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A mummified ‘mermaid’ who is worshiped in Japan has been exposed as nothing more than a fabric, paper and cotton fabrication decorated with fish parts.
The creature was supposedly captured in the Pacific Ocean, off the Japanese island of Shikoku, between 1736 and 1741, and is now housed in a temple in the city of Asakuchi.
Legend has it that it has the power to grant immortality, and during the Covid-19 pandemic it was worshiped in an attempt to ward off the virus.
But scientists suspected it was actually the end of a fish’s tail grafted onto the upper body of a primate, and sent the artifact for a CT scan to reveal the truth.
Hiroshi Kinoshita of the Okayama Folklore Society, who conceived the study, said they were surprised by the final results.
Announcing the study last year, Kinoshita outlined some of the religious significance of mermaids in Japan.
The creature’s hair is of mammalian origin, its nails were made of animal keratin, and its jaws were taken from an unknown carnivorous fish.
The creature was supposedly caught in the Pacific Ocean, off the Japanese island of Shikoku, between 1736 and 1741.
He said: ‘If you were to picture it normally, you’d think it’s a combination of the lower body of a fish and the upper body of a monkey.
‘However, the survey results show that this is not the case. As far as we know now, the lower half of the body is a fish, but the upper half is not a mammal.
Most of the upper body was made of cloth, paper, and cotton, although pufferfish skin was used on the arms, shoulders, neck, and cheeks.
The creature’s hair is of mammalian origin, its nails were made of animal keratin, and its jaws were taken from an unknown carnivorous fish.
No internal skeleton was detected; but there are metal needles on the back of the neck and the lower part of the body.
The lower half, for its part, was made with corvina fish scales.
Sand or coal dust mixed with a paste substance was used to paint the surface of the body.
In the course of the study, the relic underwent X-ray imaging, CT scanning, fluorescent X-ray analysis, DNA analysis, and radiocarbon dating.
Observation with optical and electronic microscopes was also carried out.
Kurashiki University of Science and Arts concluded that the creature was manufactured.
Hiroshi said the artifact was likely created to capitalize on the Japanese fascination with mermaids.
“A lot of content was created, including stories, images and captions,” he said.
Mermaid mummies were probably made in various parts of Japan as a show or for export to foreign countries.
The supposed mermaid being measured and tested to see if it is real
The ancient mermaid artifact is sent through a CT scan to reveal the truth about its origins.
“There were groups and technicians in Japan at the time who had the skills to make these elaborate mummies.
“One of the keywords in my research is demand: the mummies were created because of demand.”
Announcing the study last year, Kinoshita outlined some of the religious significance of mermaids in Japan.
He said: ‘Japanese mermaids have a legend of immortality. It is said that if you eat the meat of a mermaid, you will never die.
“There is a legend in many parts of Japan that a woman accidentally ate the meat of a mermaid and lived for 800 years.
‘This ‘Yao-Bikuni’ legend is also preserved near the temple where the mermaid mummy was found. I heard that some people, believing the legend, used to eat the scales of mummy mermaids.
“There is also a legend that a mermaid predicted an infectious disease.”
A historical letter dated 1903, apparently written by a previous owner, was stored alongside the mummy and tells a story about its provenance.
“A mermaid was caught in a fish net in the sea off Kochi Prefecture,” the letter reads.
‘The fishermen who caught it didn’t know it was a mermaid, but they took it to Osaka and sold it as an unusual fish.
My ancestors bought it and kept it as a family treasure.
Nothing was found to corroborate this account, and it is unclear how or when the mummy reached the Enjuin temple in Asakuchi.
Kozen Kuida, the temple’s head priest, said the mummy was displayed in a glass case about 40 years ago and had recently been stored in a fireproof safe.
“We have loved it, hoping it will help alleviate the coronavirus pandemic, even a little,” he told The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, last year.
Hiroshi has a theory about how the mummy ended up in the temple.
He said: ‘What happened to the mummies that were left behind when they finished their role as a show?
‘The mummies cannot be ruled out due to Japanese feelings towards mermaids. So how did the owners manage?
Most of the upper body of the artifact was made of cloth, paper, and cotton.
The mermaids were donated to temples and shrines. Mummies were carefully preserved in temples and shrines and passed down as treasures.
Kinoshita initially suspected that the artifact was made sometime during the Edo period, an era in Japanese history that spans from 1603 to 1867.
The new carbon study dated some of the flakes shed to the late 19th century.