Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Hime uo (Princess Fish)
Category: Mermaid, Yokai
The Myth
In the year 1819, on a lonely shore in Hizen Province, an unusual creature was seen upon the sand.
It was long and serpentine, nearly six meters in length. Two horns rose from its head. A dorsal fin ran along its back, and flippers lay against its sides. Its tail stretched behind it like that of a great sea serpent. Yet its face was not that of a fish. It was the face of a woman.
The creature spoke.
“I am a messenger from Ryūgū,” she said, naming the palace of the Dragon King beneath the sea. “My name is Jinja hime.”
She declared that for seven years the land would enjoy abundant harvests. Rice would grow thick and heavy; the people would prosper. But after those seven years, a great sickness would spread across the country—an epidemic that would bring suffering and death.
Yet she offered hope.
“Those who look upon my image,” she said, “will avoid hardship and be granted long life.”
Having delivered her prophecy, the shrine princess slipped back into the sea and vanished beneath the waves.
Her likeness was drawn and shown to the people, so that they might gaze upon it and be protected. The image spread from hand to hand. Fishermen, farmers, and townsfolk spoke of the sea princess who foretold both blessing and plague.
From that time on, stories began to circulate across Japan of other strange beings who emerged from the sea or the mountains to warn of disaster and promise protection through their image.
But it was Jinja hime—the shrine princess of the deep—who first rose from the waters, spoke of fate, and returned to the palace of the Dragon King below.
Gallery
Sources
yokai.com contributors. (n.d.). Jinjahime. In yokai.com, from https://yokai.com/jinjahime/
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive
Other
- How to Invite The Jinja hime