Ningen (folklore)
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| Region | Subantarctic, Antarctica |
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In modern Japanese folklore since the mid-2000s, the Ningen (ニンゲン) is an aquatic humanoid whale-like and mermaid-like creature supposedly inhabiting the subantarctic oceans. It was invented by Japanese internet users.[1]
History
[edit]The story of the Ningen began in 2007 on a post on the Japanese online forum, 2Channel, which claimed that the crew of a whale research ship witnessed the creature as it surfaced near their ship off the Antarctic coast.[citation needed] Originally thinking it was a submarine, they went to take a closer look, but the "submarine" vanished into the waves.[citation needed]
In 2005, Google Earth captured what some people believed to be a Ningen near the Southern Ocean. Skeptics suggest that the "Ningen" was actually an iceberg that coincidentally looked like the sea monster.[2]
In 2010, the Japanese Enoshima Aquarium published a YouTube video showing the ocean life that they observed. Near the end of the video, a large creature with small eyes and a large, smiling slit-like mouth can be spotted lying on the ocean floor. Claims that the video shows the Ningen[3] are countered by the suggestion that it is most likely a snaggle-toothed snake eel.[citation needed]. However, the aquarium identifies the object as an unusual rock formation in the shape of a Frog, with two sponges forming it’s “eyes”.[3] Sometime around the 2010s, an unknown user posted underwater footage depicting a large humanoid sea creature which some believe to be the Ningen.[4]
Description
[edit]The Ningen is described in two forms; one has it as a large, aquatic, whale-like creature with anatomical similarities to humans, such as a distinct, humanoid face; sometimes it is given extremely large limbs and/or arms and hands, about 20–30 m (65–100 feet) long. The second, less common, description portrays it as a considerably smaller, terrestrial organism that consists of little more than a large head on humanoid legs, with which it wanders Antarctica.[citation needed] The pigmentation of this creature is said to be pale blue. The creature has a large, slit-like mouth and either small or large gaping eyes.[5]
See also
[edit]- Large Antarctic Sea Mammal, also known as Antarctic Godzilla, another large, whale-like cryptid first allegedly sighted by a Japanese vessel in Antarctic waters.
- List of legendary creatures from Japan
References
[edit]- ^ Greenland, Felicity; Hayward, Philip (23 September 2020). "NINGEN: The generation of media-lore concerning a giant, sub-Antarctic, aquatic humanoid and its relation to Japanese whaling activity". Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures. 14 (1): 133–151. doi:10.21463/shima.14.1.10. hdl:10453/144607. ISSN 1834-6057.
- ^ Novak, Cael (2019-10-14). Supernatural: 300 Horror Stories, Mysteries and Urban Legends. Cael Novak.
- ^ a b "深海特集4 深海のお土産ホッスガイ - The souvenir of the deep sea". YouTube. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
- ^ O'Neill, Kara (18 March 2016). "What is this mysterious 'monster human' seen swimming in the ocean?". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
- ^ "'Ningen' humanoid sea creatures of the Antarctic". Pink Tentacle. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
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