Ningen

For this week's episode, we're going to Japan for a creepy and rare sea cryptid, the Ningen! How does this monster relate to the whaling restrictions? What happens if you find one? Find out this week!

Transcript

INTRO:
Hello and welcome to Myth Monsters, my name is Erin and I’ll be your host for these little snack bite size podcasts on folklore and mythical monsters from around the world. 

These podcasts focus on the actual cryptids, folklore and mythic monsters from global mythology, rather than focusing on full stories of heroes and their big adventures.

I’ll also be dropping in some references that they have to recent culture and where you can see these represented in modern day content so you can learn more, and get as obsessed as I am about these absolute legends of the mythological world.

I’m sorry this one is slightly late, I managed to get a flu-like bug this week that took out my voice for a good half the week and then had a big day rescuing my new cat, Bilbo. 

That led to me getting invited to talk on BBC Radio Essex on Monday, which was a really cool experience and we got to talk monsters! So if you’re interested in hearing my little bit, there’s a link on all my social media so you can tune in.

DESCRIPTION:

Anyway, we’re not looking at any feline monster this week - in fact, we’re heading to the deepest depths of the ocean for a monster that is relatively new in cryptid space, the Ningen.

The Ningen is described as an absolutely massive monster from Japanese folklore, although they also tend to hang around the arctic circle in the deepest waters of the sea. They are 60-100 feet in size, with white skin on a generally humanoid looking body. They are mostly described as having arms, legs and even five-fingered hands, but have also been said to have a fin like a dolphin or even a mermaid. Ningen have black eyes like sharks, holes for a nose and what seems like a permanent grin on their face - however, noone has ever noticed seeing gills or teeth on this beasty yet. They are also noted to be nocturnal and are only spotted in the dark of night with their white skin shining out under the moonlight.

There is also another potential description, which is a bit more unlikely and ridiculous and that’s another humanoid style creature but with long legs attached to a circular head covered in thick, white hair, with black, sad eyes, an almost beak-like nose and an expressionless mouth standing at around 10 feet tall. This one is much less common than the first description and generally lived on the ice rather than in the sea.

They are considered a cryptid, which just for the people who might be new - are considered creatures that have their existence in dispute as to whether they exist at all, and can sometimes be completely fictional - but not proven either way. Cryptids are the new mythical monster in the modern age, and this one is relatively new in the monster space, but I’ll get onto that later. 

Ningen have only ever been spotted in the Antarctic, where the water can be from 0 to -10 degrees nearer the surface, but of course deeper down can be amazingly colder than this and home to the most resilient of sea creatures. Salt water freezes at -2 degrees, hence all of the ice around and we all know that Antarctica is the coldest place on the planet - so that checks out. However, they are also spotted around Japan and the rest of the south-eastern Asian countries as the sea can also be frigidly cold but surprisingly nothing near Greenland or the other coldest point on the Earth in the north rather than Antarctica in the south. 

We assume that they survive out here because they are most likely covered in blubber like whales and seals and they have been described as ‘blubbery creatures’. However, what about powers? Of course, most of this is assumption based on their limited contact with people - but we assume that it’s mostly to do with survival in water, which most humanoid creatures are unable to do. 

We believe that they are able to survive the crippling pressure of the deep sea due to their size and hold their breath for a ridiculous amount of time - and because of their humanoid noses, it would make sense that they come to the surface face up to breathe. They would also generally need to swim incredibly well and be able to see in the pitch black of the deep ocean waters.

Ningen, whilst terrifying to look at, have never been aggressive to humans from the reports that we do have of them. They have been seen by people on boats and in the water, and have apparently investigated either the vessel or diver and turned away to carry on their business. Because of this, we don’t know what they eat or how they reproduce, or even how they die and how long they live - we can only make assumptions based on whales which are the only creatures that we know of in the sea that are as large and mammalian. They are also known to travel in pods like whales, but they have been spotted on their own too.

ORIGIN:

Now let’s hop on over to their etymology, it’s actually a pretty easy one this week. Ningen is a Japanese word, and it literally means human - which is pretty creepy in this context but with their humanoid appearance, it makes sense. However, there is a cooler etymology to this one and that’s that it relates to another Japanese monster, the Ningyo, which is a Japanese mermaid and literally translates into human fish - which may have been where the Ningen name came from.

But let’s talk about why is this monster considered a Japanese monster - because it is a weird one considering that this monster is known to be an Antarctic monster, so how did it end up with a Japanese name and being linked to that folklore? The short answer is that the Japanese discovered the Ningen and named it but also, it’s only really ever been seen by Japanese people, even if it was spotted in the Antarctic, so simply, they laid claim on it.

The longer story goes into their history, so let’s get into it. The Ningen was first seen in the 1960’s by Japanese sailors and this is significant because these were whalers. Japanese whaling has been controversial for a long time in the Southern waters around Oceania because they were known for poaching and illegally fishing in Australia and New Zealand oceans because they had over-fished in their own sea-space. In the 1930’s, the Geneva convention actually brought in the anti-whaling policies, and the Japanese decided to ignore it - killing countless whales across the eastern and south-eastern oceans, which lead for the country to be chastised and after World War Two, when of course, it was harder to do, they went back to these oceans, using the term ‘whale researching’ to get away with the continued poaching and fishing. 

Back to the Ningen that was spotted in the 60’s, Japanese sailors reported that they had run into what they thought were icebergs going towards Antarctica, only to find they were massive humanoid beings. Sightings went on all through the 1900’s from these whalers returning from Oceania and Antarctica but went unreported, until in 2002, when these creatures were propelled into the cryptid space fully on an online Japanese forum, when a user decided to finally write down a story he had heard about the Ningen. 

I’ve got the full extract from the page but it is a little long;

I heard that the research whaling surrounding the Antarctic Sea conducted by the Japanese government is not only conducting research on the whales they catch, but also researching and recording whales they do not catch. In the last few years of research, it is said that “some objects” that cannot be officially announced have been witnessed. This information is gained directly from a person involved. These are what is called, among people related to research whaling, ‘hitogata buttai’ “human-shaped objects”. 

There are several types of them, such as one that looks like a human (with four limbs and a head), and one that looks as if two humans’ upper bodies are joined. They emerge from the water just like whales. The whole body is white and the size is a few tens of metres long. I heard that nobody had seen such a thing when  they were conducting whaling years ago.They are “really baffled” at it because an official announcement of the object could overturn the credibility of current research whaling. They are just recording them, but that does not mean they are vigorously conducting research on them. (As they have to submit their research schedule to the international committee, they cannot change their schedule flexibly.) The person who told me this story said, you can tell this story, but please keep me anonymous, though I am pretty sure that other people are telling this story too. That's all I heard.

This was followed up by an article in a famous British monster magazine called Mysterious Universe in 2007 - which unfortunately, I can’t get access to without paying and I don’t fancy that. But it went into the possibility of unidentified creatures inhabiting the southern seas, and it included a Google Earth screenshot showing what looks like a Ningen in the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Namibia - which you can still see on Google Earth when you set the date to 2002 and you can find the coordinates online! 

There is an argument that showing photos of these taken by the Japanese government would tarnish the scientific reputation of the whaling research program, which I will say for those wanting a just end to the illegal whaling history - thankfully, Japan was told to get out of the oceans around Oceania, however, they do still push their luck and are often captured by Sea Shepherd - an amazing ocean charity who go out on their own vessels to stop illegal fishing and whaling. 

This makes this monster quite controversial because of the red-tape surrounding the Japanese government and their known secrecy around the whaling programs but also around folklore - which is a protected concept within the Japanese culture so it’s definitely an interesting political monster too. 

Because they are nocturnal and the sea is generally a hard place to take photos, the Ningen are incredibly hard to take photos of and so are disputed to be created from these posts on social media. However, to finish off the recent history, there were videos posted on YouTube of the Ningen back in 2010 from a Japanese chemical research company, where a supposed Ningen is eating something from the ocean floor which was followed up the same year by another video, posted anonymously of a Ningen approaching the camera - which is quite spooky. 

They were also reported in the UK Daily Mirror which is a tabloid newspaper over here as a ‘blubbery monster human’ back in 2010 too, however, it was mostly looking into the video from 2010 and delving into why it was definitely a fake sighting. 

Let’s debunk a little and play ‘what could this actually be if it’s not a monster’ - well the obvious one here is a Beluga whale, these beautiful white whales with bulbous heads are known around colder waters, however are nowhere near the size of a usual whale. The other whale alternative is just an albino humpback, grey or bowhead whales that are common in the colder waters around Antarctica and are much more likely to be bigger - although, still nowhere near as large as the reports of the Ningen. There is also just the thought that this could be the result of water changing the perception of photos and it could just be an iceberg or waves along the water in the photos taken from the surface. 

My favourite potential explanation is actually that it could be an extinct sea-sloth, which was 100% real by the way, called the Thalassocnus. They were marine adaptations of the sloths we know today, but they looked more like capybaras in the face and generally bottom-fed along the ocean floor with long arms, but had to come up for air. Could the Ningen be descendants who have lost all their hair and cuteness? Maybe - but it’s definitely my favourite one. 

For mythical comparisons, we don’t really have any whale-like cryptids like this and actually, we don’t have any Antarctic myth monsters at all to compare to - which is amazing, but also BOOO. 

I’ve got to compare them to the Kraken from Norse myth of course, just due to their gargantuan size and the fact that they’re deep water boys. However, the Kraken was thought to be a tentacled monster and did often attack ships and people - so that takes that one out of the running. Another is the legendary Leviathan from Biblical mythology, who is the basis for most renaissance map sea monsters - a massive sea monster who could eat the world and lives in the bottom most depths could totally be a Ningen - so I think this one maybe is our top contender for a comparison. I’ve covered the Kraken before, but the Leviathan is yet to have its own episode and I’m very excited to cover it at some point.

Before we jump on over to the media segment, the Ningen is most importantly still really significant in the Japanese folklore space. It’s considered one of the most impactful, fun and rare Japanese cryptids, as we tend to see more mythical and folklore monsters dripping in history from this part of the world. It’s still really prevalent in Asian media, from J-Pop songs about it, Hatsune Miku, the viral virtual pop star having a music video with her riding a Ningen in it and even popping up in countless bits of artwork, podcasts and fantasy books throughout the 2010’s to this day as this beloved gentle giant of the deep sea.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: 

Now onto modern media, there’s literally nothing on this one because it is an especially new cryptid - so I’ve filled this one up with other cryptozoology and specifically water cryptozoology media where you can see similar stories to this one.

For art, we can focus more on the Ningen, because there’s actually quite a lot of art based on this monster. There are loads and loads of images of them on the wider web for this one, and some independent artwork - so I’d recommend you check them out, but I don’t have any more details than that I’m afraid.

In movies, we have; Cryptozoo, The Mothman Prophecies, Loch Ness, King Kong, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Aquaman, Cloverfield, Star Wars & Godzilla.

For TV, we have; Kagewani, Lost Tapes, The X-Files, Monster Quest, Destination Truth, Hilda, Storm Hawks, Scooby Doo, The Secret Saturdays, Berserk, Digimon Fusion, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Gravity Falls, Ben 10 & The Real Ghostbusters. 

In video games, we have ones such as; Disco Elysium, Barrow Hill, Soul Sacrifice, Starcraft 2, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening, Abzu, Sunless Sea, City of Heroes, Dishonoured, Tomb Raider: Legend, Dragon City, Skylanders, Dragon Quest 9, The Witcher 2, Endless Ocean, Final Fantasy 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15 & 16, Golden Sun, Mass Effect 3, Monster Hunter, Pokemon, The Ocean Hunter, Subnautica, Fallout 4, Tales of Monkey Island & World of Warcraft.

My book recommendation this week have a look at Treasury of Folklore – Seas and Rivers: Sirens, Selkies and Ghost Ships by Dee Dee Chainey and Willow Winsham for more sea monsters, but for more creepypasta stories, have a look at The Creepypasta Collection: Modern Urban Legends You Can't Unread by Mr Creepypasta - however, do make sure you are prepared to read these, they are designed to be very scary.

DO I THINK THEY EXISTED? 

Now it’s time for, do I think they existed?

I would more than eagerly say no for this one in a normal instance, if this was lurking around the neighbourhoods rather than in the deep sea. If you’re a long term listener, you know that I have a crippling fear of the sea and my answer with any sea monster is that we just do not know. 

It’s too deep, too dark and too scary and the thought of these existing literally make me want to shrivel up into a little ball and blink out of existence, but we just would not be able to prove or disprove that they COULD be a possibility, because most things can be under the sea.

But this one does look to be the creation of internet users I hate to say. It plays on fears of most people, the human-like features, the almost smile, the massive size and under the sea - it’s the perfect makeup for a monster that could creep out some of the hardest people. 

I do personally think it may be albino whales, belugas or even icebergs that can explain sightings of this one - but then again, to go back to my previous point, I don’t think I’d actually want to bump into any of those whilst on a boat either. Not that I have anything against whales, but they’re massive and that’s quite scary I guess.

But what do you think? Do the Ningen float around in the Antarctic? Let me know on Twitter!

OUTRO: 

What a wild monster this week, it’s one that really creeps me out but thankfully its location means that I’m much less likely to swim into one when I get over my fear and stick my feet in the water somewhere.

Next week, we’re heading over to the US, specifically West Virginia for a bright light, and it’s not the Mothman, but the Flatwoods Monster! Come hunting for the green monster next Thursday!

For now, thank you so much for listening, it’s been an absolute pleasure. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give it a rating on the service you’re listening on - I’ve got the twitter for any questions, or suggestions on what monsters to cover next and I’d love to hear from you. The social media handles for Tiktok, Youtube, Threads and Instagram are mythmonsterspodcast, and twitter is mythmonsterspod. But all of our content can be found at mythmonsters.co.uk, including some very cool merchandise - you can also find us on Goodpods, Buymeacoffee and Patreon if you want to help me fund the podcast too.

Come join the fun though and share this with your pals, they might love me as much as you do.

But for now, stay spooky and I’ll see you later babes.