Kudan (yōkai)

The kudan (件; literally "matter"; or "human-faced bovine"). is a yōkai of a "prophecy beast" type, whose news or urban legend has been disseminated in Japan since the Edo Period.

The human-faced, bovine-bodied kudan that allegedly appeared in "Mount Kurahashi", Tango Province (in today's Kyoto Prefecture) in the year Tenpō 7 (1836) was reported in a contemporary kawaraban. It predicted bountiful harvest in the ensuing years, and instructed people to paste up the picture image of itself for the home to ward off evil and prosper. The kawaraban's claim that the stock phrase "kudan no gotoshi" ("as in the case/matter in question") which frequently appeared at the end of certificates/deeds, was actually a reference to this monster is considered spurious.

The variant kutabe (or kudabe, kutahe) allegedly appeared in Mount Tate, Etchū Province (Toyama Prefecture), datable to Bunsei 10 (1827).

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