Sometime between 1736 and 1741, a fisherman in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan is said to have made a very unusual catch: a mermaid.
The fisherman then sold the dead mermaid to a wealthy family, and at some point the creature's mummy ended up in a temple. Japanese researchers now want to find out whether the mummy is real - and there are already initial findings.

Mermaids in Japanese mythology

When we think of mermaids, we usually think of Lorelei , the mermaid of the Rhine, or the Disney version of Ariel . However, in Japan, where these creatures are called Ningyo (人魚, in English: "human fish"), their appearance is described differently: shiny golden scales, a monkey mouth with small teeth and a voice that sounds like a lark or a flute.

That sounds okay, but the drawings look less like the pretty mermaids we imagine in this country:

A Japanese mermaid
A Japanese mermaid, Source: KPC International

According to a Japanese folk tale, a Ningyo appeared to Prince Shotoku at Lake Biwa. He told him his story, according to which he was once a fisherman who fished in forbidden waters and was therefore transformed as punishment. To atone for his crime, he asked the prince to build him a temple so that his remains would be visible to everyone as an example of the sanctity of life.

The temple is now known as the Tenshou Kyousha Shrine and houses the mummified remains of the alleged Ningyo, whose authenticity is doubtful.

While there are several temples that display alleged Ningyo (after all, they attract many visitors because they are said to bring good luck), catching a mermaid is rather unfavorable: it is said to bring bad luck and storms, and a Ningyo washed up on the beach is an omen for war.

The Mermaid of Asakuchi

This mummy is said to have been in the possession of the Asakuchi Temple for 40 years. A document from 1903, apparently written by a previous owner, states that the mermaid was captured between 1736 and 1741.

On Feb. 2, Kozen Kuida, chief priest of Enjuin Temple in Asakuchi, Prefecture, removed the 30-centimeter-long specimen from a box in the CT scanning room of the veterinary clinic at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts.

The mummy lay face up on an examination table and appeared to be caught in a scream while holding her hands over her mouth. In addition to nails and teeth, the mummy has hair on its head and scales on its lower body.

Hiroshi Kinoshita, 54, a board member of the Okayama Folklore Society, discovered clues about the mummy after he came across a photo of it while reading the papers of Kiyoaki Sato (1905-1998), a natural historian from Satosho.

There are already initial findings

After the CT scan of the mummy, DNA tests will also be carried out. The complete results of the investigations are expected in the fall. But an external examination of the alleged mermaid mummy will disappoint many mermaid fans.

Accordingly, the mummy as such is real, but was artificially created: the upper body most likely consists of a monkey torso, which was equipped with human hair and fingernails and to which a fish tail was sewn. The results of the CT scan will show more details, as it would not be the first alleged mermaid mummy to have wood and metal inside:

Conclusion

For understandable reasons, most temples in which alleged mermaid mummies are exhibited do not allow investigations; after all, the faith of the temple visitors should not be shaken. However, mummies that have been examined so far have never been verified as real, and we can strongly assume that the current mummy discovery will (unfortunately?) turn out to be a man-made myth.

Other sources: National Geographic , Anomalies , Japan Inside , StokeonTrent ,

Also interesting:

Many children who have seen “The Little Mermaid” want to spend a vacation by the sea afterwards.
Fact Check: The Archaeologist and the Mermaid Skeleton


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