Prompt : Create your own magical Amabie (yōkai)
We love seeing the amabie resurface on Instagram (#amabie #amabiechallenge) right now. We thought it would be fun to see Kingston artists participate and interpret their own amabie!
A Healing Spirit From 19th-Century Japan Is Back!
Amabie is a Japanese folklore healing spirit. It was said to have appeared as an apparition in Japan many centuries ago, and described as a half merperson, half bird with long hair, 3 legs, scales and a beak. It lives in the sea. The amabie protects the holder of its image from disease.
Share your amabie on Instagram and Facebook with #Amabie #drawkingston.
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Learn More about the Amabie
Originally disseminated through woodblock prints, amabie has become associated with refuge from epidemics. It flourished in the Japanese popular imagination in the second half of the 19th century in response to the sudden and frequent epidemics that repeatedly struck Japan killing hundreds of thousands.
Article about Amabie from Atlas Obscura
“Amid Pandemic, Artists Invoke Japanese Spirit Said to Protect Against Disease”
