-Most of the upper body is actually made from cloth, paper and cotton

-The artifact was most likely created due to Japanese fascination with mermaids

A mummified 'mermaid' that is worshipped in Japan has been exposed as nothing more than a fabrication of cloth, paper, and cotton decorated with fish parts.

The creature was allegedly caught in the Pacific Ocean, off the Japanese island of Shikoku, between 1736 and 1741, and is now kept in a temple in the city of Asakuchi.