Amabie

The Amabie is a Japanese yokai, or spirit. According to legend, in 1846, it emerged from the sea in the Higo Province. A town official encountered it and drew it in his report, depicting it with long flowing hair, a mouth like a bird's bill, scales from the neck down and three fin-like legs. The Amabie prophesied six years of good harvests, and told the official that "if disease spreads, show a picture of me to those who fall ill and they will be cured." Though a minor and obscure figure in Japanese folklore, it was revived by manga artists during the current pandemic as a symbol of resistance to the disease.

The original report of the Amabie from an 1846 kawaraban, a type of news sheet made from wood or clay block prints.