Hello there! Thanks for the comments!

An otter, huh? I think in some ways the otter matches, but in others I’m not so sure. The disappearances of the animals, some very large such as pigs and cows, would not be the work of an otter. Also, the kidnappings of children, some of which were witnessed, would also not be very otter-like behavior. Also, the appearance was also described as something like a money, which also seems odd for an otter.

I also think that otters at the time would probably have been recognized as such, and would likely not have been mistaken for some foul, fanged, mystery beast, especially by a hunter who one would think would be familiar with the wildlife of Japan. I’m not sure how an otter would fool an experienced hunter into thinking it was some monster, as well as stirring a whole village into a panic.

I tend to be more inclinced to think that what we are looking at here was a case of mass hysteria of some kind. Perhaps someone thought they saw something wierd in the woods and it caused a mass panic. The rest could have been exaggerations or complete fabrications.

It is an old account, so it is hard to say, and impossible to fully verify what happened during these events. However, I’m not really sure about otter as the culprit here. Otters in a line maybe?

As for the monster, it sounds like some kind of jikininki.

I assume that Mt. Bondai has a temperate climate with all four seasons? I also assume there were some mountain rivers running through the region before the eruption in 1888? I assume that the reason for the lakes created after the eruption are due to volcanic material clogging some of those rivers?

If my assumptions are correct, I would have to guess (and I hate to post it). That from the description of the animal and environmental features, that the creature was an otter. I know, I know, otters can not be the answer to all unknown or cryptid creatures. But the shoe fits on this one. I don’t think an otter is capable of carrying away children but it would explain the missing chickens. The webbed feet, fur, length of the creature and habitat all fit.

So my guess reluctantly on this one is mistaken identity, namely an otter.