For centuries, whales have been revered in Japan, providing food and fuel for coastal cultures.
Historically, whales were sacred, gifts from the sea, honored with ritual burials and prayers.
But there are apparently a few whales who didn't get the memo.
Meet the Bake-kujira, a ghostly whale skeleton that brings misfortune and famine.
Why would a treasured and worshipped creature return as an omen of disaster?
In a country full of centuries old yokai stories, the Bake-kujira didn't appear until the late 20th century, as Japan and the world reckoned with the devastation of industrial whaling.
Was the Bake-kujira just a ghost story or a warning of ecological collapse?
And now as climate change and harmful human habits threaten whales in new ways, could the Bake-kujira be coming for us next?
Going back thousands of years, Japanese indigenous cultures from the Jomon people to the Ainu fished for whales as food, oil, and tools, using every part of the whale, from fin to tooth.
They connected whales to their spiritual traditions, often seeing them as a manifestation of Ebisu, the god of fisherman and luck.
