An obscure, mythical mermaid-like being believed to prophesize harvests and epidemics became an unlikely symbol of national unity this year in the face of COVID-19.
Known as amabie and depicted as having long hair, a beak, three legs and scales from the neck down, the yōkai — supernatural monsters and apparitions popularized through Japanese legends and folklore — inundated social media with its likeness and has been featured on countless items of merchandise and advertisements, even being adopted as a mascot for the health ministry’s public safety campaign.
The name of the duck-billed creature was among 30 terms nominated as buzzword of the year for 2020, alongside other candidates including “Abenomask,” former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s universally distributed washable face masks, and “Kimetsu no Yaiba,” the manga series known as “Demon Slayer” in English, which was recently turned into a blockbuster animated film that has become the second highest grossing film in Japan.