Ningyo (人魚; "human fish"), as the name suggests, is a creature with both human and fish-like features, described in various pieces ofJapanese literature.
Though often translated as "mermaid", the term is technically not gender-specific and may include the "mermen". The literal translation "human-fish" has also been applied.
The earliest records of the ningyo attested in written Japanese sources are freshwater beings allegedly captured in the 7th century (§Asuka period), documented later in theNihon Shoki.[a] But subsequent examples are usually seawater beings.[3][b]
The notion that eating its flesh imparts longevity is attached to the legend of theYao Bikuni [ja] ('eight hundred [year old] Buddhist priestess',[5][6] cf.§Yao Bikuni)
During the Edo period, the ningyo was made the subject of burlesquegesaku novels (cf.§Saikaku, 1687 andSantō Kyōden's§Hakoiri musume, 1791). There were also preserved ningyo being manufactured using fish parts (§Mummies or Feejee mermaids), and illustrated by some scholars of the period (e.g.§Baien gyofu); some such mummies are held by certain temples that have ningyo legend attached to them (cf.§Prince Shōtoku).
The description of the ningyo as having a red cockscomb (§Shokoku rijindan, and Saikaku) or light red hair (§Kasshi yawa) corroborates the hypothesis thatoarfish sightings led to ningyo lore.[7]
One giant ningyo was allegedly shot in 1805, even though it was held to be lucky, according to the news circulated inkawaraban pamphlet form (§Kairai)
The Japanese ningyo (人魚; literally "human-fish"[8]) has been glossed in a noted dictionary (Kojien) as a "fabulous creature" which is "half woman, half fish", later revised to "half human (usually woman) and half fish".[9] Hence the termningyo includes not just themermaid but themerman also.
Accordingly, theningyo is sometimes referred to by the verbatim translation "human-fish" in English-language scholarship,[8][10] thus allowing for the gender ambiguity.
The termningyo was not explicitly used in the earliest accounts (cf.§Asuka period, year 619) recorded in theNihon shoki (720 AD).[11][2][12] A later embellished account inShōtoku Taishi Denryaku [ja] involvingPrince Shōtoku claims that the PrinceRegent knew the termningyo, though this is regarded with skepticism.[13][14] The termningyo was likely absent from any of the primary sources used in compiling theShoki,[12] and nonexistent in the Japanese vocabulary during the Prince's time.[15]
The termningyo was also absent in medieval sources describing theKamakura Period strandings in northern Japan§Omens in Michinoku) considered ominous.[16] For example, a "large fish" washed ashore in theHōji 1 (1247) according to 13th[17][18] and 14th century texts.[19] But these were calledningyo in a 17th-century recompilation.[20][18]
The earliest examples (cf.§Asuka period) were caught in fresh waters, and it has been hypothesized they must have actually beengiant salamanders.[21][22]
Another prominent theory is that the misidentification of thedugong led to mermaid lore,[23] but detractors pointed out that the dugong's range reaches only as far north asOkinawa (formerly theKingdom of Ryūkyū), and so was not likely to have been seen during premodern times in various locations in Japan where mermaid legend (priestess who ate the mermaid) is known to occur.[c][24] However, this argument is flawed, since there were other sea mammals of theSirenia order, namelySteller's sea cows which were native to theBering Sea, and could have plausibly wandered into northern Japanese seas.[25][26] Other sea mammals such as seals and dolphins are also candidates to have been mistaken for human-fish.[d][28]
The ichthyologistHaruo Takashima [ja] also pointed out that "Japanese people only saw real dugongs after theMeiji era, but there are eyewitness testimonies of mermaids in older times".[29]
An inscribed wooden slat (mokkan) containing drawings of ningyo (13th century) suggest the actual animal captured may have been apinniped, such as a seal (cf.§Ritual offering tablet).
The ichthyologist's hypothesis that the ningyo legend originated from sightings of the red-crestedoarfish[e]—which drifts ashore even in theHokuriku region—is bolstered by the lore or reports that the ningyo has a red cockscomb (§Shokoku rijindan) or light red hair (§Kasshi yawa).[f][7] This cockscomb also is mentioned in the novel by§Saikaku.
Despite theningyo being defined as half-woman, half-fish in some modern dictionaries,[9] theningyo has been also depicted as having a human female head resting on a fish-like body, as in the well known Japanesewoodblock printkawaraban pamphlet example (shown right, q.v.§Kairai).[10][16]
Theningyo reportedly caught in the 7th century became associated with then Prince Regent Shōtōku, and the creature has been depicted as a gift presented to him in picture scrolls entitledShōtōku Taishi eden, the oldest surviving copy of this (1069) being the earliest piece of ningyo art in Japan.[34] There are multiple copies of the scrolls in existence. Also, much later in the 19th century. An example is the ningyo represented as a composite of the goddessKannon and a fish (cf.§Prince Shōtoku and fig.).
The ningyo was human-headed in the 11th century anecdote involving the head of theTaira clan (cf.§Presented to Tadamori),[35] The stranded ningyo had "four limbs" like a human[17] or had hands and feet but was scaly and fish-headed.[36] which were reported in Northern Japan in the 12th and 13th centuries and interpreted as omens (cf.§Omens in Michinoku) There has also been unearthed a wooden tablet with an illustration of such an ill-omened ningyo date to this period (c. 1286) (cf. )
But during the Edo period, illustrations ofningyo were varied, and in popular literature for entertainment (such as thekibyōshi genre), both human-headed fish type (armless) and half-human type with arms were illustrated (cf.§Two archetypes).[41][42] One theory is that the two types derive from Classical Chinese literature, in particular the limbedlingyu [zh] ("hill-fish"[43]) and the limblesschiru [zh] ("red ru fish"[44]) passed down from the ancientShan hai jing ("Classic of Mountains and Seas")[41][42] (cf.§ Chineselingyu andchiru).
However, this explanation is compromised by the fact that the Chinese "hill-fish" is considered four-limbed,[45] and illustrated as such,[46][47] whereas it was actually the Japanese workWakan sansai zue (1712) which transformed the image of the Chinese "hill-fish" to that of a two-armed legless one (cf. fig. right), while equating it with the Japaneseningyo.[48] And this illustration has struck commentators as closely resembling the Western mermaid.[49] (cf.§ Ningyo inWakan sansai zue) TheWakan sansai zue did also give notice and print the facsimile illustration of the merfolk pronounced Teijin in Japanese (Diren orDi people [zh]in Chinese[50][j]) mentioned in the classicShan hai jing,[51][38] which were indeed illustrated as two-armed merfolk in Chinese sources.[52]
Also, what theyōkai wood-block print illustratorToriyama Sekien drew (1781, fig. left) was not a Japaneseningyo but one dwelling in the far reaches of China west of aWorld tree (kenboku; pinyin:jianmu建木). The caption adds that suchningyo was also known as the people of the Di Nation.
The JapaneseShogunate had acquired a copy ofJohannes Jonston'sNatural History in Dutch (1660) already by 1663,[53] containing illustrations of the Western siren-mermaid.[54] But it is not clear whether such "Dutch" (Rangaku, Western learning) images got widely disseminated in Japan beforeŌtsuki Gentaku [ja]'sRokumotsu shinshi (六物新志; 'New Treatise on Six Things', 1786), which digested this and other works on the topic of mermaid, with reproduced illustrations.[55][56][57]
By the late Edo Period (mid to late 19th century), the visual iconography of theningyo came gradually to match the half-human half-fish of the European mermaid.[58]
One of the most famous folk stories involvingningyo (or rather the flesh of the human-fish), purports that a girl who ate it acquired everlasting youth and longevity, and became the nunYaoBikuni (八百比丘尼; "eight-hundred (years) Buddhist priestess")[59] also read Happyaku Bikuni, living to the age of 800 years.[6][60][k]
In the typical version the girl who ate the ningyo was fromObama,Wakasa Province,[60][62] and as a nun dwelled in aiori [ja] grass hut on the mountain atKūin-ji [ja] temple in the region.[64] She traveled all over Japan in her life,[65] but then she resolves to end her life in her home country, and sealed herself in a cave where she dwelled[66][60] or has herself buried alive on the mountain at the temple,[59][67] and requests acamellia tree be planted at the site as indicator of whether she still remains alive.[60][59]
In a version passed down at Obama, Wakasa, the sixteen-year-old girl eats the ningyo inadvertently, after her father receives the prepared dish as a guest,[60] so that the family is not implicated in knowingly eating the ningyo or butchering it. The Kūin-ji temple history claims the father to have been a rich man named Takahashi, descended from the founder of the province, and when the daughter turned 16, thedragon king appeared in the guise of a white-bearded man and gave her the flesh as a gift.[65] But there are versions known all over Japan, and the father is often identified as a fisherman.[68] A fisherman reeled in the ningyo but discarded it due to its strangeness, but the young daughter had picked it up and eaten it, according to one telling.[l][69]
The oldest written sources of the legend date from the 15th century,[59] and one of these sources relate that the Shira Bikuni (白比丘尼; "white nun") appeared in Kyoto in the middle of that century (year1449) at age 800.[m]
Assuming age 800 in keeping with her commonly used name, her birth can be back dated to around the mid-7th century, during theAsuka Period.[73]
FolkloristMorihiko Fujisawa [ja]'s chronology makes her a survivor from an even older age. He dated Yao Bikuni eating ningyo flesh in the year 480 AD during theKofun Period (Tumulus Period).[74][n] However, no written source for this could be evinced, according to a recent researcher, and an oral tradition is presumed.[76]
In the 27th year ofEmpress Suiko (619, man-like fish were supposedly netted twice: on Gamō River (蒲生河)[80] inŌmi Province during the 4th month, and in Horie,Settsu Province (Horie River [ja], an artificial canal no longer extant), according to theNihon shoki.[11]
Prince Shōtoku examining a ningyo (human-fish) brought from Settsu Province
—Shotoku Taishi eden (1069). Attributed to artist Hata no Chisin 秦致真
Crown Prince Shōtoku at age 48 was allegedly presented with a ningyo fromSettsu Province, but he abhorred the unlucky gift and ordered it to be discarded immediately. This account occurs in a picture scroll calledShōtoku Taishi eden.[83] There were some 40 copies of this made,[84] of which the copy held by Hōryū-ji temple, dated to 1069 is the oldest known pictorial depiction of the Japanese ningyo.[34]
WhileShoki never used the termningyo explicitly, Prince Shōtoku had been involved in the Gamō River incident and knew to use the term, according to the prince's abridged history orDenryaku [ja].[13][14] Shōtoku also knew theningyo to bring forth disaster according to theDenryaku,[14] and an annotation provides that it was customary for fishermen at the time to release aningyo if ever caught in the net.[87] When the prince was alarmed by the ill omen of a ningyo appearing in Ōmi Province, he had a statue of theKannon goddess placed in the vicinity, according to document preserved atGanjō-ji [ja] temple.[88][42][o]
According to theengi or foundation myth ofKannonshō-ji, Prince Shōtoku met a ningyo in a pool[91] near Lake Biwa who confessed to have been reborn in its shape due to poor deeds in past life, and the prince performed service to provide it salvation by building a temple to house a Kannon goddess statue, which was the origins of this temple.[78][92][p]
The event dates a century earlier than the anthology: whenTaira no Tadamori (d. 1153; father ofKiyomori) had moved his residence[r] to this place, populated by "bayside villagers" (fishermen)[103][101].[102]
The big fish had human-like heads (but also sets of fine teeth like fish, and a protruding mouths like a monkey's), with fish-like bodies. When hauled to land and carried (by pairs of fishermen) with the tails dragging, the creatures screamed in high-pitched voice and shed tears like a human. The tale concludes with the presumption that creatures must have beenningyo (human-fish).[35] The threeningyo were presented to Tadamori, but one was returned to the bay's villagers (fishermen), who carved it up and ate it.[s] It was exquisitely delicious, and no special effects came of it.[106]
(Mutsu and Dewa Provinces .Hōjō kudai ki,Azuma kagami, etc.)
There had been frequent beachings ofningyo inMutsu orDewa Province (Michinoku region) according to theHōjō godai ki [ja] (printed 1641),[20], and each sighting is treated as an omen, associated with some armed conflict or ill fortune which struck afterwards:[20][95]
Actually all these cases, culminating in the Hōji 1 event, were recorded in much olderAzuma kagami (chronicle up to year1266) and theHōjō kudai ki (akaKamakura nendai ki [ja], 1331)[19] except that the creature is not called a "ningyo" but rather a "large fish" (which was human cadaver-like with "four limbs"),[17][18] or a creature "having hands and feet, covered in overlapping scales, and a head no different than a fish's".[19] And these near-contemporary sources also interpret the ningyo ("big fish") appearances as presaging major warfare occurring within that year.[114][115]
In Hōji 1, on the very same day (11th of 3rd month) when "big fish" was beached up north in Tsugaru, Michinoku (or perhaps the day preceding[17]) the ocean by theYuigahama (beach) was bright scarlet, and reported to have changed to blood.[19] Yuigahama was the location of bloodshed on a number of occasion. The reason it may have indeed turned scarlet was possibly due to ared tide occurrence.[116])
The Hōji 1 event was discussed in one late source, called theHonchō nendaiki (本朝年代記) (publishedJōkyō1/1684),[119] but this miscopies the day to the "20th of the 3rd month", which makes it the probably direct source ofIhara Saikaku's fictional piece in which aningyo appears.[121][u]
There are two later sightings in the 14th century recorded in the aforementionedKagenki.[95] The second sighting occurred after the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate, and belongs in theMuromachi Period.
Enkyō 3 (1310), 11th of 4th month. In Obama-no-tsuObama Bay inWakasa Province. It was considered "auspicious" (目出度（めでた）かり,medetakari) to the land, and was named Shinsen (真仙; 'True Immortal').[127]
Enbun2 (1357), 3rd ofrabbit(2nd/4th) month.[v] Appeared inFutami-ura, Ise Province. It seemed to bestow "longevity" (長久なるべし,chōkyū naru beshi), and was named Enmeiju (延命寿; 'Life-extended Lifespan').[127]
Although these two cases appear to be auspicious omens, Fujisawa insists these examples do not corroborate the notion that theningyō itself was seen as an auspicious object, since the attributions of good luck were consigned here via association with the Yao-bikuni's longevity or the sacredness of Futami-ura bay.[128]
There is subsequently a gap, and the next record listed occurred in the warring period (Sengoku period) part of the Muromachi Period:
A description of deer-like voice is unusual, since the ningyo is typically said to sound like a human child or infant.[131]
The archeological find in Akita (cf.§Ritual offering tablet) from the same era as listed above also can be counted as another example of the Michinoku region. There are also later anecdotes in theTsugaru Province occurring in the Edo Period, but these will be discussed below under (§Tsugaru domain).
A drawings of a ningyo was found on a piece of wooden tablet excavated in the Suzaki archaeological site atIkawa, Akita. It was discovered at the remains of a well,[w] The tablet measures 80.6 cm×14.5 cm×0.5 cm[84]), and dated to some time close to 1286.[x][84][133]
The ningyo is human-headed and fish-bodied, except it has two arms and two legs alongside a finned tail. Except for the face its entirety is covered with marks which apparently represent scales.[134][84] The actual animal was probably aseal, or some sort ofpinniped, according to the archaeologists' report.[84][136]
The inscriptions have been transcribed as "Ara, tsutanaya, teuchi ni tote sōrō, sowaka (Oh, pity, but let it be killed,sowaka)" and similarly "Oh, pity, bound up like that even though a human, sowaka".[133] Since the beast was considered ill omen, theBuddhist priest (also illustrated on the tablet) probably madeoffering in the form of prayer, "sowaka" being a Sanskrit word often chanted at the end of themantra.[84]
Certainly by the Edo Period, there developed a gender bias towards theningyo being mostly female, due to European influence,[137][138] though there might have Buddhist influence (daughters of thedragon-king of the sea) that may have contributed as well.[139] Still, there have been preserved some illustrated examples of mermen in the Edo Period (§Male ningyo).
A sighting of aningyo alleged inWakasa Province in the Hōei (era), probably c. 1705,[140] was recorded byKikuoka Senryō [ja] inShokoku rijindan [ja] ("Stories of Common Folk [from the Provinces]", 1740s). It reportedly had a red cockscomb-like appendage at the collar, which parallels what Saikaku stated in his novel (1674, cf. below) regarding the ningyo possessing a cockscomb on its head.[32][31]
Kaijo (i.e. ningyo) 海女（人魚也）
— Hirokawa Kai.Nagasaki bunkenroku nukigaki or "Excerpts from the Records of Things Heard and Seen in Nagasaki". Waseda U. Library.
A mid-18th century account of a ningyo sighting was recorded by samuraidaimyo essayistMatsura Seizan, in hisKasshi yawa [ja]. It occurred in the early part of theEnkyō era (1744–1748), and his named sources were his own uncle Hongaku-in (本学院,Matsura Kunishi [ja]) and aunt Kōshō-in (光照院).[y] On their journey by sea fromHirado Domain en route toEdo, they encountered aningyo around theGenkai Sea, in an area where noama (female diving fishermen) could be expected to operate. It surfaced more than 10ken (≈20 meters) ahead of the vessel, and at first, its lower half could not be seen, but its "guise was woman-like, with pale bluish hue, and light red hair which was long"; then it smiled and dove down, at which point the fish-like tail-end made its appearance, allowing the witnesses to determine it was aningyo.[142][33][143]
Though written much later, a work by Hirakawa Kai (廣川獬) calledNagasaki bunkenroku/kenbunroku (長崎聞見録/見聞録; "Records of Things Heard and Seen in Nagasaki", pub. Kansei12/1800), reports side-by-side on both akaijin [ja] "mer-human" and akaijo ("mer-woman", glossed as being aningyo).[z] The text for thekaijo akaningyo reads "Above the body's midsection it is a sort of female human, and below midsection a type of fish. Theningyo bones are remarkable medicine with the effect of stemming the flow of anal blood. The Europeans call it ペイシムトル[ト] (peishimutoru[to]), and the Dutch sometimes carry it around".[aa][144][145]。
—Attributed toTsugaru kyūki ("Old Records of Tsugaru") by Fujisawa
Theningyo was reported captured in theTsugaru Domain in the 17th and 18th centuries.[95] In the latter case (given various years during theHōreki era), ink drawings of the creature have been preserved, and is shown as wearing an apron-likekesa of Buddhist priests. Its capture was embellished into a tall tale, by way of linking it with the incident of an apprentice priest who was lost at sea a century before[146][147] (explained further below).
The earlier record is that inGenroku 1/1688, aningyo was captured at Nouchi-no-ura.,[ab] according to theTsugaru ittōshi (津軽一統志)[148]
Then in Hōreki 9 (1759),[ac] on the 3rd month[ad] at the port of Ishizaki village[ae], a fish of "this shape" (i.e., as depicted in the fig. right) was reported caught, according to theTsugaru nikki (津軽日記; 'Tsugaru diary')[126] orTsugaru ke henran nikki (津軽家編覧日記)[149] (excerpted in the Tsugaru han kyūki denrui (津軽藩旧記伝類)?).[af][146] About a hundred years before the capture, when a certain apprentice monk from Tōkō-ji (藤光寺) temple in Tsugaru was faring across the sea towardsMatsumae Domain, and fell off the boat. This incident was connected to the fish catch, and when questioned the storytellers confessed they enlarged (embellished) the tall tale.[146] A similar account with illustration is found in theMitsuhashi nikki (三橋日記; 'Mitsuhashi diary') in the entry for Hōreki 7 (1757), later part of the 3rd month,[ag] and the creature drawn is observed to be wearing awagesa [ja] or "ringsurplice", and the text describes it as a "Light-black strange formed fish (薄黒い異形の魚)"[149][147] TheHirayama nikki (平山日記; 'Hirayama diary') is yet another source, stating that in Hōreki 8, "a human-faced fish (人面魚,jinmengyo) appeared in the sea of Ishizaki village, and all manners of people went to spectate".[ah][150]
"'Ningyo no zu": A woodblock-printed flier dated 5th month of Bunka 2 (1805).[16][151]
The aforementioned woodblock print fromBunka 2 (1805), entitled "Ningyo no zu. Ichimei, Kairai (人魚図。一名海雷)" publicized the appearance of a ningyo also called Kairai (海雷; "sea lightning").[152] It happened on the 5th month of the year, in Yokata-ura, in what is nowToyama Bay.[152][10][16][ai]
Thisningyo was a creature with head of a long-haired young woman's, a pair of golden horns, a red belly, three eyes on each side of its torso, and acarp-like tail end, according to the text of the flier.[10][152] This mermaid purportedly measured 3jō 5shaku or 10.6 metres (35 ft).[152][153][155]
While the printed illustration only shows one side of the ningyo, the text itself confirms it had 3 eyes on each side of the body.[155] The feature of eyes on the torso is shared by the prediction beastkudan, also known to have appeared in Etchū Province, and thehakutaku (orbaize, of Chinese origin), as scholars have pointed out.[155][16]
The flier reports that the people grew frightened, and destroyed it with 450 rifles.[151] Yet the flier also states that "A person who views this fish once will enjoy great longevity, avoid bad turns of events and disasters, and gain luck and virtue".[aj][155][60]
There is a picture entitled "Honrable picture of male human-fish" (男人魚,onga toko ningyo) survives which was copied by the young lord ofHirosaki Domain, to be shown to his mother, wishing to impart longevity upon her.[147] Thus this is another example of ningyo localized in the area of the Hirosaki aka Tsugaru Domain.
There is also a "Picture of ningyo that crossed to here from Holland" (阿蘭陀渡り人魚の図,Oranda watari ningyo no zu)[ak] printed onkawaraban newspaper,[156] with the facial features of an old man.[157][159] The newspaper described the creature as having "hair that was redhaired, hand like a monkey with webbings, and shaped like a snake", and purported that eating its flesh imparts longevity of 100 years, and even looking at it had the effect of warding sickness and extending lifespan.[160][157]
— Ihara SaikakuBudō denraiki (1687), illustration attributed to Yoshida Hanbei
Theningyo according to Saikaku's reckoning was first washed ashore duringEmperor Go-Fukakusa's first era year (1247),[al] and he claims it was remembered as having "a scarlet cockscomb on its head, and a face of a beautiful woman. Four limbs like they were wrought out of jewels, golden-gleaming scales, the flesh most fragrant, and serene voice like theskylark-whistle" according toIhara Saikaku'sBudō denraiki [ja] ("Exemplary Tales of the Way of the Warrior", 1674), which features aningyo as noted above.[163][164]
The text describes theningyo as being equipped with four limbs but the illustration draws a mermaid without legs, and having a tail-fin instead; she also is drawn without any cockscomb-like appendage on the head.[165] Another discrepancy is that the samurai named Kinnai had shot theningyo with a bow (half-bow) according to the text,[166][167] but the weapon has been swapped with afirearm in the illustration.[165][168]
Santō Kyōden'sHakoiri musume menya ningyō (箱入娘面屋人魚; , "Daughter in a Box: Shopfront Mermaid", 1791).[am] is also well known as a work during theTokugawa era which dealt with theningyo mermaid topic.[170]
It is an example of work in the genre ofkibyōshi or "yellow jacket",[an] and a humorous, satirical piece, whose cast of characters includeUrashima Tarō, who has an affair with acarp mistress producing a mermaid daughter in the process.[ao] The abandoned mermaid is netted by a fisherman named Heiji. To make ends meet she engages inmiuri, i.e., selling herself into prostitution, but her fish-bodiedoiran repulses customers. After discovering that licking a mermaid imparts longevity, Heiji opens a mermaid-licking shoppe, gains great wealth, and decides to marry her. She grows out of her outer skin, metamorphosing into a full-fledged woman with both arms and legs. Heiji sells the mermaid's skinslough (nukegara) for profit.[171][172]
Another is the depiction of aningyo in the famous work by Bakin, theNansō Satomi Hakkenden (1814–42),[176] though this work does not centrally revolve around denizens of the sea.
The other type consists of examples where she is depicted as human-headed and armless, as in the case of Kyōden'sHakoiri musume just described (cf. fig., top of page),[41][171] or the Etchū Province example above.
The dual visual representation has been attributed to the Japanese familiarity with Chinese sources that depict both types, specifically, a human-armed type of mermaid called theryōgyo (鯪魚; pinyin:lingyu, "hill-fish"[43]) and an armless (finned) type of mermaid called thesekiju (赤鱬; pinyin:chiru [zh], "red ru fish"[44]).[41][42]
However this formulation for explaining Chinese origin does not quite succeed, since, as its proponent[ap] points out, the Chineselingyu is actually four-legged,[177][178] as is therenyu (人魚, "human fish"[179]) akatiyu (䱱魚; Japanese:teigyo)[181] and it was the JapaneseWakan sansai zue ("Illustrated Sino-Japanese [Encyclopedia] of the Three Realms", 1712) which for some reason altered the image of the ningyo/renyu人魚 (aka ryōgyo/lingyu鯪魚) into a two-armed but legless mermaid.[184]
A different commentator also regards the pictorialization of theningyo inWakan sansai zue to be an "addition.. with an illustration.. much like the Western idea of a mermaid".[185]
As to the knowledge people held about theningyo during the Edo Period, the influence of Classical Chinese literature is palpable. Even Kyōden'sHakoiri musume reveals the writer's literacy, as the work discusses the distinction between theteigyo (Chinese:tiyu) and thegeigyo (Chinese:niyu,鯢魚).
Japanese scholars writing on theningyo drew much from Chinese sources,[186] for example, theBencao Gangmu (1596), the compendium of Chinesemateria medica, which was introduced into Japan in 1607, and was frequently quoted on the subject of the mermaid.[187][ar] ThusKaibara Ekiken (1709) cited it, and distinguishes theteigyo ("ningyo" in small print) from thegeigyo ("salamander").[188]
The influentialWakan sansai zue was modeled after the Three Realms encyclopedia (Sancai Tuhui, 1609) of China, and also drew from such Chinese material on the topic ofningyo.[189] But as already noted the image of theningyo was not faithful to Chinese sources. The work also equates theningyo with theryōgyo (鯪魚) (Chinese:鯪魚/陵魚, but this synonymy is based on the gloss in the Japanese lexiconWamyō Ruijushō, not Chinese sources.[37][191]
The popular encyclopediaWakan sansai zue also describes the medical use ofpeixe muller (in Spanish or Portuguese; Japanese transliteration:heishmure[ru], "woman fish"). The sources were Dutch or Chinese, which was the only foreign languages allowed to be studied during the isolation period of the Tokugawa shogunate. TheWakan sansai zue its claim that the woman-fish bones works as a detoxicant differs from known accounts, and stymies identification of any possible source.[193]
Japanese scholars could also have accessed information that Europeans wrote in Chinese. ThusFerdinand Verbiest (aka Nan Huairen) in 1672[as] wrote in Chinese that for thesiren,[at] "The female bones work even better (to stem [the bleeding of] blood diseases)".[198] This is clearly restated from naturalistJonston (1657) earlier.[199][201] But Gentaku (cf.§ Ōtsuki Gentaku) while supplying an abriged translation from Jonston,[202] curtailed the mention of female bones being advertised as better medicine.[203]
A number of other Japanese scholarship on theningyo also discussed the supposed siren-mermaid bones being trafficked by the Europeans asheishimureru (Spanish/Portuguese:peixe mulher;Galician:peixe muller, 'woman fish')[206][202] One identifiable source was the Flemish JesuitVerbiestaka Nan Huairen (mid-17c.) who wrote in Chinese, citedOno Ranzan (1803), and possibly even used earlier byKaibara Ekiken (1709), to describe the effects of thepeixe muller medicine.[210]
In the interim, many other European works referring to the siren-mermaid were introduced to the Japanese literati:Johannes Jonston (Latin 1657, Dutch tr. 1660),Ambrose Paré (Œuvres, 1575; Dutch tr. 1593), andFrançois Valentyn (1724–26, in Dutch), thanks to the efforts ofŌtsuki Gentaku [ja]'sRokumotsu shinshi (六物新志; 'New Treatise on Six Things', 1786), who gave translated digests from these works, accompanied by reproductions of siren-mermaid illustrations.[211][212][213] And this endeavor was instrumental in forging the image/iconography of theningyo during the era that was influenced by the European siren-mermaid.[214][215]
Specimens of taxidermically craftedningyo have been observed and illustrated during the Edo Period, including the painting in ''Baien gyofu (cf. below) and the sketch by natural historianMatsumori Taneyasu [ja] datedAnsei 3/1856.[7]
Mōri Baien'sBaien gyofu (梅園魚譜, 'Baien's catalog of fishes',Bunsei 8/1825) contains a full-color hand-painted illustrations of aningyo in frontal and side views.[216][217] This has been determined to represent a so-called "stuffed" ningyo crafted by joining the tail-end of a fish,[7] also called aFeejee mermaid in the West.
Fishmen (魚人,Gyojin), often incorrectly referred to as Mermen, are a race who appear throughout the entire anime/manga series ofOne Piece on a regular basis. They look like humans with fish features and are obviously inspired by theningyo.Fishman is written likeningyo but with the characters switched (人魚, Ningyo -> 魚人, Gyojin).Merfolk (人魚,Ningyo) appear in the series too. These are more peaceful of nature than the Fishmen and, like themermaids andmermen of folklore, their upper half is that of a human while the lower half is that of a fish, though male Merfolk are somewhat uncommon.
The manga/anime seriesMermaid Saga byRumiko Takahashi is based on the Yao Bikuni myth, in which the main characters become immortal by consuming the flesh of a mermaid.
The character Serilly from thePuyo Puyo series of games is a lonely ningyo who desires to make friends, but is often paranoid that everyone who approaches her wants to eat her.
InOkinawa, people have believed that eating ningyo would be unlucky. They also do not eatdugong.
The character "Ponyo" in thefilm of the same name is a ningyo or "human-faced fish".
The primaryantagonist of the video gameSiren is based on the character Yao Bikuni, and the background of the story is loosely based on the Yao Bikuni legend.
The video gameMermaid Swamp is based on the myth of Yao Bikuni and the ningyo myth.
A host of ningyo characters feature prominently in the manga and anime seriesNamiuchigiwa no Muromi-san.
InYo-kai Watch, Ningyo appears where its English dub name is Mermaidyn. She is depicted as a mermaid who is constantly caught on the hook of Nate Adams' fishing pole much to his annoyance. Yao Bikuni also appears as Mermadonna, who is Mermaidyn's evolved form.
Bikuni appears in the animeKonohana Kitan as a secondary character.
The filmLu Over the Wall revolves around an idiosyncratic interpretation of ningyo in which they can manipulate water and turn humans into immortal ningyo by biting them.
Yaobikuni is a playable character in the mobile RPGOnmyōji.
Mermaid, a short film by Osamu Tezuka released on September 21, 1964. In a fictional place where using the imagination is banned, a boy saves a fish, which surprises everyone by turning into a mermaid and playing with him. The boy is arrested for imagining this "nonsense", and is robbed of his imagination as punishment. However, he regains this ability and turns himself into a mermaid, so they happily leave forever that totalitarian society to live their eternal love alone in the deep abyss.
In episode 15 ofVampire Princess Miyu, the action presents a ningyo and a Yao Bikuni as well, where the protagonist (aVampire) kills the ningyo which is discovered to be aShinma. The protagonist ignores Yao Bikuni's plea to make her live eternal happy dreams until the end of her life and instead lets her live the next 100 years to experience human suffering.
In the PC gameReturn of the Obra Dinn, three Ningyos are captured and held captive by the crew of the ship, causingspider crabs (another Japanese game culture reference) and a giant kraken to attack in retaliation, resulting in the death of several crew members.
In the PC gameSekiro: Shadows Die Twice, there are 3 Ningyos: one dead at the bottom of the fountainhead palace lake, one alive in the fountainhead palace lake and the Dragon is officially titled in the native Japanese version 'Ningyo Dragon'. There is also an incarnation of Yao Bikuni who is the True/Corrupted Monk whose official title in the native Japanese version of the game is 'Princess Yao'. The game writers directly drew the connection via demonstrating that a parasitic bug that existed in the Ningyo was the reason for the immortality, and this parasite is the cause of the True/Corrupted Monks immortality as well as a significant amount of others in the game.
In the mobile gameFate/Grand Order, the character Sessyoin Kiara obtains a mermaid-like appearance and powers after having eaten Yao Bikuni.
The manga/anime seriesThis Monster Wants to Eat Me by Sai Naekawa features a mermaid as the titular character who meets a suicidal teenage girl named Hinako Yaotose. Disguising herself as a human named Shiori Oumi, she starts a friendship with Hinako after revealing her secret and promising to end Hinako's life by devouring her when her flesh is at its most delicious.
^Though not explicitly called "ningyo" in theNihon Shoki.[2]
^An odd intervening example of a freshwater ningyo is the one reportedly caught during theKōnin era (810–824) in Lake Biwa, according toKō Yamato honzō betsuroku ('Records of the Expanded Japanese Pharmacopoeia') of the Edo Period.[3][4]
^According to a survey by Harumi Takahashi, the legend is found in 28 prefectures.
^Abearded seal gained the popular nameTama-chan when it wandered off its native polar seas came upstream to be seen by residents of Tokyo.[27]
^InKikuoka Senryō's essayShokoku Rijindan, it is described as having something like a red cockscomb on its collar.[31][32] InKasshi Yawa, it is described as "pale in color, with thin red, long hair".[33]
^Wakan sansai zue (1712). Book 49 on Fish&Shellfish
^Although Fujisawa reproduced these images consecutively in his essay,[39] they were neither adjacent or even in the same book inWakan sansai zue.
^Here distinguished from historicalDi (Five Barbarians), though a commentator could be found equating these peoples.[40]
^Though she lived for 800 years in most versions, in some versions her lifespan is 200, 400, other number of years.[59][61]She is also called Shira Bikuni/Shiro Bikuni (白比丘尼; "white nun/priestess") by some sources.[62]According to local legend in Okayama Prefecture, she was called Sennen Bikuni (千年比丘尼) and lived 1000 years.[63]Hayashi Razan (Honchō jinjakō [ja]) relates the legend of Shira Bikuni (白比丘尼) who lived 400 years.[63]
^Zuikei Shūhō [ja]'s diaryGaun nikkenroku (臥雲日件録) claims she appeared in Kyoto on the 26th day of the 7th month ofHōtoku 1 (1449)—actually stillBun'an 6, which was not changde to Hōtoku 1 until the 28th of this month[70][71] though another source, theYasutomi-ki [ja] ("Nakahara no Yasutomi's diary") states she appeared on the 5th month that year, aged 200.[72][71]
^Given as 5th year ofEmperor Seinei orJapanese imperial year (Kōki) 1140 according to the system used until World War II, which is 480 A.D. Fujisawa in the previous chapter places Yaobikuni's birth at the 12th year ofYūryaku (Kōki 1128), namely 468 A.D.[75]
^This Ganjō-ji is the scene of a legend about aningyo who fell in love with a nun and was mummified, and the temple owns the alleged mummy.[89]
^The list of 33 pilgrimage spots of theSaigoku Kannon Pilgrimage identifies number 32 as Kannon-shōji. However, theKannon reijōki zue No. 32 names Ishiba-ji mura (石場寺村 [sic.][93][94] instead of Ishidera mura[77]). This seems to be erroneous confusion with theIshiba-ji [ja] temple, except that Fujisawa claimed existence of the documentIshibajimura Kannonji engi (石場寺村観音寺縁起), as aforementioned.
^Also read "Beppō" or "Betsuho". In present-dayMie Prefecture. Beppō corresponds to what was the town ofKawage inAge District,[97] but in 2006 this town was merged into the city ofTsu, Mie in 2006, and became the Kawage area of the city; the District was abolished as well.
^Tadamori was by then the former Junior Assistant Minister of Justice (刑部少輔,gyōbu-no-shō).[101] Castiglioni simplifies to "former magistrate".[102]
^There are different interpretations regarding the divvying up of the ningyo. Here the rendering that <all the villagers ate 1 ningyo> is followed: "Two were presented to courtier Tadamori, and the remaining one the bay villagers sliced and ate 二疋は忠盛朝臣に献上し、残りの一疋は浦人共が割いて食べた（Iwaya Sazanami's edited translation）has been followed.[104] However, in Castiglioni's rendering <single fisherman ate all 3>:"The noble Tadamori was probably afraid [of accepting the gift] and returned [the creatures] to the fisherman who cut and ate them all", so that a single fisherman ate all three.[102] Castiglioni's rendering is roughly echoed by other Japanese commentators (Kawamura & Asami), except that their version is that <multiple fishermen ate all 3>.[105]
^Saikaku also shifts the site of the beaching to Tsugar-no-Ōura (Ōura [ja] inTsugaru), as doesOsamu Dazai's adaptation of the ningyo story.[122] but other sources state Tugaru-no-ura or "Tsugaru Bay".
^The text givesu-no-tsuki, which could mean the 2nd or 4th month. Note that the same source,Kagenki gaveshigatsu for the fourth month. Fujisawa inexplicably converted to the 3rd month, though there is an entirely different record from Hōreki 1/1789 (cf. below) which states "rabbit third month (卯の三月,u no sangatsu)".
^Jammed between the outer wall (made of two halves of a log which had served as adugout canoe) and the ovalmagemono [ja] cistern.Castiglioni (2021), pp. 15–17 stating "between the external stone wall and the internal wooden one", does not coincide with his source, theTakahashi et al. (2000) report
^The wood used for the well was dated as being logged down in 1286 usingtree ring analysis, and the tablet was assumed to have been made not too many years apart from that.[133]
^It also carries an article on therashima (落斯馬), orrosuma, which Minakata Kumagusu said was a Chinese transliteration of Norwegianrosmer denoting a walrus,[96] which is illustrated here as having two horns growing from the head and bending forward.
^Presumably a bay of the village ofNonai (though the source reads as "Nouchi"), in Higashitsugaru District. If this is the case, it must have been part of Aomori Bay.
^Yoshioka emends to Hōreki 8 (1758).[126] The various sources give 7th, 8th or 9th year of the era.
^The "rabbit third month (卯の三月,u no sangatsu)" to be precise.
^Fujisawa only names the source asTsugaru kyūki (津軽舊記（津軽旧記）), but this appears to beTsugaru han kyūki denrui, which is a collection of excerpts from other writings.
^「Mitsuhashi nikki, held by the Hirosaki City Library.
^Even though the flier itself reads "Yomo-no-ura, Hōjō-ga-fuchi,Etchū Province 越中国、放生淵四方浦",[153] the correct reading is "Yokata-ura".[154] Castiglioni miscopied it as Nishigataura (西方浦).[16]
^The text withholds the era name as Hōji, but gives the month and day which matches the Hōji1 example cited above.
^The title -人魚 would be normally read "ningyo', as Castiglioni phoneticizes, but the from the cover of the work (Fujisawa (1925), p. 26, Fig. 20) one can read "にんぎゃう ningyō".
^The termkibyōshi was applied to non-juvenile sophisticated works that appeared in the 1770s.
^As in the familiar story, Urashima resides in theRyūgū-jō (undersea Naga Palace). But he is being kept as a male mistress (gigolo) byOto-hime, daughter ofNaga king,[170] so he is not as dignified as to be lawfully wedded to her.
^The text reads it resembles thefei𩵥 (whereasShan hai ing says catfish鮎). The definition offei is elusive; according to Japanese sources it is one of the vulgar characters for the carp order (cypriniform)ugui (big-scaled redfin).[182]
^Bencao Gangmu is used by Gentaku (cf. infra),[188] and also excerpted more extensively inWakan sansai zue (1712)[189] and also used byOno Ranzan'sHonzō kōmoku keimō (1803).[190]
^In his workKunyu tushuo (坤輿圖說, "Illustrated explanation of the world", Peking, 1672)
^xī léng (西楞) being the Chinese character phoneticization used for "siren".[194][195]
^abNakamaru (2015), p. 8, comparing the definitions ofningyo inKojien dictionary, 5th edition (1998) and 6th edition (2008). The definition changes from "upper half human woman" to "upper half human (usually woman).
When the ex-magistrate Taira no Tadamori 平忠盛 (1096–1153) moved his residence to Beppo 別保 in the Ise 伊勢 domain..[he caught] a big fish with a head similar to a man, endowed with hands, thick teeth like a fish, and a prominent mouth, which resembled that of a monkey. The body was like that of a normal fish.. (abridged)
^abToriyama, Sekien (2017),"Ningyo"人魚,Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien, translated by Hiroko Yoda; Matt Alt, Courier Dover Publications, p. 168,ISBN9780486818757
^abcdeMurai, Mayako (2019), Bacchilega, Cristina; Brown, Marie Alohalani (eds.),"Yao Bikuni",The Penguin Book of Mermaids, vol. 1, Shūwa system, pp. 210–212,ISBN9780525505570{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
^According to the Kūin-ji temple's "Abbreviated history (ryaku engi) of Yaobikuni", she dwelled in a humble abode (iori) atMount Nochise next to where a shrine stands, and entered the cave on the same Mt. Nochise within the premises of the temple.[65]
^Asai Ryōi,Shōtoku taishi denryaku bikō (聖徳太子伝暦備講).[85] TheIshibajimura Kannonji engi (石場寺村観音寺縁起) supposedly iterates this custom also according to Fujisawa,[86] but the elusive document is hardly referenced elsewhere.
^abcdefFujisawa 1925, pp. 40–42, untitled list for the "summary of ningyo appearances (人魚の出現の概略)";Yoshioka (1993), p. 36"Table 1 Records of Appearances of Ningyo 人魚の出現記録」";Kuzumi (2001), p. 37；Kuzumi (2005), p. 46. Note that Fujisawa inconveniently converts to the obsoleteJapanese imperial year system instead of the western calendar system.
^abcTachibana no Narisue [ja]Kokon Chomonjū 古今著聞集, Book 20, "Chapter 30 Fish, Insects, Birds and Animals 魚虫禽獣", paragraph 712 Matter of the Fishermen of Beppo, Ise Province Capturing Human-Fish and Presenting them to Former Junior Assistant Minister of Justice [Gyōbu-shōyū] Tadamori 伊勢国別保の浦人人魚を獲て前刑部少輔忠盛に献上の事.[98]
^Yamaoka, Matsuake[in Japanese] (1904) [1779]. "Saii ◎Gyoyō"災異 ◎魚妖 [Cataclysms: ◎Fish abnormalities].Ruijūmeibutsukō類聚名物考. Kondō kappansho. p. 783. (The ◎Ningyo subheading, the quote is misattributed to "Kudaiki", and is from the "Kodaiki".)
^Kuzumi (2001), pp. 36–37 quotes fromAzuma kagami (in literary Chinese), then explains in Japanese: "For example, when [ningyo] appeared in the summer of Bunji 5 (1189).. theNorthern Fujiwara perished.. [it] appeared in Kenpo 1, and in the 5th month of that year,Wada Yoshimori raised troops 例えば文治5年（1189年）夏にあらわれた時には..奥州藤原一族が滅亡.. 建保元年出現したが、同年5月に和田義盛が挙兵".
^The site lies adjacent toHachirōgata lagoon, and only a short canal separates it from the sea, i.e. Akita Bay. That bay's old name was Akita-no-ura, where a ningyo sighting was recorded (cf. above). There is also some possibility that "Akita-no-ura" might have referred to the Hachirō lagoon itself.[135]
^This newsprint was also featured in the mangaHōzuki no Reitetsu Vol. 12, p. 101, with a facsimile sketch of the print, and was offered as an example of a male ningyo. The comic citedAbe & Chiba (1996),[158] without indication of page.
^The mythic fish língyú is compared to a four-legged marine turtle or alligator in classical Chinese texts.[45]
^Shan hai jing, illustration and caption for "Hill-fish (Lingyu)陵魚: "The Hill-Fish has a human face, hands, feet, and a fish's body. It dwells in the sea".[43] The identical illustration of the ling (鯪魚) opposite giant crab is reproduced by Fujisawa.[46] A rather different four-legged fish occurs in an illustrated 1667 edition ofGuo Pu's annotations[47] Cf.zh:陵魚.
^Shan hai jing, illustration and caption for "Human-fish (Renyu)人魚, translated by Strassberg, excerpt: "They resemble catfish with four legs and make a sound like a baby 以鮎而四足、聲如小兒啼".[179] Thetiyu alias is lacking in Strassberg, but is found in the corresponding Chinese paragraph quoted in by Fujisawa.[180] Thetiyu andrenyu human-fish are also given as synonymous inBencao Gangmu.[49]
^Fujisawa states: "Sansai zue gives this as two-handed/armed and legless 「三才圖會」 には之を二手無足に記してゐる".Fujisawa (1925), pp. 24–25 It is assumed shorthand forWakan sansai zue is meant here, rather than theSancai Tuhui (1609), since the latter seems to lack an entry forlingyu, and its entry forrenyu depicts a carp-like fish with four feet.[aq][183]
^Jonston (オランダ訳原文): "De beenders van dese visch hebben groote kracht om't bloed te stoppen, en an te trekken, men heest gezien datse het lopende bloed zo stildden, gelijk of de ader was gebonden: Nochtans zijn die van de Vrouwen oft Meermin veel krachtiger, en uit die dese, welke met plekken, na't swart hellende, gevlekt zijn".[54] Jongh: "the bones of this fish are extremely powerful agents for reducing or increasing the flow of blood : and those of the Women or mermaids are stronger yet"[200]
^Quoted inKuzumi (2006a), p. 64: "In our country called heishi murēru 歇伊止武禮児..; "ningyo 人魚 by Spain/Ispania-koku 伊斯把儞亜國 is called pese muēru 百設武唵爾"..Castiglioni (2021), p. 22 mistranscribes heishi murēru as "歇伊止武札児" giving "sa[tsu] 札" as in "Sapporo" instead of "礼/禮 rei".
^Theheishimureru is ascribed effectiveness againstgeketsu (下血,rectal bleeding: melena) by both Kaibara Ekiken (1709)[207][208] and Ono Ranzan (1803)[209] Ekiken's source is unclear, but Ranzan discloses his source to beKunyu waiji (坤輿外紀, "Illustrated explanation of the world", Peking, 1672), written byVerbiest.
^Castiglioni (2021), p. 22; Fig. 8 (Facsimile from - Anburushisupaare 安蒲兒止私巴亞列, i.e., Ambroise Paré)
^Kuzumi (2006a), p. 59 particularly credits Jonston's work, which was given an abridged translation into Japanese in 1741, but only afforded a token entry on the ningyo, and it was not until Gentaku in 1786 that a detailed translation of Jonston's discussion on it was given (Kuzumi (2006a), p. 60).
Kuzumi, Kazuo (December 2005)."Edo jidai no 'ningyo' zō"江戸時代の「人魚」像 [Das Bild der „ Seejungfraun“ in der Edo-Zeit](PDF).Bulletin of the Faculty of Human Development and Culture Fukushima University (2):59–69.hdl:10270/498.
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