A team of scholars from Japan recently started investigating an unknown creature. The subject in question is a 300-year-old body with features similar to a fictional mermaid.
Among the interests of the study is to track the history and origin of the 'mermaid mummy.' According to the experts, the baffling remains might have been assembled as a valued piece for export.
Mermaid Mummy in Japan: Is It Real?
The mummified relic is suspected of belonging in a massive trade of Europe sometime in the early 1700s, Independent reports.
The mermaid mummy has a size that measures 30 centimeters in length. Physical features of the unknown creature include a screaming face, hands covering its mouth, and a tail instead of legs.
The mummified body is preserved in a container at a temple in the Okayama prefecture. Since its recovery, the mermaid-looking creature had been kept at the same time right in the heart of Japan's Honshu Island. Although it was housed in the region for many years, its exact manufacturing origin and the reason behind its existence remain unsolved.
The mummy is complete with human-like physiology, such as hair strands and nails. Although the creature's figure resembled a human, the experts are still confused why there are scales attached to its lower body.
Initial observations of the mummified mermaid were conducted by specialists from the Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts. Images of the body were collected through the use of computerized tomography (CT scan) at the institute's veterinary hospital.
According to a report by Japan's Asahi Shimbun, the box that encases the mummy was discovered with a note. The details state that the creature was caught through a fishing net in the vast waters of the Pacific on an unspecified date between 1736 and 1741.
Upon catching the relic, the mermaid was kept by a particular family that passed it down to later generations until it was secured at the Okayama temple. Since then, the mummified remains have been displayed for four decades until today.
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Study on Okayama Temple's Mummified Creature
Okayama Folklore Society expert Hiroshi Kinoshita stumbled upon the mysterious object during his studies on the popular Japanese natural historian Koyoaki Sato. Sato is known to specialize in researching the most puzzling creatures.
Kinoshita theorizes that the creature is not an actual mermaid. Instead, it was just a simple relic made for export either to Europe or Japan.
In an ongoing study, the scholars from Japan collaborated to solve the true identity and origin of the creature. Among the interests of the investigation is to identify the antiseptic approach utilized for preserving the body. DNA samples will also be examined to understand more about the compounds the remains were made of.
Some records tell how mummified mermaids were used as religious objects for worship in the ancient Japanese civilization.
The Okayama temple's head priest explained that they worshiped the creature to pacify the global issues brought by the coronavirus pandemic, even by just a small impact. They hope that the ongoing research could provide details and get ahold of the relic's past information for future generations, the priest added.
The findings from the mermaid mummy are expected to be released later this year.
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