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is a legendary Japanese
mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...
or
merman Mermen, the male counterparts of the mythical female mermaids, are legendary creatures, which are male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes they are described as hideous and other ...
with a bird-beak like mouth and three legs or tail-fins, who allegedly emerges from the sea, prophesies either an abundant harvest or an epidemic, and instructed people to make copies of its likeness to defend against illness. The ''amabie'' appears to be a variant or misspelling of the ''amabiko'' or ''amahiko'' ( ja, アマビコ, アマヒコ, , , , , ), otherwise known as the , also a prophetic beast depicted variously in different examples, being mostly as 3-legged or 4-legged, and said to bear ape-like (sometimes torso-less),
daruma doll A is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism. These dolls, though typically red and depicting a bearded man (Bodhidharma), vary greatly in color and design depending on ...
-like, or bird-like, or fish-like resemblance according to commentators. This information was typically disseminated in the form of illustrated
woodblock print Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...
bulletins (''
kawaraban Japanese newspapers ( , or older spelling ), similar to their worldwide counterparts, run the gamut from general news-oriented papers to special-interest newspapers devoted to economics, sports, literature, industry, and trade. Newspapers are ci ...
'') or pamphlets (''
surimono are a genre of Japanese woodblock print. They were privately commissioned for special occasions such as the New Year. Surimono literally means "printed thing". Being produced in small numbers for a mostly educated audience of ''literati'', ...
'') or hand-drawn copies. The ''amabie'' was depicted on a print marked with an 1846 date. Attestation to the ''amabiko'' predating ''amabie'' had not been known until the discovery of a hand-painted leaflet dated 1844. There are also other similar that are not classed within the ''amabie''/''amabiko'' group, e.g.,the .


Legend

According to legend, an ''amabie'' appeared in Higo Province (
Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...
), around the middle of the fourth month, in the year
Kōka was a after ''Tenpō'' and before ''Kaei.'' This period spanned the years from December 1844 through February 1848. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * December 2, 1844 (): The new era name of ''Kōka'', meaning "Becoming Wide ...
-3 (mid-May 1846) in the
Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
. A glowing object had been spotted in the sea, almost on a nightly basis. The town's official went to the coast to investigate and witnessed the ''amabie''. According to the sketch made by this official, it had long hair, a mouth like bird's bill, was covered in scales from the neck down and three-legged. Addressing the official, it identified itself as an ''amabie'' and told him that it lived in the open sea. It went on to deliver a prophecy: "Good harvest will continue for six years from the current year; if disease spreads, draw a picture of me and show the picture of me to those who fall ill." Afterward, it returned to the sea. The story was printed in the ' ( woodblock-printed bulletins), where its portrait was printed, and this is how the story disseminated in Japan.


Amabiko group

There is only one unique record of an ''amabie'', whose meaning is uncertain. It has been conjectured that this ''amabie'' was simply a miscopying of "amabiko", a ''
yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...
'' creature that can be considered identical. Like the ''amabie'', the ''amabiko'' is a three-legged or multi-legged prophesizing creature which prescribes the display of its artistic likeness to defend against sickness or death. However, the appearance of the ''amabie'' is said to be rather mermaid-like (the three-leggedness allegedly stemming from a mermaid type called ), and for this reason one researcher concludes there is not enough of a close resemblance in physical appearance between the two.


Name variations

There are a dozen or more attestations of ''amabiko'' or ''amahiko'' (; var. , , ) extant (counting the ''amabie''),, nine examples (incl. ''amabie'') collated by the different ways in which names are written, on p. 7. with the copies dated 1843 (
Tenpō was a after '' Bunsei'' and before '' Kōka.'' The period spanned from December 1830 through December 1844. The reigning emperor was . Introduction Change of era * December 10, 1830 () : In the 13th year of ''Bunsei'', the new era name of ' ...
14) perhaps being the oldest.


Locality of appearances

Four describe appearances in Higo Province, one report the in neighboring Hyuga Province (
Miyazaki prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,073,054 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 7,735 km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefecture borders Ōita Prefecture to the north, Kuma ...
), another vaguely points to the western sea. Beyond those clustered in the south, two describe appearances in
Echigo Province was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Echigo''" in . It corresponds today to Niigata ...
in the north. The two oldest accounts (1844, 1846) do not closely specify the locations, but several accounts name specific village or counties (''gun'') that turn out to be nonexistent fictitious place names.


Physical characteristics

The accompanying caption texts describes some as glowing (at night) or having ape-like voices, but description of physical appearance is rather scanty. The newspapers and commentators however provide iconographic analysis of the pictorials (hand-painted and prints). The majority of pictorial represent the ''amabiko''/''amabie'' as 3-legged (or odd-number legged), with a couple cases rather like an ordinary quadruped. ;Torso-less ape-like version An , whose appearance in Echigo Province is documented on a leaflet dated 1844 (
Tenpō was a after '' Bunsei'' and before '' Kōka.'' The period spanned from December 1830 through December 1844. The reigning emperor was . Introduction Change of era * December 10, 1830 () : In the 13th year of ''Bunsei'', the new era name of ' ...
15). The hand-copied pamphlet illustration depicts a creature rather like an ape with three legs, the legs seemingly projecting directly from the head (without any neck or torso in-between). The body and face are covered profusely with short hair, except for it being bald-headed. The eyes and ears are human-like, with a pouty or protruding mouth. The creature appeared in the year 1844 and predicted doom to 70% of the Japanese population that year, which could be averted with its picture-amulet. ;Amahiko-no-mikoto The was spotted in a
rice paddy A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Au ...
in
Yuzawa, Niigata is a Towns of Japan, town located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7,926, and a population density of 22.2 persons per km2. The total area of the town was . The town is famous for its onsen, hot springs. ...
, as reported by the from 1875. The crude newspaper illustration depicts a
daruma doll A is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism. These dolls, though typically red and depicting a bearded man (Bodhidharma), vary greatly in color and design depending on ...
-like or ape-like, hairless-looking four-legged creature. This example stands out since it was emerged not in the ocean but in a wet rice field. Also, the addition of the imperial/divine title of "''-mikoto''" has been noted by one researcher as resembling the name of one of the
Amatsukami is a category of kami in Japanese mythology. Generally speaking, it refers to kami born in, or residing in, Takamagahara. ''Amatsukami'' is one of the three categories of kami, along with their earthly counterpart , and . Modern Shinto no long ...
or "Heavenly Deities" of ancient Japan. This creature in the crude drawing is said to resemble a
daruma doll A is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism. These dolls, though typically red and depicting a bearded man (Bodhidharma), vary greatly in color and design depending on ...
or an ape. ;Ape-voiced There are at least three examples of the ''amabiko'' crying like apes. The texts of all three identify the place of appearance as , a non-existent county in Higo Province, here is the same as the character pronounced "kōri" in another example. and names the discoverer who heard the ape voices heard by night and tracked down the amabiko as one Shibata Hikozaemon (or Goroemon/Gorozaemon). One ape-voiced is represented by a hand-painted copy owned by , an authority in the study of this ''
yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...
''. This document has a ''
terminus post quem ''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items.. A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...
'' of 1871 (Meiji 4) or later, The painting is said to depict a quadruped, with extremely close similarity in form to the ''mikoto'' (ape- or daruma doll-like) by commentators. However, the that cried like an ape (newspaper piece) is reported to have been drawn as a "three-legged monster". And the encyclopedia example described the as a in its sub-heading. A tangential point of interest is that this text transcribed in the newspaper refers to "we ''amahiko'' who dwell in the sea", suggesting there are multiple numbers of the creature. ;Glowing The foregoing was also described as a . The glowing is an attribute common to other examples, such as the ''amabie'' and reported in the ''Nagano Shinbun''. was also purportedly seen glowing at night in the offing of the Western Sea, during the
Tenpō was a after '' Bunsei'' and before '' Kōka.'' The period spanned from December 1830 through December 1844. The reigning emperor was . Introduction Change of era * December 10, 1830 () : In the 13th year of ''Bunsei'', the new era name of ' ...
era (1830–1844), and illustrations were brought for sale at 5 sen apiece to -kanamachi village, Tokyo, as reported in another newspaper, dated 20 October 1881. This creature allegedly predicted global-scale doom thirty-odd years ahead, conveniently coinciding with the time the peddlers were selling them, prompting researcher Eishun Nagano to comment that while the text may or may not have been genuinely composed in the Edo Period, the illustrations were probably contemporary, though he guesses that the merchandise was ''
surimono are a genre of Japanese woodblock print. They were privately commissioned for special occasions such as the New Year. Surimono literally means "printed thing". Being produced in small numbers for a mostly educated audience of ''literati'', ...
'' woodblock print. The creature also professed to serve the heavenly ''Tenbu'' or
Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...
divinities (of Buddhism), even though he is presumably sea-dwelling. ;Old man or monk The on a ''surimono'' print, which purportedly appeared in Hyūga Province, (''surimono'', also owned by Yumoto). Text reprinted as source #8 , illustration reproduced p. 22, fig. 7. The illustration here resembles an old man with bird-like body and nine legs.


Similar ''yōkai''

In Japanese folklore or popular imagination, there are also other similar ''
yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...
'' that follow the pattern of predicting doom and instructing humans to copy or view its image, but lie outside the classification of ''amabie''/''amabiko'' according to a noted researcher. These are referred to generically as "other" . Among the other prophetic beasts was the , which appeared in "Aotori-kōri" county, Higo Province, according to the ''Kōfu Nichinichi Shimbun'' newspaper dated 17 June 1876, although this report has been debunked by another paper. The '' yamawarawa'' in the folklore of
Amakusa , which means "Heaven's Grass," is a series of islands off the west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Geography The largest island of the Amakusa group is Shimoshima, which is 26.5 miles long and 13.5 mi ...
is believed to haunt the mountains. Although neither of these last two emerge from sea, other similarities such as prophesying and three-leggedness indicate some sort of interrelationship. There are various other ''
yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...
'' creatures that are vastly different in appearance, but have the ability to predict, such as the ''kudan'', the or "shrine princess", the or "bumper crop year turtle", and the "turtle woman". A tradition in the West ascribes every creature of the sea with the ability to foretell the future, and there is no scarcity of European legends about merfolk bringing prophecy. For this reason, the ''amabie'' is considered to be a type of mermaid, in some quarters. But since the ''amabie'' is credited with the ability to repel pestilence as well, it should be considered as more of a
deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
according to some.


COVID-19

During the
COVID-19 pandemic in Japan Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, amabie became a popular topic on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
in Japan. Manga artists (e.g. Chica Umino,
Mari Okazaki is a Japanese people, Japanese Mangaka, manga artist. Life Okazaki started drawing in high school and submitted her illustrations to different magazines. For her, this was both a training for art school, which she wanted to apply for, and a ...
and Toshinao Aoki) published their cartoon versions of amabie on social networks. The Twitter account of Orochi Do, an art shop specializing in
hanging scrolls A hanging scroll is one of the many traditional ways to display and exhibit East Asian painting and calligraphy. The hanging scroll was displayed in a room for appreciation; it is to be distinguished from the handscroll, which was narrower and ...
of ''
yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...
'', is said to have been the first, tweeting "a new coronavirus countermeasure" in late February 2020. A twitter bot account (amabie14) has been collecting images of amabie since March 2020. This trend was noticed by scholars.


See also

*
Ningyo as the name suggests, is a creature with both human and fish-like features, described in various pieces of Japanese literature. Though often translated as "mermaid", the term is technically not gender-specific and may include the " mermen". The ...
* Fiji mermaid * Jenny Haniver *
Cradleboard Cradleboards (, se, gietkka, sms, ǩiõtkâm, smn, kietkâm, sje, gietkam) are traditional protective baby-carriers used by many indigenous cultures in North America and throughout northern Scandinavia amongst the Sámi. There are a variety ...
, which some ''amabie'' resemble


Footnotes


Explanatory notes


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * {{Japanese folklore long Yōkai Mermaids Japanese folklore Prophecy Internet memes COVID-19 pandemic in Japan Health deities