Predictions for 2020 and the "matter"

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope that 2020 will also be a year of the yokai.

However, 2020 is shaping up to be an eventful year.

On New Year's Eve 2019, news broke that Carlos Ghosn had fled the country.

Also, on January 3rd, just after the New Year, it was reported that the U.S. military had killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, in a drone strike at Baghdad airport in the Iraqi capital.

This is expected to prompt Iran to retaliate by taking measures such as terrorist attacks and cyber attacks on the United States.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has warned on Twitter that if Iran attacks American citizens or property, "we will target 52 sites in Iran" in retaliation.

In response to these developments,World War III (WW3)There are concerns that a "terrorism crackdown" could break out.

Until now, "World War III" has often appeared in fiction, but it is now becoming a reality.

In today's world, where the situation is completely different from that of the First and Second World Wars, it would be completely irrational to wage a war on the scale of a world war, but since it is human nature to make irrational choices and to look at history and the lessons of the past without learning anything from them, it may be difficult to expect humanity to be intelligent.

Although it has become a dark topic at the beginning of the new year,The Earth will end in 2020There have been many such prophecies in the past. (Every year, some kind of prediction about the end of the world appears...)

Famous for his 1999 prophecyNostradamus' Great ProphecyHowever, he predicts that rising sea levels due to global warming will lead to a decline in resources, water and food crises, and large numbers of refugees, which could lead to global conflict and even culminate in World War III.

Mayan civilizationMayan CalendarSo,March 20, 2020It is said that on this day, the supernova explosion of Betelgeuse in Orion will occur, destroying the ozone layer due to the effects of a gamma ray burst, and radiation will penetrate the earth, and due to the effects of that radiation and the rapid rise in temperature, all living things on Earth will be burned to ashes and become extinct. (Previously, the date of this extinction was set to December 21, 2012, but this was incorrect and recalculation has resulted in the date being set to 2020.)

Prince ShotokuIt is said that he had the mysterious power to see into the future and left behind a book called "Future Records." In it, he wrote, "Within 200 years of my death, a capital will be built in Yamashiro Province and will flourish for 1000 years (Heian-kyo). However, the Black Dragon (the Black Ship) will arrive and the capital will be moved to the east (Tokyo). However, 200 years later, the eastern capital will be called,KuhandaThere was a prophecy that "Kuhanda will come and separate them like a parent and their seven children." In 2019, there was much talk that the period from April 30th to May 1st, 2019, when the spiritual protective power would be weakened due to the abdication of the current emperor and the enthronement of the new emperor, would be the time when "Kuhanda will come."

Strictly speaking, the capital was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1869, so 2019 marks 150 years since then, but predictions are often inaccurate, so this year may also fall into that category, so we need to be careful.

However, although Nostradamus, the Mayan calendar, and Prince Shotoku's Kuhanda all caused a stir in 1999, 2012, and 2019, respectively, their predictions ultimately turned out to be wrong, so this time too may turn out to be just an unnecessary worry.

However, the prevalence of such prophecies and rumors can be seen as evidence that people are feeling anxious about the social situation.

"The matter" is a monster that is said to be born at times of social unrest or as a harbinger of major historical disasters, and to make numerous prophecies.

As the kanji character "件" suggests, it is known as a monster with a half-man, half-cow appearance.While many consider it to be a monster with a human face and a cow's body, there is also a theory that it has a cow's head and a human body.

There is a theory that the origin of the set phrase "like the case" ("like the case") means "there is no lie, so that the prophecy will not fail."

Sightings of Kudan have been reported since the Edo period.

One famous example is the appearance of a human-faced, bull-bodied monster named "Gen" on Mount Kurahashi in Tango Province in December of the 7th year of the Tenpo era, and a woodblock print remains of the monster. Around the time of this report, the Tenpo famine was at its worst, and it is said that "Gen" represented the feelings of the people, who were filled with hopes for a good harvest.

After that, sightings of the creatures were reported whenever there was social unrest, such as at the end of the Edo period and during World War II.

From the end of World War II to the postwar reconstruction period, the human-faced, cow-bodied figure that had been used until then was replaced by the cow-faced, human-bodied, kimono-clad "Cow womanIt is said that rumors have also begun to circulate.

NovelistSakyo Komatsuinvestigated these rumors and wrote a novel,The mother in question'"

In recent years, members of the Self-Defense Forces engaged in rescue operations during the Great Hanshin Earthquake witnessed the "Cow Woman" standing in the middle of the ruins of the city, and there were also reports of sightings of the "Cow Woman" in Hachinohe City during the Great East Japan Earthquake.

As of January 2020, there have been no reports of sightings of the creature, but with anxiety growing worldwide, it would not be surprising if the creature appeared at any time.

Although there are many uncertainties, I pray that 2020 will be a peaceful and prosperous year.

Image = (C) FAMOUS, "New Collection of Buddhist Statues: Heaven Volume" (National Diet Library Digital Collection), "Title print from 1835 depicting the Kurahashiyama incident"

Text by Keijiro Watanabe

■ Keichan Watanabe

Born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Graduated from the School of Human Sciences at Waseda University. An independent researcher of yokai. Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA).

He currently works as a management and IT consultant, residing in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and traveling throughout the prefecture and Tokyo. However, he studied folklore and cultural anthropology at university, and continues to research yokai as his life's work.

I am currently writing articles about monsters associated with Hokkaido, where I currently live, as well as current news about business and economics.

Twitter:https://twitter.com/keishiro_w

Blog:http://blog.livedoor.jp/meda3594/