Ningyo 人魚

About Ningyo 人魚

Ningyo (人魚, “human fish”) is a legendary fish-like being from Japanese folklore, often compared to a mermaid. It’s typically described with a mouth resembling a monkey’s, small fish-like teeth, and shimmering golden scales. Its voice is said to be soft, similar to a skylark or a flute. Folklore claims that anyone who eats its flesh gains eternal life, yet catching a Ningyo is considered bad luck, causing storms and misfortune. Fishermen who accidentally catch one traditionally return it to the sea. If a Ningyo washes ashore, it’s viewed as an ominous sign of impending disaster.

Sold and shipped by Vinz Schwarzbauer.

About Vinz Schwarzbauer

Vinz Schwarzbauer (*1987 in Graz, Austria) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2014. In 2011/12, he spent a year in Hamburg on the Art School Alliance Scholarship at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg (HFBK). He was a co-founder of the magazine for narrative drawing "Franz the Lonely Austrionaut" and has illustrated for renowned media and theaters such as Falter, Jacobin Magazine, Der Standard, Burgtheater Wien, and Residenztheater München. His comic debut Mäander was published by Edition Moderne in 2023. Vinz Schwarzbauer lives and works as a comic artist and illustrator in Vienna, Austria.