Case file · Cryptid
The kappa mummy of Imari
A sake brewery in Imari, Saga, displays a small mummified 'kappa' found in a box labelled 'kappa' in the roof of the family house in 1953.
1953 CE · 33.30, 129.83 · status: claim
The account
The Matsuura family had passed down a vague saying that they owned 'something rare'. The mummy is now shown as a water guardian, and the brewery holds a yearly festival for the water gods. Other accounts date the find to renovations in the 1960s.
The sceptical view
Like many Edo-period 'monster mummies', it is most likely a composite made from animal parts; it has not been scientifically studied.