Ningyo
Ningyo (人魚, "human fish", often
translated as "mermaid") is a fish-
like creature from Japanese
folklore.
A ningyo from Toriyama Sekien's Konjaku
Hyakki Shūi.
Mythology …
Anciently, it was described with a
monkey's mouth with small teeth
like a fish's, shining golden scales,
and a quiet voice like a skylark or
a flute. Its flesh is pleasant-
tasting, and anyone who eats it
will attain remarkable longevity.
However, catching a ningyo was
believed to bring storms and
misfortune, so fishermen who
caught these creatures were said
to throw them back into the sea. A
ningyo washed onto the beach
was an omen of war or calamity.
Yao Bikuni …
One of the most famous folk
stories concerning ningyo is
called Yao Bikuni (八百比丘尼,
"eight-hundred (years) Buddhist
priestess") or Happyaku Bikuni.
The story tells how a fisherman
who lived in Wakasa Province
once caught an unusual fish. In all
his years fishing, he had never
seen anything like it, so he invited
his friends over to sample its
meat.
One of the guests, however,
peeked into the kitchen, noticed
that the head of this fish had a
human face, and warned the
others not to eat it. So when the
fisherman finished cooking and
offered his guests the ningyo's
grilled flesh, they secretly
wrapped it in paper and hid it on
their persons so that it could be
discarded on the way home.
But one man, drunk on sake,
forgot to throw the strange fish
away. This man had a little
daughter, who demanded a
present when her father arrived
home, and he carelessly gave her
the fish. Coming to his senses,
the father tried to stop her from
eating it, fearing she would be
poisoned, but he was too late and
she finished it all. But as nothing
particularly bad seemed to
happen to the girl afterwards, the
man did not worry about it for
long.
Years passed, and the girl grew up
and was married. But after that
she did not age any more; she
kept the same youthful
appearance while her husband
grew old and died. After many
years of perpetual youth and
being widowed again and again,
the woman became a nun and
wandered through various
countries. Finally she returned to
her hometown in Wakasa, where
she ended her life at an age of
800 years.
In popular culture …
Fishmen (魚人, Gyojin), often
incorrectly referred to as
Mermen, are a race who appear
throughout the entire
anime/manga series of One
Piece on a regular basis. They
look like humans with fish
features and are obviously
inspired by the ningyo. Fishman
is written like ningyo but with
the characters switched ( ,
Ningyo -> , Gyojin).
Merfolk (人魚, Ningyo) appear
in the series too. These are
more peaceful of nature than
the Fishmen and, like the
mermaids and mermen 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 series
Mermaid Saga by Rumiko
Takahashi is based on the Yao
Bikuni myth, in which the main
characters become immortal by
consuming the flesh of a
mermaid.
There is a fake "ningyo" in the
National Museum of
Ethnology.[1][2]
The character Serilly from the
Puyo 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.
In Okinawa, people have
believed that eating ningyo
would be unlucky. They also do
not eat dugong.
The character "Ponyo" in the
film of the same name is a
ningyo or "human-faced fish".
The primary antagonist of the
video game Siren is based on
the character Yao Bikuni, and
the background of the story is
loosely based on the Yao Bikuni
legend.
One of the "monsters of the
day" in Tensou Sentai Goseiger
is "Jogon of the Ningyo".
The CCG and roleplaying game
Legend of the Five Rings has
ningyo characters as members
of the Mantis Clan.
The video game Mermaid
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 series
Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san.
In Yo-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 anime
Konohana Kitan as a secondary
character.
The film Lu over the Wall
revolves around an
idiosyncratic interpretation of
ningyo in which they are a form
of undead.
Yaobikuni is a playable
character in the mobile RPG
Onmyōji.
Yaobikuni is a character in the
manga series Blade of the
Immortal.
Meimaid, a short film 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 her.
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 of Vampire
Princess Miyu the action
presents a ningyo and a Yao
Bikuni as well, where the
protagonist (a Vampire) kills the
ningyo which is discovered to
be a Shinma. 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.
See also …
Amabie
Fiji mermaid
Notes …
1. Vol.4
Archived 2009-
08-22 at the Wayback
Machine
2.
VOL.1
References …
Mizuki, Shigeru (2004). Mujara
5. Japan: Soft Garage. p. 49.
ISBN 978-4-86133-027-8.
Mizuki, Shigeru (2001). Mizuki
Shigeru No Nihon Yōkai
Meguri. Japan: JTB. pp. 90–91.
ISBN 978-4-533-03956-0.
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Last edited on 12 September 2020, at 18:30
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