<figure id="attachment_447615" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-447615" style="width: 2131px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f89c2eb5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/11/9b52974f44c68a6e95b2ff6af7bc68dd.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-447615" class="wp-caption-text">Tsujigawayama Park, Hyogo Prefecture] A humanoid fish swims in a pond in the park. The vivid red color of their backs stand out against the pond. There used to be three of them, but now only two live here.</figcaption></figure>
<h2> Masked fish live in various parts of Japan</h2>
 In 1990, FRIDAY reported on the &#8220;human-faced fish&#8221; boom that swept across Japan from Yamagata. Thirty-five years have passed since then, and the previous article, which reported that &#8220;the phantom fish still lives in ponds,&#8221; received a huge response, with many people saying, &#8220;There is one in my hometown, too. It seems that the human-faced fish lives more quietly than expected in many parts of Japan, but it is certainly still alive. The reporter went to Hyogo and Miyazaki Prefectures, where the information was particularly credible.
 First, the reporter visited Fukusaki Town in Hyogo Prefecture, known as the birthplace of Kunio Yanagida, the father of Japanese folklore. Last November, a human-faced fish (photo above) was discovered in a pond in Tsujikawayama Park, which is known for its legend of kappa, or water imps, named after the author of the book.
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 There were three of them, and the most popular was the one on the left with a red heart mark around its fins. However, since August of this year, they have stopped showing up. We have not been able to find the heart-shaped fish, but the other two fish are swimming fine,&#8221; said the Fukusaki Town Regional Promotion Division.
<figure id="attachment_447621" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-447621" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b939daa1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/11/1adcf567382577f31c8d2501078958da.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-447621" class="wp-caption-text"> Signboard of Suzunomori Shrine in the park parking lot. Kunio Yanagida used to play in the shrine grounds when he was a child.</figcaption></figure>
 The next stop was the Sano Shrine (Takahara Town), located at the foot of the Kirishima Mountain Range in Miyazaki Prefecture. The human-faced fish are said to be in a pond on the shrine grounds.
 Tameya Owaki, a Shinto priest who is also a gonnegi (senior priest), tells us that the fish are said to live in a pond within the shrine&#8217;s grounds.
 When we put in water plants to facilitate the laying of eggs, the number of fry increased. One of them is a white man-faced fish. It is about 50 to 60 cm in size. I think it is the child of a white carp and a black carp that originally existed. At first I wasn&#8217;t aware that it was a human fish (laughs).
 (Laughs.) What is even more surprising is that there is even a 30-centimeter-long &#8220;second generation&#8221; swimming around that has a similar pattern to that of the original fish.
 There are two human masked fish in the pond now,&#8221; he said. There are two human masked fish in the pond right now: a white one and a smaller one that looks like a child with a very similar face.
 There are about 30 carp swimming in the pond. Visitors to the shrine are amused by the sight of visitors peering into the pond and commenting, &#8220;They do look like faces,&#8221; a sight that brings a smile to the shrine.
 We would be happy if people love the human-faced fish along with their visit to the shrine. We hope they will be happy to receive a blessing from the shrine.
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 According to Hiroshi Furukawa, a representative of the e-commerce site &#8220;Nishikigoi.com&#8221; and an expert on Nishikigoi farming, Koi have a tendency to change their body color.
 Koi can also change their patterns. They change their body color due to environmental changes such as water temperature, water quality, food, and stress.
 In other words, the disappearance of Hyogo&#8217;s manmade fish may just be the result of the disappearance of their patterns, making them indistinguishable from other Koi. If that is the case, on the other hand, it is not impossible for ordinary carp to change into ningyoi.
 Thirty-five years after the boom of the Heisei era, human-faced fish are now beginning to make their mysterious appearance in front of us again.
<figure id="attachment_447625" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-447625" style="width: 1691px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="45416334"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/11/5b9834274977ed92a44cf89c6057488c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-447625" class="wp-caption-text"> A human-faced fish swims leisurely in a pond on the grounds of the shrine. The expression on its face is dignified. The pond is said to be inhabited by a human masked fish that appears to be a child of this one.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_447629" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-447629" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cbfb6d8f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/11/ff9bab8fb12ba066a97ecc8fea51f465.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-447629" class="wp-caption-text"> The pond at the Sano-jinja Shrine is inhabited by two human masked fish. The pond has a mysterious atmosphere.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9855ef3d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/11/76728fc93daed93055a9b95f44de5bdb.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> (Unpublished photograph: &#8220;Human-faced fish&#8221; also found in Hyogo and Miyazaki prefectures!</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="aeae5389"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/11/5b44aef01c6f6d2561e72f2b49e146fd.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished photos of ″human-faced fish″ found in Hyogo and Miyazaki Prefectures!</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_447634" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-447634" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6aa4c60b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/11/6d922e273f6f9632acde8fda93123eed.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-447634" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished photos of ″Human Masked Fish″ in Hyogo and Miyazaki Prefectures!</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_447634" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-447634" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ae683235"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/11/499ea3dff91eea11e529346948e0deb3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-447634" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished photos of ″human face fish″ found in Hyogo and Miyazaki prefectures!</figcaption></figure>
 From the November 28 and December 5, 2025 issue of FRIDAY

 Kei Kato (2 photos from Tsujigawayama Park, Hyogo Prefecture) Tomohiro Arikawa (2 photos from Sayo Shrine, Miyazaki Prefecture)

 The "human-faced fish" boom swept Japan. Thirty-five years have passed since then, and the previous article reporting that "the phantom fish is still in ponds" received a huge response, "There is one in my hometown, too. The reporter went to Hyogo and Miyazaki prefectures, where the fish was particularly believed to be present.

After 35 years, the fish are proliferating all over the archipelago again&#8230;″Human-Face Fish″ were discovered and photographed in Hyogo and Miyazaki Prefectures!

After 35 years, the fish are proliferating all over the archipelago again…″Human-Face Fish″ were discovered and photographed in Hyogo and Miyazaki Prefectures!

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