“Very different from the Koshi dragon, but no less exotic in appearance, is the hai riyo—also known as the tobi tatsu, schachi hook, or dragon bird. There are several depictions of this remarkable creature on the ornamental screens decorating the Chi-on-in monastery in Kyoto, and although it supposedly comprises the Japanese equivalent of China’s winged dragon, or ying-lung, it bears little physical similarity.
Eschewing the sinuous, scaly body of the ying-lung, the hai riyo is portrayed with the feathered wings, body, and tail of a bird , and with its clawed feet; but it retains the unmistakable, beard-fringed visage of a dragon. Moreover, transformations of dragons into birds occur quite frequently in Japan.”
- Dragons: A Natural History,Dr. Karl Shuker (p. 92)
Eschewing the sinuous, scaly body of the ying-lung, the hai riyo is portrayed with the feathered wings, body, and tail of a bird , and with its clawed feet; but it retains the unmistakable, beard-fringed visage of a dragon. Moreover, transformations of dragons into birds occur quite frequently in Japan.”
- Dragons: A Natural History,Dr. Karl Shuker (p. 92)