'Ghost whale' Bake-Kujira - Japanese myth or real curse?

Okino islanders (Japan) are still obsessed with a frightening monster, spreading disaster to anyone who sees it.

Japan, like many countries in the world, has numerous legends of extremely terrifying monsters in history. But perhaps for the fishermen on Okino Island, the most haunting image is only one: Bake-Kujira - whale ghosts plague anyone who sees it.

Bake-Kujira - when the ghost returns

Legend has it that Bake-Kujira has a giant white whale skeleton shape. And according to the story told by the villagers, it first appeared on a stormy night.

In the middle of the night, Okino Island fishermen suddenly saw a translucent white mass, floating in the roaring sea. By experience, they assumed that it was a stranded whale, and a burly group of fishermen swam near to find a way to hunt for this "heaven" .

Bake-Kujira appears with strange fish and birds.

But strangely, the arrows, javelins or any sharp weapon that sped away all fell into nothing. Then, they realized the truth: the whale they were hunting was just a white skeleton, no flesh and bigger than any whale they had ever seen. It moved as if it was alive, causing everyone to be startled.

At that moment, they realized that the surrounding sea was covered by very strange fish and birds, which even experienced fishermen had never seen. Then the storm faded, the whale turned its head to the sea, the strange creatures also disappeared, leaving the fishermen with extreme worries and fears.

Bake-Kujira images are depicted with whale skeletons, accompanied by strange fish and strange birds
People later assumed that what they had witnessed was a ghost of a whale killed, or a god from afar. And the next person calls that image with a unique name: Bake-Kujira .

Bake-Kujira has a white giant whale skeleton shape.

Legend or true curse

Still following Okino's legend, after seeing Bake-Kujira, the villagers had to witness a series of consecutive disasters: natural disasters, famine, illness, like a curse coming down.

Be aware that, at that time, Okino fishermen lived by hunting whales. Just selling meat and whale fat to merchants is enough for the villagers to live well all year round. But then the whale ghost Bake-Kujira appeared and spread the disaster - which the village chief believed "to be the revenge of the slaughtered whales".

In order to abolish the curse, the villagers gradually quit whaling, switching to fishing near the shore. Whenever a bad whale rises into the village, fishermen organize burial, carefully worshiping. They also set up a shrine to the whale god, because in the custom of the fishermen, whales are the embodiment of ferocious gods.

The old Okino lived on whale hunting.

From the perspective of science today, Bake-Kujira's story is nothing more than a myth that lacks verifiability. However, there are still very strange stories that no one can explain, regarding Bake-Kujira's curse.

The most striking is the story that happened with Japanese painting artist Mizuki Shigeru in 1950. This person was on a tour, and during the trip he ate a lot of whale meat.

But when things went smoothly, Shigeru felt uncomfortable, high fever, but there was no cure. It ended only after Shigeru stopped performing (and stopped eating whales). The painter himself later admitted that the incident happened to him personally as the " epiphany" of "ghost whale" Bake-Kujira and the curse of the whale god.