3 April 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

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. Photo: Newsflash
The fish-like lower half of the ‘mermaid’s’ body gives way to a strange-looking tail. Photo: 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 Kinoshita, a board member of the Okayama Folklore Society, became aware of its existence after seeing a photo of the bizarre creature in a mythical encyclopedia. It still remains a mystery how the mermaid mummy ended up inside the Okaya temple.

Related Articles

Extraordinary discovery in France: An unlooted 1800-year-old Roman Sarcophagus discovered

27 September 2023

27 September 2023

Archaeologists from France’s National Institute of Preventive Archeology (INRAP) have unearthed an unlooted ancient stone sarcophagus in the vast ancient...

Three-room Urartian tomb with liquid offering area (libation) found in eastern Turkey

18 January 2023

18 January 2023

A three-room Urartian tomb with a rock-cut libation (liquid offering area) to offer gifts to the gods was unearthed in...

Anglo-Saxon monasteries were more resilient to Viking attacks than thought

31 January 2023

31 January 2023

Researchers from the University of Reading’s Department of Archaeology have found new evidence that Anglo-Saxon monastic communities were more resistant...

Petalodus shark teeth found for the first time in China

29 August 2021

29 August 2021

A 290 million-year-old fossil of a shark with petal-shaped teeth has been discovered in China. Seven well-preserved Petalodus teeth were...

Academics Uncover Ancient Roman Physicians Galen’s Pharmacy Legacy in İzmir

27 February 2024

27 February 2024

As a part of research on medicinal plants in Bergama, İzmir’s historic district where Galen (129 AD -200 AD) once...

Archaeologists unearthed the ruins of an imposing stoa from the Greco-Roman era in Sicily

1 April 2024

1 April 2024

Archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of an imposing stoa from the Greco-Roman period in the small village of Tripi in...

1-meter tall bronze statue found in China’s Sanxingdui Ruins-Video

17 June 2022

17 June 2022

Chinese archaeologists have discovered a 1-meter tall bronze statue at the site of ancient Sanxingdui ruins site in southwest China’s...

INAH archaeologists discovered a nose ornament made of human bone in Mexico

31 August 2023

31 August 2023

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered a nose ornament made of human bone in...

Hunter-Gatherers Kept an ‘Orderly Home’ in the Earliest Known British Dwelling

25 July 2024

25 July 2024

Based on archaeological evidence from a Yorkshire site, new research suggests that hunter-gatherers probably kept an organized home with designated...

Archaeologists have found a mysterious prehistoric site, believed to be a 6,500-year-old Stone Age cemetery, near the Arctic Circle

4 December 2023

4 December 2023

Archaeologists have found a mysterious prehistoric site believed to be a 6,500-year-old Stone Age cemetery just 50 miles (80 kilometers)...

Rare Five Bronze Age Axes found in the Forests of Poland

5 December 2023

5 December 2023

Archaeologists in Poland have discovered five Bronze Age axes in Starogard Forest District, located in Kociewie. A metal detectorist named...

Archaeologists identify a sunken Nabataean temple dedicated to the God Dusares at Pozzuoli

12 April 2023

12 April 2023

Off the coast of Pozzuoli on the Phlegrean Peninsula in Campania, Italy, underwater archaeologists have identified a sunken Nabataeans temple...

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era

12 October 2022

12 October 2022

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era, in the central town of Rastan, describing...

“One of the outstanding discoveries of recent decades”: Gold coin reveals unknown British King

20 October 2023

20 October 2023

New light has been shed on a little-known part of British history thanks to the extraordinary discovery of a coin...

Archaeologists uncover ancient mosaic of the living room of brutal Publius Vedius Pollio

13 December 2022

13 December 2022

In the Pausilypon Archaeological Park, archaeologists from the University of Naples’ “L’Orientale” uncovered an ancient mosaic. The park is located...