Case file · Cryptid
Kussie of Lake Kussharo
In 1973 a school group and others at Lake Kussharo in eastern Hokkaido reported a large creature in the water, and the 'Kussie' boom began.
1973 CE · 43.62, 144.33 · status: claim
The account
Reports of humps and a long neck continued into the 1990s. The lake is a volcanic caldera in Ainu country, and the town promoted the monster with signs and souvenirs.
The sceptical view
Waves, floating logs and the ice ridges (omiwatari) that form when the frozen lake cracks have been proposed; the lake's acidity once made it poor in large fish.