A research team embarked on a project to analyze a “mermaid mummy” that was said to have been caught in a fishing net off the coast of Kochi Prefecture, Japan between 1736 and 1741.
Since its discovery (and possibly the sewing together of the bodies of a monkey and a fish), this “mermaid” has been kept at the Enjuin temple in Asakuchi, where it is seen as an object of worship.
Speaking to Japanese news outlet Asahi, the abbot said, “We worshiped him in the hope that he would help alleviate the coronavirus epidemic even a little bit. I hope the research project can leave (scientific) records for future generations.”
Asahi reports that this will be the first time it will be scientifically investigated. Researchers at Kurashiki University of Science and Arts removed the mummy from the temple to place it on a CT scanner and began their research.
The team will first also test DNA samples from the mummy to determine which animals were used to create the mummy; It is believed that this is a monkey and a fish.
The 300-year-old mummy is thought to have been created, possibly by a Japanese fisherman. It is known that the fisherman spread a prophecy that everyone on the island would become sterile and claimed that the only solution was to obtain a picture of the mermaid. Of course, this required a small payment to the fisherman.
The team will publish their findings on the “mermaid” later this year, but don’t hold your breath to confirm that mermaids are real. Perhaps the most famous mermaid hoax we’ve ever seen is “The Fiji Mermaid
” by PT Barnum.
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