Ryuguji Temple

Ryuguji Temple features a small, unassuming gate that hides a strange treasure within its grounds. Inside the temple hall, a wooden box holds a collection of bleached, calcified bones shaped like the hands and feet of a young child. Legend says these remains belong to a mermaid that washed ashore in Hakata during the thirteenth century. The local lord ordered the creature buried here to ensure the country’s prosperity, and the temple has kept the story of that unusual visitor alive ever since.