An unidentified flying monster appears?

With the world in a frenzy over the new era, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce some yokai that are associated with the new era name, but it seems like there aren't any convenient yokai out there.

So, following on from yesterday, I would like to talk about Hakui City, Ishikawa Prefecture."UFO Town"So why did the city of Hakui start developing its town around UFOs in the first place? The reason for this is actually related to a certain yokai.

Long ago in the Edo period, a mysterious fire was spotted flying in the sky on Mt. Bijo, located north of what is now Hakui City. What was unusual about this mysterious fire was that it was not an ambiguous lump of flame, but rather closely resembled a certain Buddhist altar implement.

The Buddhist altar implement in question was called "sohachibon," and it looked like this.

Just imagine this glowing and flying through the sky...

No matter how you look at it, it's a UFO. Thank you very much.

Of course, at that time, Japanese people had no idea about the existence of UFOs. Therefore, this mysterious fire was not a visitor from outer space, but a demonized Buddhist altar ornament called a souhachibon. The name remains the same.Yokai SouhachibonIt was passed down to Hakui City as a tradition.

In addition to this story, there are other anecdotes that support the idea that UFOs have appeared in Hakui City. For example, in the village at the foot of Mt. Mayujo, where Souhachibon was spotted, there is a legend that a pot falls from the sky and abducts people. This is thought to refer to alien abductions by aliens riding in pot-shaped UFOs.

In addition, there is a temple called Shokaku-in in Hakui City."Ketako Engi"The book features an unidentified object that flies freely through the sky, which is probably a reference to a UFO.

Based on this information, it was determined that the Souhachibon was in fact a UFO, and Hakui City, where it has been flying for a long time,UFO TownIt came to be known as.

Speaking of UFOs, we tend to think of them as something that appears in Europe and America. However, assuming that aliens do exist, it certainly doesn't make sense that an alien who came from light years away would only see Western countries and then return. Only when there are reports of UFO sightings from all over the world can the rumor become more credible.

(Image: From the exhibit at Cosmo Isle Hakui)