They’re oftentimes spotted by Japanese whaling ships while going about their rounds. The pale, giant, two-legged mermaid-like underweater creatures known as Ningen are described in a wide variety of ways, but however you see them, they remain one of Japan’s enduring mythological creatures. Rumor has it the Japanese government keeps a lot of all ningen sightings, and enforces strict silence on any people who witness the creatures, but enough information gets leaked and sightings are common enough to keep the Ningen a fairly common story in the land of the rising sun.
The Ningen is a pretty weird twist on the traditional mermaid. It seems to have more of the features of a sea monster, as they’re not particularly pretty to look at and don’t seem to lure sailors to their death. They’re more like a manatee with legs and hands than a Old Gregg-style scaly manfish.
Maybe that’s why Japan insists on whaling missions. They’re not there to actually kill whales for research and food purposes (though they probably do that, too); those are really top-secret Ningen-hunting missions! The only question is, how will they prepare a ningen for eating once they find it and kill it?
Tags: cryptids, Ningen, humanoid sea creatures, Antarctica, unusual creatures, folklore, Japan, cryptozoology, mermaids, underwater monsters