MYSTERY SOLVED! TRUTH behind mystery of 300-year-old mermaid ‘mummy’ finally revealed
OKAYAMA, JAPAN: Scientists have been perplexed by a mummified "mermaid" for nearly 300 years, but a centuries-old mystery surrounding it has now been resolved. Researchers came to the conclusion that the being was revered by locals and kept for 40 years in the Enjuin temple in the city of Asakuchi.
Surprisingly, the researchers discovered that the creature was created in the late 1800s and is entirely artificial. The study's creator, Hiroshi Kinoshita of the Okayama Folklore Society, said the results surprised them. However, according to legend, it can bestow immortality, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was revered in an effort to fend off the virus, as reported by New York Post.
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Mystery of the mermaid: Eerie 300-year-old 'mummy' with human face and tail found in Japan
What is the mermaid 'mummy' made of?
Kinoshita stated, "If you were to imagine it normally, you would think it was a combination of the lower body of a fish and the upper body of an ape." He added, "However, the survey results show this is not the case. From what we know, the body's lower half is fish, but the upper half is not mammalian." He described the body and mentioned that most of the upper body was made of cloth, paper, and cotton, with pufferfish skin used on the arms, shoulders, neck, and cheeks. The figure was created in the late 1800s, according to radioactive dating, as reported by New York Post.
History of mermaid 'mummy'
At a temple in Okayama prefecture, in the southernmost region of Japan's Honshu island, the preserved mummy had been discovered in a box. Before researchers began to examine the mummy and, after a CT scan, discovered the truth about this petrified being, the precise origin of the mummy was unknown, as reported by Japan Forward.
This mummy was allegedly caught off the coast of Fiji and later purchased from Japanese sailors after the torso and head of a monkey were sewn onto the back half of a fish, as reported by The Sun. The mummy has spent the last 40 years in a fireproof safe inside the temple to stop it from deteriorating. It was once placed on display in a glass case at the temple for guests to pray to.
In addition to the one at Enjuin temple, a dozen other mermaid mummies have been discovered throughout Japan, but the one in Okayama prefecture was the first to be thoroughly examined, as reported by Mirror. People have been making these artifacts since the Edo period (1603-1868) when diseases like smallpox and measles were common. It was thought that seeing these rare creatures would bring good luck, as reported by Vice.