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Ningyo means mermaid in Japanese. The concept of mermaids in Japan is slightly different from the western one. Mermaids are all female and are able to take on the features of a human girl if they do two things:
1. Take a human girl and make her immortal by feeding her the mermaid flesh. This requires the sacrifice of one of their own mermaids for the girl's food.
2. Eat the flesh of the human girl.
Mermaids age normally when they become "humanized", so every hundred years or so they search for another girl to "raise" for their food.
If a human eats the flesh of the mermaids (the fishy part), they either become immortal, or they are transformed into monsters called "lost souls" or the "poisoned". This transformation is permanent.
Many of the "human form" mermaids look exacly the same because they have all taken on the features of the same immortal human girl. Mermaids look like humans and walk on two feet, yet they return to their half-fish form if they go in the water. If a mermaid remains in the water too long she loses her ability to return to human form and eventually loses her stolen beauty and takes on monstrous features.
Partial use of mermaid skin, ashes, bones, livers, etc. can be used to achieve "partial" immortality.
There is a legend of a young maiden in the 5th century named Yaohime who ate meat that her father had been given by a strange man. It was the flesh of a mermaid, and for 800 years Yaohime continued to look like a 15-year-old girl. After her death, a shrine was built in her honor and later other shrines to her were constructed around Japan.
"Yaohime" is not the most common of names for this legendary figure; more common is "Ybao-kuni" or "Yao-kuni". This is the same legend as Yaohime, except it is said that she spent the rest of her life wandering around Japan as a nun. She never stayed anywhere too long, as people would start to notice that she did not age.
Other Legends:
- It is said by some in Japan that mermaids cry pearls, instead of tears.
- Many of the "traditional" style mermaids are fish with human heads...
no torso. This is a common Japanese variant of the mermaid legend.
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