Case file · Folklore / legend
The human-faced dog
In 1989–90 children across Japan spread stories of jinmenken, dogs with men's faces that said 'leave me alone' when caught rummaging in rubbish.
1989 CE · 35.69, 139.70 · status: legend
The account
Magazines and TV amplified the rumours, which drew on Edo-period tales of human-faced animals. It joined Kuchisake-onna as one of the great schoolyard panics.
The sceptical view
A media-driven rumour; one magazine editor later said he had seeded some of the stories.