Kirin is the Japanese rendition of the Qilin, a mythical hooved animal. Generally, it may be originated from a deer-like animal, but other renditions identified Qilin as a giraffe. Records of the Ming dynasty referred to giraffes brought into the capital city as the Qilin. In Japan, the Kirin is depicted as a dragon-like unicorn with the tail of a horse. The word now is used in Japanese to refer to a giraffe. The Kirin is occasionally referred to as the Chinese Unicorn.