Japanese scientists launch efforts to study ‘mermaid mummy’
Researchers at Kurashiki University of Science and Arts in Japan and scientists from other organizations are conducting a research project. For the first time, they will scientifically analyze a creature dubbed the “mermaid mummy”.
They aim to announce their findings in the fall of 2022.
In 2018, Japanese scientists announced plans to study a rare mummified human mimic called the “Loch Ness Monster” found in Scotland. The discovery of this mummy and its discovery on the shores of Loch Ness by two local boys made it the second oldest specimen found in Scotland.
The “Loch Ness Monster” is believed to belong to a species called Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, and it had the remains of three teeth that matched those of modern humans. This individual is believed to have died out around 130,000 years ago, during the ice age.
Japanese scientists recently announced their ambitious plans to study the remains of a mummy that was found in an ancient Baltic Sea.
The mummy, dubbed the “Mermaid Mummy” because of its webbed feet and fish-shaped head, will be studied by a team at Aichi Prefectural University in Nagoya, in the hope that it may shed clues about how humans began to live near the water.
The team believes this mummified individual is a creature that predates Homo sapiens or an early human that lived near water for millennia before being covered in ash and then buried.
Scientists in Japan are on the hunt for this “mummy” after discovering a strangely intact female body in a cave.
Scientists in Japan have announced plans to study the remains of an ancient female mummy found in a remote cave, which appears to reveal some elements of human evolution.
Scientists dubbed her the “Mermaid Mummy” due to her fish-white skin and long, flowing hair. However, they knew little else about who she was and where she came from before the discovery. Until now, they have not been able to answer these questions, as they no longer have enough of a woman’s body.
Hiroshi Kinoshita is a board member of the Okayama Folklore Society.
He called on officials at the Enjuin temple, where the mermaid’s mummy is housed, and the university to conduct the study after discovering the location of the mummified creature.
Moreover, Kinoshita came up with the project after he came across an image of the mermaid mummy while reading Kiyoaki Sato’s writings.
Sato was a historian from Satosho in Okayama Prefecture. He is believed to have transcribed Japan’s first encyclopedia of supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore, such as “yokai” ghouls, hobgoblins, and many others.
Takafumi Kato is a professor at Kurashiki University of Science and Arts specializing in paleontology. He is responsible for the morphological analysis of the upper body of the Enjuin temple specimen.
The mermaid mummy is Kato’s first research into a mythical creature. The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported in February 2022 that a “mermaid mummy” kept in a temple has been a source of mystery for hundreds of years.
This creature with the lower body of a fish and the upper body of a human being has been the subject of nightmares among the Japanese and the object of worship.
Kozen Kuida is the head priest of Enjuin Temple in Asakuchi Prefecture. In February 2022, he retrieved the precious 12-inch specimen from a paulownia box in the CT scan room at the university’s veterinary hospital.
The mermaid mummy was caught in a fishing net between 1736 and 1741 off the coast of present-day Kochi Province, which was formerly Tosa Province. This information is based on a note on the same container as the so-called “dry mermaid”.
The mermaid mummy appeared to be holding her hands to her mouth and locked in a scream. Scientists examined him while he was lying face down on an examination table and found that he had scales on his lower body, hair on his head, nails and teeth.
