on the namazu to prevent it from moving.
08:49However, every so often, the god loses concentration and relaxes his pressure on the stone.
08:54And the catfish wriggles, attempting to free itself, causing more earthquakes.
09:00Japan has over 1,000 earthquakes a year.
09:06It is a constant threat, putting millions of lives at risk.
09:10Are these regular earth tremors really the work of a giant catfish?
09:14It's a startling story, with one massive stumbling block.
09:21There is not a catfish alive that could have such an effect as this.
09:26So my challenge is to find a possible connection in the real world between catfish and earthquakes.
09:32Maybe the answer lies out on the lake.
09:34With only a few hours of daylight left, I plan to scout the area and try to get my head around the immensity of my challenge.
09:44Straight away, it's clear that the modern world is fast closing in on this ancient lake.
09:49The kit my fishing guides have suggested I use doesn't look capable of landing a monster,
09:57but this 80-pound braided line has landed fish of over 100 pounds.
10:02Using a very clever lure here.
10:05The idea is it represents a frog, and that hook's not going to get caught in the weed.
10:10But when the fish comes along, it does get caught in the fish.
10:17So a very clever, weed-free, artificial frog.
10:30No swirls, no follows, no nothing so far.
10:36Lake Biwa is like two lakes in one.
10:39The south, where I am now, is weedy and shallow.
10:42The north is much deeper, plummeting to over 300 feet.
10:46This part is a more likely hideout for a monster catfish
10:49that might have inspired these earth-moving legends.
10:53And it is where I plan to fish tomorrow.
11:00Fishing on the surface with a lure that's making a bit of noise, a bit of commotion.
11:04The rain just gives a certain amount of interference.
11:06They can't hear it from quite so far away.
11:11Change of lure.
11:14Make a bit more noise.
11:20Ah!
11:21Think it missed, or...?
11:22And it seems to be getting some interest.
11:28Come on, come on.
11:29Something went for it and just missed it.
11:37My luck is about to change.
11:39Fish on!
11:40But what have I hooked?
11:42Tell me what that is.
11:45I'm in Japan, hunting down two of its most infamous river monsters,
11:59a child-snatching killer called the Kappa
12:02and a devastating catfish called the Namazu.
12:06Fish on!
12:06The question is, do I have one of them on the end of my line?
12:09Hey, come on up!
12:13Don't know what that is.
12:14It's very long.
12:17It's a catfish.
12:18This thing hit it as soon as it hit the water.
12:26Just whacked into it.
12:28It's certainly not a monster, but who knows?
12:31Could it be the progeny of the legendary Namazu?
12:35Very, very similar in appearance to this
12:36to the European whales catfish.
12:39Elongated shape, big mouth, little eyes
12:42and those two long whiskers on the upper jaw.
12:47This is unexpected,
12:49although I have caught a few catfish on lures.
12:51But this is not the giant that is behind all the legends.
12:56There are, in fact, three different species of catfish in the lake
12:59and what is confusing is that they call them all Namazu.
13:03But this one is not the one that I'm after.
13:06That is considerably larger than this one.
13:09My target is the giant Namazu,
13:11or, as it is known locally, the Biwako Onamazu.
13:15My plan for tomorrow is to head further north,
13:19hire a bigger boat and fish on through the night.
13:29Because what I'm looking for is so unusual,
13:31I want to make sure that before I leave the city,
13:33I've got all the gear that I need
13:34and also I might just find one or two final pieces of information.
13:40What are the biggest...
13:41These fishing tackle shops are just a great place to get the inside information.
13:46And I discover that Lake Biwa is full of introduced fish species,
13:50including predatory snakehead,
13:53fish that I've had dealings with in the past.
13:59Another surprise is that it seems no one actually fishes for the giant Namazu.
14:04Do people want to avoid angering this monster?
14:06It seems incredible, but I'm about to enter new territory.
14:13With no data from previous catches,
14:16could there be a colossal fish still living in the lake,
14:19which in the days before science inspired their earthquake-causing reputation?
14:23There's only one way to find out, and that is to catch one.
14:33This time I'm heading north, into the deeper section of this ancient lake.
14:37The size of this lake gives me hope.
14:42It's big enough and deep enough to hide a monster.
14:46But that's also what makes this challenge so daunting.
14:50The sheer volume of water.
14:52I've got a little shiny, bright jig.
15:08I'm leading the sink down to the bottom,
15:11and I'm just flicking it along the bottom.
15:14Catfish tend to be nocturnal, so I'm intending to fish into the night, through the night,
15:22but there's still a bit of light at the moment.
15:25So I'm working a spoon very close to the bottom,
15:28just in case something's on the move already.
15:30I've come to a sheltered bay in the lee of an island.
15:34Quite a nice spot.
15:35Fairly close to the side.
15:37I'm going to try a variety of techniques through the night,
15:39and if there's something moving, one of them might take an interest.
16:09Catfish don't rely on eyesight much.
16:15They can follow chemical trails in the water, and also vibrations.
16:21Catfish, like all fish, possess a lateral line,
16:24which enables them to sense these vibrations.
16:27But they also have these barbels that allow them to picture their world using smell.
16:35So I'll get a bait down there on the bottom,
16:37and sit back and be a waiting game, then.
16:43As I settle in, I think about other catfish that I've caught before.
16:50Especially those whales in Spain,
16:52a catfish with space and food to grow to truly monstrous proportions.
17:00The giant namazu comes from the same family as the whales,
17:04and with this much space and lots of food,
17:06I'm certain that there is a giant lurking beneath the surface of this lake.
17:16What well-known game fish is found in Lake Biwa?
17:21It's the large-mouthed bass, introduced to Japan in 1925.
17:25My task in Japan is to investigate its river monster myths.
17:38What I've discovered is a creepy child-snatching killer called the Kappa,
17:42and a catfish that, according to legend,
17:43is responsible for the earthquakes that plague Japan.
17:46I'm out on Lake Biwa, trying to catch a giant,
17:52but I'm struggling to see the science behind the legend.
17:56I've caught giant catfish in the past,
17:58but none of them could have been accused of causing earthquakes.
18:02Could their nocturnal super senses have something to do with my investigation?
18:06It's something that I will keep in the back of my mind.
18:19By daybreak, the giant has still eluded me.
18:22We try another spot, but the weather conditions are deteriorating rapidly.
18:35After 24 rain-drenched hours and little sleep,
18:39nothing feels like it's going my way.
18:45And as another evening closes in,
18:47I have still not had any fish, let alone a giant catfish.
18:52Maybe I'm going in the wrong direction
18:55and need to rethink my strategy.
18:57I've noticed there are a lot of commercial fishermen on Lake Biwa.
19:01Perhaps it's time to seek some professional help.
19:19Outside the local fishing association offices,
19:21I meet with a Mr. Skuda.
19:25Mr. Skuda, how long have you been fishing?
19:28So 30 years.
19:29And what fish are you normally after?
19:33So Mr. Skuda fishes for eels here,
19:36and he uses a long line, a very long line,
19:40over a mile with about 150 to 200 hooks on.
19:44So he had one Namazu last year, this year, nothing at all.
19:52I mean, that's really putting into perspective
19:54how scarce, how hard to catch these are.
19:58What kind of size?
19:59It's about 1.8 meters.
20:011.8 meters.
20:011.8 meters.
20:02That's about five and a half foot, isn't it?
20:06One final thing.
20:07I've heard this story about the giant Namazu here
20:10causing earthquakes.
20:11Is that something that you believe?
20:13They might be big, but they're not that big.
20:19But he does say that maybe they get more active
20:22before earthquakes.
20:24That's interesting.
20:28He says that before an earthquake,
20:31he tends to catch more fish than normally.
20:33So definitely there's something going on there.
20:37At last, a connection between catfish and earthquakes.
20:41Now, I could see how fish this size
20:49might possibly inspire legends,
20:51but I think the belief that they can cause earthquakes
20:53has to be taking things a bit far.
20:56At Lake Bewa Aquarium, they have two five-foot Namazu.
21:00It's good to know that these fish exist,
21:02even if it is not at the end of my line.
21:06You know, I've been talking to the fishermen,
21:08but perhaps it's time that I started talking to some scientists.
21:11So I've set up a meeting with Professor Yada,
21:18who is doing some startling experiments in this area.
21:34So the experiment in this tank is actually an attempt
21:36to quantify this observation
21:38that Namazu gets more active before earthquakes.
21:42Normally, the fish just sits on the bottom,
21:44not doing very much.
21:45There's a light beam.
21:47And every time the fish passes through the light beam,
21:50this counter records it.
21:51On an average day, it might break that light beam ten times.
21:54There's a counter on the left there.
21:57Then Professor Yada cross-references the Namazu's movements
22:00with data about earthquake activity.
22:04But here we have, a couple of months ago,
22:07you know, normal activity, not very much,
22:08but on one day here, more than 60 times.
22:15And that red line there, there was an earthquake, magnitude 6.1.
22:18So it seems to show a real correlation,
22:22a quantifiable correlation between Namazu activity and earthquakes.
22:28How exactly these catfish are able
22:32to detect these earthquakes so early is unclear.
22:35But one thing is certain,
22:37they can, and long before any human being.
22:40It's the connection and the evidence I was looking for.
22:44Because I believe in the ancient world,
22:47the world when this legend was created,
22:49in a time before science,
22:50fishermen would witness this increased activity
22:53and soon afterwards experience an earthquake.
22:55They couldn't help but connect the two events.
22:57But instead of this activity being a reaction
23:01to the faint early tremors,
23:03they perceived it as the earthquake's cause.
23:06And in a country obsessed with fish,
23:08which also suffers regular devastating earthquakes,
23:10the legend of the Namazu was born.
23:14This investigation has shown me that in Japan,
23:17I have to think differently.
23:19And my mission is far from over.
23:21So it turns out there is something very real
23:23behind the legend of the Namazu.
23:25But what about that other legend,
23:27which seems, if anything, even more far-fetched,
23:29the kappa, the creature in the water
23:31whose preferred victims are children.
23:40Japan's most infamous river monster, the kappa,
23:43has been accused of horrifying crimes for centuries.
23:46Although strong enough to kill cattle and horses,
24:00its preferred victims, children.
24:02Descriptions of the kappa vary,
24:10but the common features seem to be a wide mouth,
24:14a long body,
24:15a mottled skin in shades of brown and green.
24:18And it is always associated with water.
24:21often taking its victims completely unawares.
24:35Again, let's do the water.
24:37Until next week.
24:38It's very funny.
24:39Then you begin to see a good idea.
24:41If it is,
24:42yeah.
24:43Yeah.
24:44What about this one?
24:46It's going to be a big issue about it.
24:49Of course.
24:56What does it mean?
24:58What is it?
24:59What does it mean?
25:01I'm in Japan, tracking down the animal behind the legend of the child-snatching killer,
25:14the kappa.
25:19It drowns its victims and sucks their spirit out of them.
25:31And although widely seen as just a legend, I've heard how this monster has been blamed for the deaths of children.
25:41Professor Kurida told me about his two school friends, whose drowning was attributed to the sinister kappa.
25:47Everyone I speak to in Japan seems to know of this monster.
25:56I have also been told about a famous shrine to the kappa.
26:01A place where people make offerings to keep this sinister river monster away from their children.
26:15I'm hoping there'll be some sort of statue or picture to help me work out exactly what it is that I'm dealing with.
26:27And there it is.
26:31So that is the kappa.
26:38Fascinating looking creature.
26:42Almost humanoid in some ways.
26:44Four limbs.
26:45But then it's got these claws.
26:47Three claws on each limb.
26:48And almost like fish scales.
26:50You know, it's obviously a very, very powerful mental image that people have.
26:57Everything here.
26:59These are all offerings.
27:00There's sake there.
27:01There's even some water.
27:03There's books.
27:04There's all sorts of drawings.
27:06But everything, offerings that people have left here.
27:08What I'm really interested in is finding out what real creature might have actually given rise to the kappa.
27:21I talk with a monk who seems to be in charge of looking after the shrine.
27:33It looks like the kappa is still very much alive in people's minds, but finding a real one is going to be a different matter entirely.
27:43However, I have heard of a place where apparently there is a mummified kappa.
27:49That is definitely something I've got to see for myself.
27:51I've travelled to the south of the country.
28:06I'm a couple of hours outside for Kuoka.
28:08And maybe the answer to the kappa mystery is inside this brewery.
28:21I'm in Japan, hunting down a river monster known as the kappa.
28:29So maybe the answer I'm looking for is inside this building.
28:51Well, here it is.
29:06I have to say it is quite a creepy looking thing, whatever it is.
29:09The skin shrunken over the bones.
29:12And although it's very clearly dead, it does actually have this sense that it's looking out at you.
29:17Apparently it's found in the roof space here, about 50 years ago, inside this box.
29:23And they've created this shrine to it.
29:26It's never been scientifically examined, but I think the feeling is that by honouring it,
29:31they are allowing it to continue to protect the brewery.
29:35It's some 400 years old, which dates it back to the Edo period of Japan.
29:47A time of superstition and fantasy.
29:49And as I draw its details, I have my suspicions as to what this mummified creature might be.
30:02So, I see it as a gem.
30:03It's not a very similar thing, but I don't want to say too much in there, because I don't actually think that that's any kind of real animal at all.
30:17Well, fascinating looking thing but I didn't want to say too much in there because I don't
30:22actually think that that's any kind of real animal at all. I think it's more something
30:25that's been made from bits of different animals which is actually not that uncommon in the old
30:30days in Japan. So it's not the answer that I'm looking for but I think that in a strange way
30:35it takes me closer towards the answer because if that is the kind of animal that people think
30:40the kappa is then maybe I'm not looking for a fish after all.
30:48This could be my strangest case yet.
30:54I've come to Kyoto University to meet somebody who can tell me
30:58what else there is besides fish that lives in Japanese rivers.
31:02Professor Matsui, can you tell me about what is living in the rivers in Japan apart from the fish?
31:13Grows, rocks, and newts, sarwanderers, turtles.
31:21Turtles. Now that instantly triggers my thought process. I have encountered large turtles before.
31:27Could the kappa be a turtle? It would have to be a giant to inspire this legend.
31:36How big do the turtles grow?
31:38The biggest turtle is about, not so big, nearly 50 centimeters.
31:42Nearly 50? That's about 50 centimeters.
31:46Not big enough to be the child snatching kappa, but turtles have clearly influenced the legend
31:51as the kappa is sometimes depicted with a shell.
31:57But as we talk further, Professor Matsui tells me of a creature known locally as the hansaki,
32:02which lives in rivers and grows nearly six feet long. But it is very rare now. To find one,
32:07I'll have to travel into the remote hills.
32:12To meet a man who has dedicated his life to studying this mysterious creature.
32:16Is this another Japanese wild goose chase, or have I found my river monster?
32:24I meet Mr. Toshimoto in his riverside institute dedicated to the study of the hansaki,
32:30and he shows me a skeleton. But he assures me this one comes from a real creature.
32:37So here it is, but in some ways I'm none the wiser. I mean, it does look very fish-like. I mean,
32:41it looks a bit like a mixture between catfish, lungfish, and eel. But it's not quite as simple
32:48as that. There are other bones here as well. It's a middle-sized one. It's three feet long,
32:53but that's just a middle-sized one. And there we go. That could easily grab hold of my hand.
33:00Same hand.
33:02Some photographs in here of bite marks on hands, which is starting to concentrate my mind a bit.
33:12Very sharp.
33:13Yeah.
33:22So daytime, if I put my hands underneath stones, I should be, I should be a little bit careful maybe.
33:32Well, I've come to the right place. I'm off now to look for a hansaki in the wild.
33:36Mr. Toshimoto accompanies me on my hunt. He has been studying the hansaki in this river for the
33:45past 30 years. He knows their habits and where to find them. But not only that, hansaki are a
33:51protected species. So if I wasn't assisting Mr. Toshimoto in his ongoing study, I wouldn't even be
33:56allowed to get near them. This animal has sharp teeth that will cut my fingers if they actually
34:05went anywhere near its mouth. So I've got my bite-proof Kevlar gloves on. I've got to go down
34:10with this underwater camera, just try and see if I can find one, see where it is, and then go down and
34:15try and grab it. At a waterfall, he tells me he has caught hansaki here in the past. It's a good place for
34:24them to hunt. There are plenty of fish here. I try the other side. The current is surprisingly strong,
34:45and I'm not entirely sure what it is I'm hoping to confront.
34:51But I think I've hit the jackpot.
34:53There's one down here. There might be two. There's a tail sticking out. That four or five
35:05foot down in the water, but it's right underneath this rock. It did move. As I came past, it did sort of
35:10shuffle further in, though. The problem is, I just have the tail, a little bit of tail sticking out.
35:16So hold the tail. Grab tight. Okay, so grab tight, and then in the net. Okay. I'm worried it might
35:24double round and have a go at me. It is a tough and robust animal, so I need to get a firm grip
35:31for its safety and mine. This isn't a monster I can catch on the end of a line. I've got to use my hands.
35:40I've got to use my hands.
35:46I'm hunting for a creature behind the myth
36:15of a child-killing monster, the Kappa.
36:18It's a creature known locally as the Hanzaki, and I think I'm just about to come face-to-face
36:22with it.
36:23I have caught a Hanzaki, better known as the giant Japanese salamander, one of the largest
36:31salamanders in the world, and the creature that I believe is behind the Kappa legend.
36:36They get bigger than this, but wow, this creature is aggressive, even though we mean it no harm.
36:45Oh, okay.
36:46The good thing is that these guys, unlike fish, are just as at home on land as they are
36:50in the water.
36:53Pretty soon, he calms down.
36:54That is the Hanzaki noodled, and I'm very pleased that even with my gloves on, my hands stayed
37:02away from that mouth.
37:03He wasn't too amused by the fact that he was just pulled out of his hole like that.
37:10This, I think, is the creature I've been after.
37:15Looks a bit like a fish, but it's got hands, and that's exactly what this has got.
37:21Mr. Toshimoto is monitoring the health of the Hanzaki population along this river, measuring,
37:29weighing, and micro-tagging every one of his catches.
37:32Counting all the digits.
37:33All normal.
37:34So that when he recaptures them, he can build up a clear picture of how this incredibly rare
37:39animal is faring in the wild.
37:41Best part of a yard long.
37:43And now, we have collected a new one for his study.
37:46This is an animal that hasn't been caught before.
37:49It doesn't have a chip in it.
37:50So that's a really good capture.
37:52Normally, I wouldn't be allowed to touch this, but the fact that I'm acting as Mr. Toshimoto's
37:57assistant means that I'm able to work with this animal.
38:00There are only a few pockets of these endangered giant salamanders left in the wild.
38:06These creatures that haven't changed since the age of the dinosaurs.
38:09Their survival is an important part of Japan's natural heritage.
38:13And when I try to release it, this national treasure still makes one last attempt to bite
38:18me.
38:19Before disappearing, unfazed by his capture.
38:30As darkness falls, my goal is simple.
38:33I want to catch an even larger one.
38:35One that is big enough to potentially pull a child underwater.
38:38I struggle to avoid getting bitten by the last one.
38:42I wonder how I will tackle a giant at night.
38:45And since these salamanders are reputed to grow to nearly six feet long, I'm not even sure I want to.
38:53Giant Japanese salamanders are under threat from an unusual source, their closest living relatives.
39:00Introduced Chinese salamanders have started breeding with the native Japanese giants, creating hybrids.
39:07When any Chinese or hybrid salamanders are found, they have to be removed from the river.
39:13Mr. Toshimoto keeps a collection of them back at the Institute.
39:20Right, take a look at this.
39:26This was caught from a river just a few miles from here.
39:33But this one's a hybrid.
39:35So this doesn't get put back in the river.
39:37And this is why I can have a good look at it.
39:40This guy is nearly four foot long.
39:43And when they get this big, with no natural predators, they're fearless.
39:49Now those descriptions I heard of the kappa, it sounded just like this composite animal,
39:55a mixture of different bits of different animals.
39:57And I mean, what is there that is like that?
39:59Well, I think this is it.
40:01The giant salamander.
40:03You've got the flat head, the wide mouth, long muscular body, complete with this powerful tail.
40:19And then, last but not least, you've got these limbs.
40:28It's just like a fish with limbs.
40:32Now, if you saw one of these down in your local stream,
40:36I can fully understand you not wanting your child to go swimming there.
40:43Unlike most river monsters I encounter, which like deep, dark water,
40:48these salamanders live in small, crystal clear rivers.
40:53The kind of streams you would let your children play in.
40:58And watching them catch a fish, you can see how the idea came about,
41:02that the kappa kills its victim by sucking out its soul.
41:07These voracious predators literally vacuum up their food.
41:10And if it doesn't kill you in its jaws, then a more sinister fate awaits you.
41:24Imprisoned, alive in its stomach while you slowly dissolve.
41:28So this investigation has taken me into new territory in more ways than one.
41:42My mission is always to find the truth behind the legend.
41:45But as soon as I arrived in Japan, the task felt overwhelming.
41:49With stories of earthquake causing catfish and child snatching killers.
41:54But I have found what I believe to be the truth behind these tales.
41:58And the one thing that I will take away with me from Japan
42:01is the knowledge that the wall between truth and fantasy is sometimes paper thin.
42:06I can fully understand how this creature could inspire legends.
42:11And in my book it certainly qualifies as a river monster.
42:16To find out how you can help the people and animals affected by the disaster in Japan,
42:20log on to animalplanet.com slash raw.