Vintage Japanese Mermaids
Mermaids have a rich (rather culturally diverse) folklore surrounding them. What do you envision when you hear the word “mermaid?” An illustrious beauty with long, flowing hair?
Well, consider some renditions from 19th century Japan.
These illustrations range from about 1805-1840.
Apparently, reports of mermaid encounters were quite common during this time period…though undoubtedly far less desirable than running into one of our own culturally appropriated versions of the creature.
January 13, 2012 at 2:32 am
All I have to say is WOW. Never seen anything like this before
January 13, 2012 at 4:31 am
I hadn’t seen mermaids illustrated in this way either!
January 13, 2012 at 2:48 am
Are you familiar with the Fee-gee mermaid? I’ve seen it spelled several different ways but Google usually gives me the same results.
January 13, 2012 at 4:31 am
Oh yes! I’ve even seen some “specimens” (a.k.a. renditions of it) in oddities museums!
January 13, 2012 at 11:36 am
I have decided, I do not like mermaids any longer!
January 13, 2012 at 4:45 pm
Haha…well, we can always pretend that this particular variety has gone extinct since the 1800′s.
January 13, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Fiji mermaid. Yes, that’s the first thing I thought when I saw those paintings..
January 13, 2012 at 7:13 pm
I saw a “specimen” of the Fiji Mermaid at the Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, ME last year…quite amusing!
January 13, 2012 at 10:04 pm
I’ve heard of that museum and am looking forward to going there sometime this year! How was it for you?
January 14, 2012 at 1:46 am
There’s a cryptozoology museum in Portland? Seriously?! It figures I learn this from someone who doesn’t even live here. Thanks Dana! I’ll definitely check it out!
January 15, 2012 at 6:59 pm
Here’s the crypto museum: http://cryptozoologymuseum.com/
It’s a very densely packed little place in the back portion of a Portland bookstore. Lots of fun browsing in there!
January 14, 2012 at 11:29 am
I’ll just pretend that I only saw the first image and think about her. She’s dreamy.
Seriously though, it’s really interesting to see all the different interpretations of the same thing.
I guess we can, as always, leave it to the Japanese to do interesting art.
January 15, 2012 at 6:57 pm
Japanese culture is FULL of delightfully interesting art! I always love seeing the different cultural visions of well known characters.