300-Year-Old Sacred Mummified Mermaid From Japan’s Mystery Solved

A mummified mermaid has been worshiped in Japan for centuries because locals believe it has healing powers. However, upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the item was not as mysterious as it appeared because it was only artificial.

In Japan, there is a legend that the 300-year-old mummified mermaid will grant immortality to anyone who eats its flesh. The mysterious object has been on display for four decades at the Enjuin Temple in Asakuchi.

The 12-inch creature was allegedly caught in the Pacific Ocean, off the Japanese island of Shikoku, between 1736 and 1741.

The creature has two hands reaching up towards its grimacing face. Hair is still visible on its head and it has the remains of sharp, pointy teeth in its mouth. But its body gives way to a distinctly fish-like tail.

The fish-like lower half of the 'mermaid's' body gives way to a strange-looking tail. PH๏τo: Newsflash
The fish-like lower half of the ‘mermaid’s’ body gives way to a strange-looking tail. PH๏τo: Newsflash

Scientists have been perplexed by the finding for years.

Chief priest Kozen Kuida told the Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun they even worshipped it in the hope it would help to “alleviate the coronavirus pandemic”.

Last year, researchers from the Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts took the mummy for tests and CT scans in a bid to unravel its secrets.

They subjected the ‘mermaid’ to tests to determine if its an organic creature or not. Sadly, they have now discovered that the creature is completely artificial – made in the late 1800s. It has no skeleton as its body is made of paper, cloth, and cotton.

Radiocarbon dating also showed that the mummy dates back to the late 1800s, which fit the team’s initial estimations for when it was made.

The lower portion of the body was indeed from a fish’s tail, according to the scientists, but they thought that it had only been added later. Its head was from a mammal, and its jaw and teeth were also taken from fish.

Hiroshi Kinosнιтa, a board member of the Okayama Folklore Society, became aware of its existence after seeing a pH๏τo of the bizarre creature in a mythical encyclopedia. It still remains a mystery how the mermaid mummy ended up inside the Okaya temple.

Related Posts

The Discovery of the Polyxena Sarcophagus: Uncovering a Treasure from the Ancient World

A Groundbreaking Find In the summer of 1994, an archaeological team led by Dr. Erhan Özdoğan made a groundbreaking discovery near the ancient city of Troy in…

Exploring the Past: The Historic City of Sardis

The Rise of an Ancient Empire Lydian Legacy in Western Anatolia In the heart of what is now Turkey’s Manisa province, the ruins of Sardis tell an…

Sahara’s Silent Storytellers: The 9,000-Year-Old Giraffe Carvings of Niger

A Window to a Forgotten World In the vast expanse of Niger’s Sahara Desert, an extraordinary discovery takes us on a journey through time. The Dabous giraffe…

The Black Statue of Tutankhamun: A Guardian of Eternity

When Howard Carter uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, the world was stunned not only by the dazzling gold treasures but also by artifacts of profound…

The Gilded Child: Unveiling the Silent Voices of Ancient Egyptian Mummification

Among the vast treasures of ancient Egypt, few discoveries stir as much emotion as the delicate remains of children who never reached adulthood. While golden masks, colossal…

The Silent Children of Tutankhamun: Tragedy Within a Golden Tomb

Few archaeological discoveries have captured the world’s imagination like the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, unearthed by Howard Carter in 1922 in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Hidden…