Amabie then got official recognition when ... the creature made its first and only appearance in the sea off Higo Province, now Kumamoto Prefecture, on the southern island of Kyushu.

KYOTO--A feudal-era folkloric monster called Amabie has taken Japan by storm ... a government official in Higo province, or modern-day Kumamoto Prefecture, in 1846 during the Edo Period (1603-1867).