Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: 嘘ふ兎, The Lying Rabbit, The False Rabbit, Demon of the Wild Rabbit
Category: Rabbit
The Myth
Usofu-Usagi, meaning “lying rabbit” or “false rabbit,” is a supernatural creature described in Kijidan, a collection of strange tales. The story concerns Kimura Sodayū, a man living in Kamishinmachi, in the mountains near Kanazawa. One night, voices called out to him from outside his house, warning that someone had repeatedly been lurking around his home and spreading lies. Sodayū went outside to investigate, but found nobody. After waiting on his veranda, he heard the mysterious visitor approaching again from the mountain behind his house.
Following the voice through the darkness, Sodayū pursued the intruder toward a small grove. When he reached out to seize the figure, he felt something resembling an animal’s foot. The creature managed to escape, but when Sodayū lit a fire, he discovered that he was still holding a handful of fur resembling a rabbit’s tail. He then remembered that he had cut down a large silk tree near the mountain’s edge four or five days earlier. Because rabbits were believed to make their homes among such trees, he suspected that the mysterious visitor was a rabbit that had become a demon to avenge the destruction of its habitat.
The story was later retold in Folktales of Kaga and Noto, edited by Seizaka Tokio, under the title “The False Rabbit.” That version used regional dialect and attributed the tale to Sanshū Kidan, although the original account appeared in Kijidan, a sequel to that collection. The creature is also listed as “The Lying Rabbit” in the Encyclopedia of Japanese Strange and Yokai (2022). The story presents the rabbit as a supernatural avenger whose strange behaviour is linked to human interference with its natural dwelling place.
Sources
“The Lying Rabbit.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1084401769.html