Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Hihi, 狒々, Baboon Monster
Category: Monkey
The Myth
The Hihi is a monstrous ape said to inhabit mountainous regions throughout Japan. It resembles an ordinary monkey that has grown to an enormous size, becoming a powerful and dangerous beast. Its origins lie in Chinese accounts of baboon-like creatures, which describe them as towering humanoid apes covered in black fur, with long hair concealing their heads and unusually large lips. When the Hihi laughs, its upper lip rises so far that it covers its eyes. These monsters are extraordinarily strong and can run swiftly enough to catch humans, whom they seize and devour while laughing.
Older accounts describe a male and female pair of these creatures presented during the Jianwu era of the Liu Song dynasty. They reportedly possessed reddish fur, could speak human languages, and understood matters of life and death. Their intelligence made them particularly dangerous, as they could recognize and pursue human prey. One traditional method of capturing a Hihi involved tricking it into grasping a bamboo tube that resembled a human hand. When the creature raised its lips to laugh before eating its supposed victim, a hunter could stab its exposed mouth with an awl and blind it.
Stories of Hihi extermination became widespread in Japanese legends and popular literature. One famous example concerns Iwami Jūtarō, a travelling avenger who hunts down criminals, defeats enormous snakes and monstrous apes, and rescues a girl destined to be sacrificed. His adventures culminate in a confrontation with the gang of Hirose Gunzō at Amanohashidate. Battles between Jūtarō and Hihi were frequently depicted in illustrated prints and picture scrolls. The creature also appears in Toriyama Sekien’s Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki, where a rough illustration depicts a giant Hihi pinning down a wild boar beneath a massive tree.
Sources
“Hihi.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1048990699.html