THE AMABIE by artist Carisa Swenson

Wood, acrylic, pen, varnish

Large Amabie; 4 1/8" high x 2 1/4" wide

Medium Amabie; 2 3/4" high x 1 1/2" wide

Small Amabie 1" wide x 1 7/8" high

*Note* While these are “nesting dolls” they have been weighted with sand and sealed, making them unstackable.

This demon’s (or yokai in Japanese) first known recorded appearance was in a local Higo Province paper, during the Edo period, 1846. As the story goes, a town official was investigating an eerie glow coming off the sea. The official was confronted by the Amabie, a three-legged creature, sporting long hair and a beak. The Amabie prophesied that Japan would have six years of plentiful harvest; however, if an epidemic were to occur, people should draw the yokai and show the image to others; the Amabie’s image would help cure and protect people from the disease.

These Amabie, painted in red (a color in Japan traditionally thought to repel illness and evil spirts), are ready to protect their owner from COVID-19.