For my more grown-up oriented work on “The Hangman” (which now appears as the co-feature in DC Comics “The Web”) I just used the Umi-bozu in a two part story which will hit comic book stores at the end of November. I always thought this was one of the more interesting yokai because it really feels like something “other.”

Concerning Jenny Hanivers and FeeJee mermaids. Although these have been made for centuries, and were known in Japan since at least the 1700s, I am not sure if such fabrications go all the way back to the 12th century. Japanese manufactured Feejee mermaids in particular only really started gaining popularity in the 19th century, with the rise of the misemono sideshows, where all manners of curiosities from around the world would be put on display. These Japanese Feejee mermaids were equisitely crafted, often indistinguishable from a real creature, and thus caught on with Europeans, who were willing to pay top dollar for them. That is when there was a big influx of these Japanese faked mermaids into the market and into foreign sideshows such as PT Barnum’s show. I doubt they had much of an influence, if any, in the 1100s.

I don’t really mean to posit that Jenny Hanivers would have caused the reports of these creatures in the first place, although that may have been the case in later years. Rather, I feel that when these fabrications became popular, they may have helped to reaffirm the pre-existing notion that such creatures already existed. Someone who already believed in sea monsters like this would see a Jenny Haniver and might use that as evidence for their preconceptions.

It could have been a lot of things that caused the original stories, and Feejee mermaids and the like just perhaps fueled the beliefs in fantastic creatures such as mermaids and umibozu.

So no, I don’t think the Feejee mermaids and Jenny Hanivers go back far enough to have explained the earliest reports, but they likely had an influence in later days.

Cryptidsrus- Yes, Gessner and his work is pretty fascinating, and I agree that while he was more or less a good man of science, he was still prone to the trappings of his time. Thank you for the input. Always good to hear from you. Everything is fine in Dai Nippon at the moment, as long as one of these sea monsters doesn’t get me.

Always loved that Conrad Gessner story. It is fascinating what “naturalists” of that time and earlier thought worthy to include in their bestiary and zoological history. They mixed “known” species with “reputed” species. Gessner was way ahead of hie time in some things but a man of his time in others. A generally trustworthy “scientist” he was, regardless. So I have no problem believing this was based on some REAL event “somewhat.”

Gessner may have been like ole Herodotus—”I personally don’t believe it—but it is too good of a story to pass up.”
Pliny the Elder was sort of like that, too. Disbelieved personally in the Phoenix and Griffins but firmly believed in Mermaids.

(To be fair, that was based, according to him, on reliable testimony from trustworthy people—so who knows—Pliny tended to be good with the information he was given.).

There is so much still to learn from the Sea—we haven’t even scratched the surface.
Thanks again for the story. Hope everything’s OK out there in Dai Nippon.