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===Etymology=== {{multiple image | width = 100 | image1 = The World Before The Creation Of Man - 1886 02.jpg | alt1 = | image2 = Swamp Thing from The World Before The Creation Of Man.jpg | alt2 = | footer = [[Camille Flammarion]]'s ''Le Monde avant la création de l'homme'' (''The World Before Man's Creation'') series in 1886 includes several illustrations that depict appearances of bipedal dinosaurs in modern society. }} The Japanese word ''kaijū'' originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/le-grand-bain/le-grand-bain-10-mai-2014|title = Les monstres japonais du 10 mai 2014 - France Inter| date=May 10, 2014 }}</ref> it earlier appeared in the Chinese ''[[Classic of Mountains and Seas]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110007480367|title=A Study of Chinese monster culture – Mysterious animals that proliferates in present age media [in Japanese]|journal=The Journal of Hokkai Gakuen University|date=September 2009|volume=141 |issue=141|pages=91–121|publisher=Hokkai-Gakuen University|access-date=March 9, 2017|last1=中根 |first1=研一 }}</ref> There are no traditional depictions of ''kaijū'' or ''kaijū''-like creatures among the ''[[yōkai]]'' of [[Japanese folklore]],<ref>Foster, Michael (1998). ''The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore.'' Oakland: University of California Press.</ref> although it is possible to find [[List of megafauna in mythology and folklore|megafauna in their mythology]] (e.g., [[Japanese dragon]]s). After ''[[sakoku]]'' ended and Japan was [[Meiji Restoration|opened to foreign relations]] in the mid-19th century, the term ''kaijū'' came to be used to express concepts from [[paleontology]] and [[legendary creature]]s from around the world. For example, the extinct ''[[Ceratosaurus]]''-like cryptid featured in ''[[The Monster of "Partridge Creek"]]'' (1908) by French writer [[Georges Dupuy]]<ref name="Bissette 2017">{{cite book|last=Bissette|first=Steven R.|date=July 19, 2017|title=Red Range: A Wild Western Adventure|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TE4rDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT110|editor-last=Lansdale|editor-first=Joe R.|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]|chapter=A Brief History of Cowboys and Dinosaurs|isbn=978-1684062904|access-date=May 26, 2018}}</ref> was referred to as ''kaijū''.<ref name="ndl">{{cite web|url=http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/885790/13?itemId=info%3Andljp%2Fpid%2F885790&contentNo=13&viewMode=&__lang=en|title=怪世界 : 珍談奇話|work=NDL Digital Collections}}</ref> It is worthy to note that in the [[Meiji era]], [[Jules Verne]]’s works were introduced to the Japanese public, achieving great success around 1890.<ref>{{Cite web |title=日本ペンクラブ電子文藝館 |url=http://bungeikan.jp/international/detail/39/ |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=bungeikan.jp}}</ref>
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