---
title: "Human-Faced Dog Legend: From Tokyo to Yamagata"
locale: en
category: story
category_name: "Tales"
translation_status: reviewed
license: cc_by
author: "Injoys Editorial Team"
source_url: https://injoys.com/en/articles/human-faced-dog-yamagata-tale-origins
published_at: 2026-11-09T08:35:58+09:00
---

# Human-Faced Dog Legend: From Tokyo to Yamagata

> Yamagata's human-faced dog legend is a short tale about a creature that fled to the region after attracting too much attention in Tokyo. Based on the publicly available summary of a 1992 report documenting the legend, this account distinguishes the main story from separate records and explains variations in oral tradition.

## Key Points

- The central legend tells of a human-faced dog that fled to Yamagata after attracting too much attention in Tokyo.
- June 21, 1992 is the publication date of the magazine containing the report documenting the legend.
- The public database provides bibliographic information and a summary of the legend, not the full original text.
- The record comparing body size and movement and the record about keeping three of the dogs are separate entries.
- The three records show how the story varies by region, but do not establish where it originated.

The Yamagata (山形) account of the human-faced dog (人面犬) is an oral tradition included in a 1992 folklore collection report. It tells of a human-faced dog that fled to Yamagata after attracting attention in Tokyo (東京). That brief account has been retold here in Korean.

This article follows the summary of the tradition in “Yamagata no Uwasa Ikkan” and was compiled as of November 2026.

## The Story

There is said to have been a dog with a human face in Tokyo. But the commotion surrounding the human-faced dog grew too great. The dog is said to have left Tokyo to escape the fuss. The story goes that the place it fled to was Yamagata.

## Source and Origins

This retelling is based on a summary of the tradition published by the International Research Center for Japanese Studies. It appears in the center’s database of strange phenomena and yōkai traditions. The original source is a folklore collection report titled “Yamagata no Uwasa Ikkan (山形の噂一観).”

The report was written by Takahashi Toshihiro (高橋敏弘). It appeared in issue 139 of *Seikō Minzoku (西郊民俗)*. The journal’s publication date is **June 21, 1992**. This does not indicate when the story began or when an event occurred.

| Item checked | Details in the public record |
|---|---|
| Record number of the main account | 1140605 |
| Pages covered by the report | pp. 31~32 |
| Page containing this account | p. 31 |
| Region of the tradition | Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture |
| Speaker listed | An elementary school student in grade 1 |
| Publicly available content | Bibliographic information and a summary of the tradition |

The speaker’s name is not given in the public entry. The source is therefore an anonymous oral account compiled by a public research institution. There is no basis for treating the report’s author as the story’s creator. The institution’s publication of the record also does not mean that it acknowledged the existence of human-faced dogs.

### Where can the original text be read

What can be viewed directly online is a summary, not the full report. The [public record for the main account](https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/cgi-bin/YoukaiDB3/youkai_card.cgi?ID=1140605) also includes bibliographic information. To read the full original text, you need to find a library holding issue 139 of *Seikō Minzoku*. The record also has a publication search feature that links to a search of Japan’s National Diet Library.

## Other Versions and Similar Stories

There are two other separate records that cite the same folklore collection report. One compares the human-faced dogs of Yamagata and Tokyo. The other says that human-faced dogs are kept in an old house. The three entries should be distinguished as follows.

| Record number | Main point of the summary | Distinction addressed in the story |
|---|---|---|
| 1140605 | It fled to Yamagata after attracting too much attention in Tokyo | Reason for moving and destination |
| 1140606 | Yamagata’s human-faced dogs are smaller and more sluggish than Tokyo’s | Body size and movement |
| 1140609 | Three human-faced dogs are kept in an old house | Place where they are kept and number of dogs |

The [record about body size and movement](https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/cgi-bin/YoukaiDB3/youkai_card.cgi?ID=1140606) describes only relative differences. It gives no measurements, such as actual size or movement speed. It is therefore impossible to calculate how small Yamagata’s human-faced dogs are.

The [record about the old house](https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/cgi-bin/YoukaiDB3/youkai_card.cgi?ID=1140609) says that three dogs are kept there. The public summary does not give the house’s name or address. There is no basis for identifying any particular present-day home as the setting of this story.

Joining the three entries together creates a plot that is not in the original summaries. Writing that the dog that fled Tokyo entered that house would be one example. Explaining its small size as a result of its flight would also go beyond the records. The entries cannot be combined into one continuous story merely because they appeared in the same report.

## Folklore in the Story

These records can be read as examples of how an unfamiliar being is brought into local storytelling. The main account explains that Tokyo’s human-faced dog came to Yamagata. A separate record also assigns regional differences to body size and behavior. This is an interpretation based on comparing the records, not an explanation given directly by the speaker.

Variation in oral tradition here means differences that develop in the content being passed down. Even a being with the same name is described differently depending on where it is. In this case, the route of movement and physical traits reveal those differences.

The story of dogs kept in an old house places human-faced dogs within a living space. A being that travels between cities is thus also described as something someone keeps. However, the public summaries do not establish the order of the three accounts. It is also difficult to say which story branched off from another.

### Origins that this tradition cannot establish

The fact that the account was recorded in Yamagata does not establish that human-faced dogs originated there. Tokyo, too, appears only as the point of departure within this tradition. This source alone cannot explain the origins of human-faced dog stories as a whole.

The public summaries also offer no explanation involving a particular belief or ritual. There is no basis for adding that people worshipped human-faced dogs or regarded them as punishment for breaking a taboo. The folkloric significance of this tradition can be found in the way oral accounts vary by region.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is the human-faced dog story true

The material discussed here is an oral tradition, not a verified event. The database compiles records that someone told such stories. Those records do not prove that human-faced dogs existed or moved from one place to another.

### Why is it said to have left Tokyo for Yamagata

The main record says it was because the dog attracted too much noisy attention in Tokyo. No separate reason is given for choosing Yamagata as its destination. The public summary also gives no means of travel or route.

### Did the story first appear in 1992

1992 is the publication year of the folklore collection report consulted. The public record alone cannot establish when the story first arose. The publication date must be distinguished from the date when the oral tradition began.

### Can the full original text be read online

The public record consulted provides bibliographic information and a summary of the tradition. The full report is not included on that page. To find out whether the full text is available to read, you need to check with a library holding issue 139 of *Seikō Minzoku*.

### Does the story say there were three small, sluggish human-faced dogs

The description of small, sluggish dogs and the account of three dogs being kept are separate entries. The public summaries do not connect the two details into a single scene. Nor can it be confirmed whether they were the same dogs as the human-faced dog that fled Tokyo.

### What does this story mean

It can be read as an example of an oral tradition that explains an unfamiliar being by bringing it into the local area. Differences in body size and movement show how descriptions vary by region. This is an interpretation based on comparing the records, not a lesson explicitly stated in the tradition.

## FAQ

### Is the human-faced dog story true?
It is an oral tradition, not an event confirmed as fact. Its inclusion in a public research institution's database does not prove that human-faced dogs exist.

### Why is the human-faced dog said to have fled Tokyo for Yamagata?
The main account explains that it was because the human-faced dog had caused too much of a stir in Tokyo. The public summary does not explain why it chose Yamagata or give a specific route.

### Where can I read the original text of the human-faced dog account?
You can read the bibliographic information and summary in the International Research Center for Japanese Studies' Database of Folktales of Strange Phenomena and Yokai. To read the full original text, you need to check access with an institution holding issue 139 of Seiko Minzoku, which contains the folklore collection report.

### Is 1992 the year the human-faced dog story first appeared?
June 21, 1992 is the publication date of the magazine containing the folklore collection report that was consulted. It does not indicate when the story first arose or when a sighting occurred.

### How does the human-faced dog in Yamagata differ from the one in Tokyo?
A separate record says that the human-faced dog in Yamagata is smaller and more sluggish than the one in Tokyo. No specific figures are given for its size or speed.

### Did the three human-faced dogs in the old house also come from Tokyo?
The account of three being kept in an old house is a separate record. The public summary does not confirm that those human-faced dogs had fled Tokyo.

### What is the significance of the Yamagata human-faced dog tradition?
It can be interpreted as an example of an oral tradition that places an unfamiliar being in the local area to explain it. The differences in size and behavior also show how stories change from region to region. This does not mean that any specific beliefs or rituals have been confirmed.

## Sources

- [International Research Center for Japanese Studies Database of Strange Phenomena and Yokai Folklore: Human-Faced Dog, Record 1140605](https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/cgi-bin/YoukaiDB3/youkai_card.cgi?ID=1140605)
- [International Research Center for Japanese Studies Database of Strange Phenomena and Yokai Folklore: Size and Movements of a Human-Faced Dog, Record 1140606](https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/cgi-bin/YoukaiDB3/youkai_card.cgi?ID=1140606)
- [International Research Center for Japanese Studies Database of Strange Phenomena and Yokai Folklore: Three Human-Faced Dogs in an Old House, Record 1140609](https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/cgi-bin/YoukaiDB3/youkai_card.cgi?ID=1140609)

## Images

![A dog with a human-shaped head, seen from behind in misty fields beneath mountains at dusk, in woodblock style.](https://injoys.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6NDAyNDQsInB1ciI6ImJsb2JfaWQifX0=--6bd7e0d3aa4b1846a69b233780d248283702693a/ai-c3903127.webp)
![Three doglike figures with hidden faces on the veranda of an old wooden house under moonlight](https://injoys.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6NDAyNTAsInB1ciI6ImJsb2JfaWQifX0=--b28073f9a622ebc0aa38f15dda5149a9c1c7fbce/ai-c80dae21.webp)