In Japan, as parts of the country declare a state of emergency, people

here have been reacting to the Covid-19 pandemic in a unique way: by

sharing images online of a mystical, mermaid-like being believed to ward
off plagues.

A creature with fishy scales, long hair, three fin-like

legs and a beak emerged from the sea

Largely forgotten for generations,

Amabie, as it’s known, is an
auspicious yokai (a class of
supernatural spirits popularised
through Japanese folklore) that was
first documented in 1846. As the story
goes, a government official was
investigating a mysterious green light
in the water in the former Higo
province (present-day Kumamoto
prefecture). When he arrived at the
spot of the light, a glowing-green
creature with fishy scales, long hair,
three fin-like legs and a beak emerged
from the sea.
Amabie introduced itself to the man and predicted two things:
a rich harvest would bless Japan for the next six years, and a
pandemic would ravage the country. However, the mysterious
merperson instructed that in order to stave off the disease,
people should draw an image of it and share it with as many
 This curious encounter
people as possible.
was promptly published in the local
newspaper, accompanied by a
woodblock print of Amabie’s likeness,
which helped to disseminate its image
across Japan.

For much of the past 174 years,

Amabie has remained rather dormant.
But as the coronavirus has swept
across Japan, its image has recently
resurfaced on social media, bringing
hope that those who share it are
helping to end the current pandemic.