In this chapter, I will discuss the societal phenomenon surrounding the yōkai amabie during the initial COVID-19 outbreak in Japan in 2020. Originating from a trending hashtag on Twitter that challenged users to draw their own amabie, her fame quickly spread into the consumer market with amabie-themed trinkets and protective charms. Eventually, amabie became the face of the collective effort against the virus and was adopted by shrines across the country as a tutelary divinity for the coronavirus pandemic. However, through a memetic study of the history of representations of yōkai in Japan, I will argue for her significance as a countercultural artifact rather than a mainstream governmental instrument. I mainly focus my study on late Edo, when amabie was first drawn and cheap woodblock prints (kawaraban) of yogenjū or “prophetic beasts” warning against incoming plagues. These popular prints nurtured an ecosystem of images free from governmental control and acted as a venue of free speech for people to offer social commentary on current events. By transforming and sharing their own kawaraban, people were countering Edo’s obsession with systems and encyclopedic knowledge. It is not coincidence that the resurgence of amabie came about in the context of the COVID pandemic, which forced countries to take radical measures regarding public hygiene and social distancing. By sharing drawings of the yōkai online and turning a meme into a divinity, the people created an instrument of subversion in a time of intense regulations.