Mr Takahashi claims to have seen Yeti footprints in the past

A Japanese expedition is to spend six weeks scouring the Nepalese Himalayas using infrared cameras in search of the legendary Yeti.

Team leader Yoshiteru Takahashi said he had seen footprints of the creature, also known as the abominable snowman, on Mount Dhaulagiri on previous trips.

He and the 14-member team will use cameras that can detect body temperatures to try to track him down.

"I'll take pictures and shake hands if I meet him," said Mr Takahashi. "But we will not capture it. The existence of the creature has to be proved".

The team, comprising seven Japanese climbers and seven Nepali sherpas, will leave for Dhaulagiri, the world's seventh-highest mountain, on Saturday.

Legendary

They will use six infrared cameras - operational around the clock - to scour the 8,167 metre (26,795 ft) slopes.

Mr Takahashi said he first came across the footprints during trips to the region in the 1970s and 1990s.

The mysterious Yeti captured the world's imagination

"They were very, very close to human footsteps," said the 60-year-old, who works in a Tokyo housing firm.

Yeti became the stuff of legends after Sherpa porters recounted local tales of hairy, ape-like creatures living in mountain caves to climbers attempting to conquer Mount Everest in the 1920s and 1950s.

Since then, several teams have attempted to find conclusive evidence of the mysterious creature.