Mystery Of The ‘Mummified Mermaid’ In Japan Solved!

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - The mystery of the mummified mermaid has been solved, and she is not what she appears to be, a team of scientists announced.

For hundreds of years, this strange “mermaid mummy” has been kept at a temple where it was worshipped by believers hoping the enigmatic creature could bring them luck, happiness, and good health. It was originally found in a paulownia box with a note that reads, “A mermaid caught in a net off the sea off of Tosa [one of the states of feudal Japan] in the Genbun era [1736-1741 CE]”.

Mummy "mermaid" found in the Pacific Ocean is manmade. Credit: en News/Hiroshi Kinoshita

This strange, mummified creature has a human's upper body and a fish's lower body. Everyone asked: What is it? Is it an unknown species, a real mermaid like those mentioned in myths and legends, or something else?

The "mummified mermaid" “mummy” belongs to the Enjuin Temple in Asaguchi, Okayama Prefecture. Last year scientists decided to unravel the true story behind this perplexing being for the first time.

Using X-ray, scientists at the Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts have studied the "mermaid" and "discovered it did not have a spine, ribs, or other skeletal bones. Its jaw and teeth were taken from a fish and its arms, shoulders, neck, and cheeks are covered with fish skin. The lower part of its body also contained fish bones," the New York Post reports.

"Further examination using a CT scanner at a dental lab in Yokohama, however, helped unravel the mystery: the “mummy” is actually a model made of paper, cloth, cotton, glue, and other components," Unseen Japan reports.

The worshipped mummified mermaid is, without a doubt man-made. It is made of paper, cloth, cotton, and fish parts.

“Based on our analysis and the history of mummy creation in Japan, we can only conclude that the mermaid mummy was probably man-made,” Takafumi Kato, a paleontologist working on the project, told Vice World News.

A dozen other mermaid mummies have been found around Japan and are assumed to have been created during the country’s historical Edo period, which stretched from 1603-1868. That period saw rampant diseases like smallpox and measles, and the creatures were believed to bring good luck.

The mermaid mummy of Enjuin. Credit: RSK

“Japanese mermaids have a legend of immortality,” Hiroshi Kinoshita of the Okayama Folklore Society told The Sun. “It is said that if you eat the flesh of a mermaid, you will never die.”

Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer