Japanese Folklore of the Ocean: The Ama Divers, Sea Demons, and Ise Jingu

Dragon made of seashells at Toba Sea Folk Museum © Amy Elize 2017

Mie is home to the ama divers, an ancient tradition of women who breath-dive for abalone, and Ise Jingu, the most sacred Shinto shrine in the whole of Japan.

Collectable Mermaids and the Myth of the Merrow

Feejee Mermaid, shown in P.T. Barnum's American Museum, 1842, as leased from Moses Kimball of the Boston Museum, papier-mache - Peabody Museum, Harvard University. By Daderot, Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69554826

The early sirens, the ones Odysseus encountered, were not fish at all but bird-women, but they had those great siren qualities – bewitching songs and the will to lure the unwitting to a bad end.

The Mid-Autumn Festival: Mooncakes, Lanterns and Family

Beijing Longtan Lake Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Festival. By Shizhao - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1297630

Of all the Chinese festivals, I love the Mooncake/Mid-Autumn Festival the most. Right after the scary Hungry Ghost Festival or Ghost Month, it is a lovely festival celebrating family gatherings, enjoying sweet mooncakes and admiring the full moon.

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