In the mid-2000s, users on the Japanese internet forum 2channel began describing an aquatic cryptid known as the Ningen — but the real story may start 50 years earlier.
EerieZombieThe Ningen is a Japanese cryptid, a huge sea monster said to lurk in the icy waters near Antarctica.
In the lonely, icy waters of Antarctica, a mysterious monster is said to lurk in the depths. Known as the Ningen, it’s allegedly ghost white and longer than a blue whale. Eerily, it’s also said to have humanoid features, including five-fingered hands and oily, unblinking black eyes.
So what is the Ningen?
While some believe that this Japanese cryptid was born in Internet chat rooms, others think that there have been real sightings of the Ningen going back to the 1950s.
This is the strange story of the Ningen, the Japanese sea cryptid that some believe lives near Antarctica.
What Is The Ningen?
A sea cryptid from Japan, the Ningen is largely described as a large, ghostly-white monster that lives in the cold seas near Antarctica.
The Ningen is said to be large — up to 100 feet long — and the same color and texture as the chunks of ice which float nearby. This makes this elusive cryptid especially difficult to spot, but those who have allegedly seen it have largely described it in the same way.
WikiYisus/Wikimedia CommonsAn artistic depiction of the Ningen, seen here with human-like hands but a mermaid-like tail.
Eerily, the Ningen is said to have human-like features, including arms, legs, and five-fingered hands. (“Ningen” means “human” in Japanese. The monster is also known as “hitogata,” which means “humanoid.”) Some claim that its hands are webbed, or that it has a mermaid-like tail. According to Science Insights, others have reported that the cryptid has fins or tentacles.
But most agree about the Ningen’s eyes, which are said to be large, black, unblinking, and prominently featured on its icy white face.
Despite its size, the Ningen is not said to be violent. Sightings of it are so rare, however, that there’s little information about how the Ningen behaves.
So where did the legend of the Ningen come from?
The Murky Origins Of The Japanese Cryptid
Like many other modern-day cryptids, including Slenderman and the Fresno Nightcrawler, stories about the Ningen were seemingly born on the Internet. In the early 2000s, descriptions of the sea cryptid began to spread on the anonymous Japanese internet board 2channel.
As a paper about the Ningen published in The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures in 2020 notes, stories about the Ningen leapt out of the Internet in 2007, when Mu magazine published a story about a possible sighting of the creature.
The magazine wrote about the sighting of a a mysterious, white 60-foot sea creature that had seemingly captured on Google Earth swimming off the coast of Namibia. “Taking into account its size,” the magazine explained, “it might be a human-shaped monster called ningen or hitogata.”
Google Earth/Mu magazineIn 2007, Mu magazine reported that a strange white shape spotted in the waters near Namibia might be a cryptid known as the Ningen.
Though the magazine noted that stories about the Ningen had recently emerged online, it also connected the cryptid to earlier alleged sightings of a sea monster. Almost 50 years before stories of the Ningen appeared on 2channel, the crew of the research vessel Soya-maru purportedly spotted a strange sea creature while sailing in Lützow-Holm Bay, Antarctica.
In 1958, Cryptid Wiki reports that they saw something in the icy waters that “resembled a whale with an ape-like face.” One of the crewman ran to get his camera, but by the time he returned to deck, the creature had disappeared once more beneath the waves. Cryptid Wiki calls it “Antarctica Godzilla,” but Mu magazine suggested that it could actually be the Ningen.
Mu magazine wasn’t the only outlet to publish stories about the Ningen. The Daily Mirror, for example, also wrote about a possible sighting of the Ningen in 2016, describing it as a “Mysterious ‘blubbery monster human’ caught on camera swimming in icy Antarctic water.”
So does the Ningen actually exist? And if not, what can explain the handful of sightings of the Antarctic sea monster?
The Ningen: Iceberg, Illusion, Sea Monster, Or Something Else?
What is the Ningen? Maybe there really is a sea monster lurking in the icy waters near Antarctica. Or maybe people have mistaken the cryptid for something else.
YouTubeA widely circulated image that was allegedly captured on underwater video footage, which some claim is proof of the Ningen’s existence.
As Science Insights notes, it’s possible that those who have spotted the Ningen, like the crew of the Soya-maru, may have actually seen floating icebergs or albino whales. It’s also possible that sightings of the Ningen were actually a result of a natural phenomenon known as a fata morgana, which can can create mirages at sea. These mirages are thought to be responsible for legends about ghost ships, like the Flying Dutchman.
Then again, maybe the Ningen emerged out of Japanese history and culture.
In The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures, Felicity Greenland of the University of Kyoto suggests that the legend of the Ningen may have a link to Japanese whaling culture. She argues that the sea cryptid’s “narrative intertwines with Japan’s socio-political history regarding whaling since the 1930s.” In this way, stories about the Ningen could be somewhat similar to the legend of Godzilla, a monster who emerged in the wake of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Whatever the origins of the Ningen, it continues to fascinate cryptid hunters to this day. Elusive, mysterious, and located in the far-flung regions of Antarctica, the Ningen is one of the world’s rarest cryptids. While non-believers might dismiss it as a mirage or an iceberg, many are certain that it inhabits the icy, isolated regions of the world. There, safe in the dark cold waters and easily camouflaged amongst the ice, it’s safe from prying eyes.
After reading about the Ningen, the Japanese sea cryptid said to lurk in the icy waters near Antarctica, discover the story of the Mothman of West Virginia, the winged, seven-foot tall monster that’s been spotted since the 1960s. Or, go inside the curious legend of the Loch Ness Monster, Scotland’s most famous cryptid.
