MERMAID RELIC IS CRUEL FRAUD!

Ancient mummy claimed to bestow long life made with cloth, paint & hair

A 300-YEAR-OLD mermaid mummy — revered in Japan for having miraculous powers of healing and immortality — has been exposed as a FAKE!

Housed in a temple that attracted thousands of visitors a year desperately praying for youth and healing, the shriveled relic was claimed to be a living sea creature caught off the Japanese island of Shikoku in the Pacific Ocean between 1736 and 1741.

But high-tech computer tomography scans conducted by scientist Hiroshi Kinoshita on behalf of Okayama Folklore Society in Asakuchi reveal the mermaid is manmade from cloth, paper, cotton and fish parts.