Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Kaidzu-nin; sometimes simply called a mermaid or sea-being
Category: Mermaid
The Myth
In Echigo Province, near the lagoon of Fukushimagata, strange lights began appearing over the water at night. From within the glow came a woman’s voice calling across the shore, echoing over the waves and unsettling the nearby villages. People whispered that something not of this world had come up from the sea, and most were too frightened to go near it.
At last a ronin named Shibata Dan, who was training as a warrior, resolved to witness the being for himself. Carrying a torch, he went to the water’s edge and waited. Before long, a radiant figure rose from the sea and faced him. It spoke calmly, introducing itself as Umidebito, a dweller of the sea.
Its form was uncanny. From the head to the chest it resembled a human woman, but below that its body became scaled and unnatural, long and folding like some creature of the deep. The lower half of its body rested within a great conch shell, which floated upon the surface as if it were a small boat.
Umidebito then delivered its prophecy. It declared that the land would enjoy five years of rich harvests, but after that a terrible sickness would spread in the twelfth month, a plague so vast that it would kill most of the world’s people. It warned that the only way to avoid this fate was to paint its image, place the picture in one’s home, and pray to it each morning and evening.
When the message was finished, the being withdrew. The light faded, the sea closed over it, and Umidebito vanished into the darkness of the lagoon. Afterward, tales of the sea-woman spread, and images of her form were copied and kept by those who feared the coming disease.
Gallery
Sources
tyz-yokai.blog.jp contributors. (n.d.). Umidetto. In tyz-yokai.blog.jp, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1077286511.html
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 Umidebito