Ryuto-no-fuchi Poolりゅうとうのふち

It is not a half-human, half-yokai, but rather a "half-god, half-beast" monster whose core is a highly realistic slaying tale recorded in the Mimasaka topography *Sakuyo-shi*. The biological Japanese giant salamander is an actual Special Natural Monument inhabiting the Asahi River system; its bizarre appearance and longevity sparked the imaginative belief that it was immortal and "wouldn't die even if torn in half." Its gigantified form was feared as the master of Ryuzu no Fuchi. The causal chain wherein the slain creature's curse wiped out the Mitsui family speaks of the beast's grudge destroying even the victorious slayer, ultimately only quieted by enshrinement. It possesses a rare structure combining a monster-slaying tale, a curse tale, a deification tale, and a festival origin. At the Hanzaki Center in Yubara Onsen, live giant salamanders are still protected and exhibited today, making it a land where legend and reality exist side-by-side.