Sketches published in newspapers
Mikadozame (meaning Emperor Shark) is a cryptid reported from Miyagi, Japan.
Sightings[]
On January 18, 1882, off the coast of Kinkasan island, now part of Ishinomaki City, a person named Genzaemon Suzuki captured a strange shark-like creature. It resembled an ordinary shark in overall appearance, but had a pattern from its head to its back that resembled a chrysanthemum flower. He named the creature Mikadozame and presented it to the Miyagi Prefectural Government.
This event was reported in the Ouu Nichinichi Shinbun newspaper on April 4 of the following year, and was picked up by the Tokyo Nichinichi Shinbun on April 11. The newspaper carried a sketch of the creature.
Explanations[]
The features of the sketch are similar to those of a sturgeon, so perhaps Mikadozame was in fact a sturgeon. Sturgeon in Japan are now considered extinct, but at the time Mikadozame was captured, they were still present, and their distribution area corresponds to the location of the capture.