Rowan & Pine: A Feminist Folklore & Mythology Podcast - Pine Cones： Doomsday Fish [Giant Oarfish] ｜ Rowan & Pine Shorts

00:00:00.000 Hey, it's Adam Wild and Jax, host of the Adam Wild and Jax Show.

00:00:03.320 Jax, I got a hot take.

00:00:04.700 The ninja slushy twist is the best thing to ever happen to a party.

00:00:08.240 Okay, big claim.

00:00:09.380 Back it up.

00:00:09.820 Well, see, it's two machines in one.

00:00:11.120 Make two different frozen drinks at once or twist them together.

00:00:14.320 Okay, what's the catch?

00:00:15.460 Do I need a blender, a bag of ice?

00:00:17.300 No, no, that's the whole thing.

00:00:18.420 No ice, no blending, no guesswork.

00:00:20.680 Slush Assist tech nails it every single time.

00:00:23.620 So even I could do it.

00:00:25.120 Even you.

00:00:25.840 Keep the fun flowing.

00:00:26.740 Sold.

00:00:27.260 Bring the party home.

00:00:28.260 Visit sharkninja.ca.

00:00:58.260 get your podcasts. Canadian Creepies, exploring and exposing the shadows of the true north.

00:01:18.000 Here on earth, another rough era is birthed. Sea monsters burst from the surf through waves

00:01:25.440 of what we've mistaken for civilisation. Amy Gerstler.

00:01:37.800 Welcome back to Pinecones, short waves of folklore from Rowan and Pine. I'm your host

00:01:43.520 Niamh, and if you're watching the video version of this on Patreon, you'll see that I have

00:01:48.680 addressed appropriately for the situation.

00:01:53.820 During the Edo period, tales of mysterious yokai prophesying danger began to sweep across

00:01:59.880 Japan. First came the Amabiko, a three-legged monkey-like spirit predicting hard times.

00:02:07.560 Later off the coast of Higo, stories spread of the Amabee, a strange, glittering creature 0.67

00:02:14.080 with three legs, long flowing hair, a bird's beak, and mermaid scales surfacing to warn humanity of an impending epidemic.

00:02:25.180 Over the centuries, the names and shapes shifted, but the core legend remained.

00:02:30.960 A visitor from the deep, foretelling doom.

00:02:33.640 While most of these creatures faded into myth, one legend never truly died.

00:02:39.160 The Ryugyu no Tsukai, which literally translates to

00:02:43.580 Messenger from the Palace of the Dragon King,

00:02:46.760 has become associated with some real-world creatures and events.

00:02:51.480 In Japanese folklore, the Ryugyu no Tsukai is the ultimate harbinger of disaster,

00:02:57.000 washing ashore right before massive earthquakes and tsunami strike.

00:03:01.700 You might know it by its more modern chilling moniker,

00:03:05.000 the doomsday fish, or, more simply, the oarfish.

00:03:12.580 Before diving into tales of the fish itself, we have to talk about where it comes from,

00:03:18.500 or, at least, where the legend says it does.

00:03:22.880 Ryugyujo, or Ryugyu, is the mythical dragon palace.

00:03:28.460 Depending on which myth you read, Ryugyu is either hidden deep within a rocky ocean cavern

00:03:33.880 at the bottom of a sacred pool, or drifting in the endless expanse of the deep sea.

00:03:40.940 It's the home of the sea god Watsutumi, who later became the dragon god Ryujin.

00:03:47.940 He rules the ocean using magical tide jewels to control the rise and fall of the sea,

00:03:53.540 with his daughter, Princess Otohime.

00:03:57.620 In Japan's oldest historical record, the Kojiki,

00:04:01.360 it's described as a palace constructed entirely out of shimmering fish scales.

00:04:07.480 However, by the time the tale of the Heike was written, it took on a haunting double meaning

00:04:13.340 and was viewed as a twilight realm, a beautiful afterlife, where the dead cross over.

00:04:20.040 In folklore, Ruegge is a land of unimaginable wealth,

00:04:24.660 ready to grant eternal happiness to anyone worthy of its favour.

00:04:31.360 The palace itself is a place of dreams, guarded by a magnificent grand gate with soaring sloped roofs.

00:04:41.280 Its halls are built of polished coral and encrusted with glowing pearls, served entirely by the creatures of the sea.

00:04:49.120 Surrounding it are four enchanted gardens, each locked in a single permanent season,

00:04:54.940 where cherry blossoms bloom forever in the east, summer trees are heavy with leaves in the south,

00:05:01.360 rich autumn foliage in the west, and a blanket of pristine, silent snow in the north. 1.00

00:05:08.400 It sounds like paradise, so who are these yokai leaving a paradise deep beneath the ocean?

00:05:20.480 These creatures have a long history within Japanese folklore,

00:05:25.000 taking on many forms with the same ultimate purpose. Over time, the Ryugyu no Tsukai

00:05:31.000 and the Jinjahime became closely conflated in traditional storytelling, with both credited

00:05:36.920 with the power of prophecy. In these accounts, the Ryugyu no Tsukai are depicted as massive

00:05:43.740 aquatic beings ranging from 5 to 18 meters in length. They're described with human heads,

00:05:51.340 horns, long flowing hair, and sometimes beards, blending features from several distinct fish

00:05:57.720 species. Many were said to emit a brilliant bioluminescent glow that could be seen from

00:06:03.940 vast distances across the water. The Jinjihime, by contrast, was a serpentine creature roughly

00:06:11.180 six metres long. She sported two horns on her head, a long tail, a prominent dorsal fin, 0.99

00:06:18.360 flippers and the face of a human woman, strikingly similar to the Ninyo, the mermaid of Japanese

00:06:24.480 legend. Despite their imposing nature, these messengers were considered sacred. Sent directly

00:06:39.760 to deliver the sea god Rugean's warnings to humanity, they were revered as holy beings.

00:06:45.760 It was believed that anyone who caught sight of them or heard their voice would be safeguarded

00:06:50.040 from illness and blessed with a long life. Illustrations of the creatures were even

00:06:55.400 distributed as talismans to bring peace, health and prosperity to households.

00:07:01.600 A famous record of this appears in the essay collection Waga Koromo, meaning My Clothes,

00:07:08.180 written by the late Edo period author Keto Ebion. He documents that in 1819 a Jinjahime

00:07:14.700 surfaced off the coast of Harado in the Hazen province.

00:07:18.820 According to the tale, the creature spoke directly to the locals, declaring

00:07:22.520 For seven years, starting this year, there will be abundant harvests,

00:07:27.760 but a deadly disease called korori will spread.

00:07:31.520 If you copy my likeness and show it to others,

00:07:34.780 you will be spared from the illness and gain longevity.

00:07:44.700 Because the yokai, Jinjahime, bore the exact same title, messenger, from Ryugu, and matched

00:07:55.400 the elongated, ribbon-like scale and mysterious strandings of the giant oarfish, folklorists

00:08:01.120 and historians view this real-world creature as the biological prototype behind the myth.

00:08:07.240 Oarfish are elongated, silvery, scaleless, ray-finned, deep-sea fish that primarily feed

00:08:14.460 on zooplankton. A few different species of oarfish exist in the world, but the one most

00:08:26.200 people get excited about is the giant oarfish. The name certainly fits. The giant oarfish

00:08:32.360 is considered the longest bony fish in the world. Lengths in the 20 and 30 foot range

00:08:38.040 are not at all unheard of.

00:08:42.780 Unverified sightings and rumours claim

00:08:45.020 that truly outsized specimens of the fish

00:08:47.580 could grow more than 100 feet long.

00:08:50.500 Guinness World Records doesn't give those sightings any credence

00:08:53.400 but has noticed that in the 1960s

00:08:56.360 scientists spotted an oarfish

00:08:58.660 that they estimated to be about 50 feet in length.

00:09:02.180 Still a pretty respectable size.

00:09:05.040 They have a dorsal reddish fin

00:09:06.840 that runs along the length of their body, making them resemble a sea serpent.

00:09:11.820 Orfish are the longest living species of bony fish and they don't really pose any threat to humans.

00:09:18.760 Although their gelatinous flesh is nothing you'd want to eat, they're not poisonous.

00:09:23.300 Orfish aren't particularly aggressive either.

00:09:25.620 Even if they were, they don't have a lot of muscle mass to thrash those long bodies around with any kind of injurious force.

00:09:32.780 Also, oarfish don't have teeth.

00:09:34.680 Instead, they possess structures known as gill rakes,

00:09:37.240 which they use to filter feed, kind of like a whale,

00:09:40.200 swimming with their mouths open to catch small fish, crustaceans, such as krill,

00:09:44.680 squids and even jellyfish.

00:09:46.700 If oarfish have a dangerous reputation,

00:09:48.960 it's mainly due to legends and folklore

00:09:51.020 rather than any threatening physical or behavioural traits.

00:09:56.700 Because of the few sightings in their habitat,

00:09:59.540 little is known about the creatures.

00:10:01.100 Most specimens that are found in the surface waters or washed up in shores are either sick or dead.

00:10:08.100 In Japanese mythology, the legend says that oarfish live under the islands of Japan

00:10:13.040 and they come to the surface to warn people about an oncoming earthquake.

00:10:23.340 In modern Japanese, Ryugyu no Tsukai remains the standard name for the oarfish.

00:10:29.520 Historians believe that sightings of this real-world ocean giant

00:10:33.240 alongside other strange deep-sea species washing up on shore during the Edo period

00:10:38.160 directly fuelled the creation of these yokai legends.

00:10:43.020 Though it looks like a serpentine sea monster, the oarfish is entirely real,

00:10:48.000 and to some, including yours truly, its physical presence is far more frightening than myth.

00:10:55.120 Living at extreme depths of possibly 3,300 feet, these creatures are rarely seen by human eyes.

00:11:02.540 The ancient earthquake belief migrated back into the global consciousness in 2011.

00:11:08.780 In the months leading up to Japan's catastrophic magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami,

00:11:13.780 at least 20 oarfish washed ashore.

00:11:17.360 Since then, sightings in California, the Philippines and beyond have sparked modern hysteria,

00:11:23.240 While most claims of incoming quakes have proven unfounded, ecological seismologist Kiyoshi Watatsumi noted to the Japan Times that bottom-dwelling deep-sea fish are far more sensitive to the subtle tectonic movements of active faults than surface species.

00:11:44.280 Yet, long before it became associated with seismic activity, the creature was delivering warnings of a very different kind.

00:11:51.640 In April 1819, a glowing entity appeared off the coast of Tsushima.

00:11:58.120 Astonished locals gathered, and eventually 800 people in over 100 boats fired 30 guns at the beast simultaneously.

00:12:07.160 The creature remained completely unbothered.

00:12:10.380 On the seventh day, it apparently spoke, announcing,

00:12:14.180 I am nothing to be afraid of. I have come here from the Dragon Palace for a reason.

00:12:20.080 This year, a great evil disease will come.

00:12:24.160 Copy my portrait and it spread it around the country.

00:12:27.800 Those who see my picture, even once, will be spared.

00:12:32.060 Historical logs recorded its length at 9 metres.

00:12:37.940 Another famous account describes a massive 18-metre Ryugu no Tsukai appearing off Kumamoto.

00:12:44.940 This specimen possessed two horns, purple scales, six fins, a goldfish-like tail,

00:12:51.060 and was said to be carrying three mystical jewels.

00:12:54.480 It delivered an identical ultimatum.

00:12:57.300 A deadly epidemic was coming, but those who listened to its message and shared its image would survive.

00:13:05.400 Whether forewarning a deadly pestilence or a shifting fault line,

00:13:09.720 the creature's core mandate has never really changed.

00:13:12.480 When the messenger rises from the abyss, humanity needs to pay attention.

00:13:24.960 As attractive as these tales of talking sea serpents are, we have to come back to dry land.

00:13:31.400 Modern historians believe these prophetic beasts were largely invented by shrewd Edo period printers.

00:13:38.340 Craftsmen produced and sold kawaraban, which were cheap single-sheet newsprints,

00:13:44.300 instigating public anxiety by claiming a plague was coming,

00:13:47.880 then offering the solution, buy a print of the creature to protect your home.

00:13:52.460 Because publishing unregistered newsprints was illegal,

00:13:56.360 printers risked severe punishment,

00:13:59.040 illustrating just how lucrative the fear-mongering trade could be.

00:14:02.500 Minor variations like Amabi likely became a deliberate edit of Amabiko, intentional tweaks to reframe old stories as exclusive scoops.

00:14:13.360 Meanwhile, folklore experts note that setting sightings in remote provinces like Higo, ensured readers in urban Edo could not easily fact check the stories.

00:14:23.040 These fabrications extended to physical artefacts.

00:14:27.240 Wealthy merchants frequently bought taxidermied mermaid mummies or fabricated crafts combining

00:14:32.960 fishtails with monkey torsos to exploit the belief that possessing mermaid remains granted

00:14:39.080 longevity.

00:14:40.200 Historians suspect that dried, preserved or fish specimens often provided the biological

00:14:45.560 foundation for these hoaxes.

00:14:47.920 Even the historical prophecies did not withstand modern scrutiny.

00:14:51.040 While popular culture often claims Amabi foretold the 1846 cholera outbreak, cholera struck Japan in 1822 and 1858, but 1846 saw no major outbreak.

00:15:05.620 Similarly, when Jinyehime warned of the dysentery-like epidemic known as Korori, the disease was already sweeping through the region, making her prediction an echo rather than a forecast.

00:15:17.620 Edo period diaries show that educated locals viewed these Kauraban tales as cheap sensationalist nonsense rather than genuine divine warnings.

00:15:33.600 The scientific consensus today is equally clear.

00:15:38.020 Modern marine studies confirm there's no statistical correlation between oarfish strandings and major seismic events.

00:15:44.900 Yet the legend persists.

00:15:47.160 When an oarfish washes ashore, whether at Huntington Beach, California in late 2024, or on the coast of County Clare, Ireland in 2026, it still makes headlines.

00:15:59.080 The internet quickly rewinds two centuries of folklore, resurrecting the image of the ancient ocean messenger to deliver us one more thrill of the unknown.

00:16:08.000 Even if there is no hard scientific evidence linking the oarfish to earthquakes, their

00:16:19.380 strandings on our shores remain a critical signal that something is out of sorts in the

00:16:24.600 deep. According to the Ocean Conservancy, the oarfish thrives in one of the planet's

00:16:29.600 least explored ecosystems, the Mesopelagic Zone, stretching up to 3,000 feet below the

00:16:35.440 surface. The very fact these creatures are making it all the way to the top is an indicator that

00:16:41.180 something is shifting in their ocean home. And that, if anything, is the real warning we should heed.

00:16:54.600 So until next time, if you happen to spot a giant silver ribbon floating in the surf,

00:17:00.280 don't panic don't shoot 30 guns at it and maybe hold off on buying any dubious prints

00:17:07.120 just leave the poor messenger alone give the deep sea a little respect and stay curious

00:17:13.560 hey it's adam wilden jacks host of the adam wilden jack show jacks i got a hot take the ninja slushy

00:17:32.500 twist is the best thing to ever happen to a party okay big claim back it up we'll see it's two

00:17:37.120 machines in one make two different frozen drinks at once or twist them together okay what's the

00:17:41.720 catch do i need a blender a bag of ice no no that's the whole thing no ice no blending no

00:17:46.660 guesswork slush assist tech nails it every single time so even i could do it even you

00:17:52.460 keep the fun flowing sold bring the party home visit sharkninja.ca

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Rowan & Pine: A Feminist Folklore & Mythology Podcast - September 18, 2026

Pine Cones： Doomsday Fish [Giant Oarfish] ｜ Rowan & Pine Shorts

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