With so many domestic and everyday objects around to turn into yōkai, it’s little wonder that Japan’s yōkai population continued to increase. ![]() As Japan began to embrace Western traditions, new objects such as jinrikisha (rickshaws), lamps and western-style umbrellas began turning up as yōkai. Yōkai Go Forth and MultiplyĮven through the Meiji Period (1868 – 1912), while Japan was undergoing a rapid and purposeful programme of modernisation, yōkai continued to proliferate. This sheer diversity has long continued to exercise the minds of yōkai scholars. There are even scrolls titled Night Parade of One Hundred Demons that feature entirely different yōkai from those in the early scrolls. These range from, for example, high quality artistic sketches by artists of the Tosa and Kanō schools to rather awkwardly-drawn images that were probably sketched by amateurs. As artists continued the tradition of painting the demons’ night parade, a range of variations emerged, with the order of the yōkai changing and new yōkai being added to the lineup. The fact that so many yōkai scrolls were painted means there are also many preliminary sketches remaining. Essentially, this tale is used as a context in which to demonstrate how thankful people ought to be for Buddhism, a great religion that can deliver even the souls of yōkai ! The Night Parade Assumes a Life of its Own Eventually though, the yōkai turn to Buddhism and depart this world in peace. They hatch a plan to take their revenge on the human society that rejected them. It’s thought that the yōkai in the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons scrolls originated from the Tsukumogami-ki, a famous scroll that relates the story of what happens when everyday objects are thoughtlessly discarded. In the Tsukumogami scroll, tools and utensils that have been discarded during the traditional end-of-year cleaning harbour a deep sense of resentment at being thrown out into the streets. Bringing up the rear are two Buddhist altar fittings that have taken the form of yōkai, waniguchi (literally “alligator mouth” – a disk-shaped gong) and hossu (a brush-like priest’s horsehair flapper). Walking alongside them is a creature that looks like a hedgehog with a shoe for a face – the shoe yōkai. In the centre, a koto (Japanese harp) is depicted being pulled along by a biwa (Japanese lute). This is based on an old belief that utsuwamono (containers, tools, and instruments) that have been used for many years acquire souls of their own. Many of the yōkai depicted are actually everyday objects. The scroll in the photo above was painted much later than Tosa Mitsunobu’s scroll in the Edo Period, but it’s interesting to note that this Edo Period scroll faithfully recreates all the yōkai from the Tosa scroll. Everyday Objects Acquire Souls After Years of Use Yōkai from the Tosa scroll later reappear in scrolls, woodblock prints and hanpon (books printed from woodblocks) during the centuries that followed, including in the scroll shown in the photo above. Tosa Mitsunobu’s scroll exerted a major influence over depictions of yōkai throughout the Edo Period, a time during which artists continued to paint the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. ![]() ![]() The difference between this scroll and Tosa Mitsunobu’s work is that in the latter work there are no humans at all, only yōkai running rampant through the streets. ![]() The hapless Tsuchigumo was only ever a supporting character, a vehicle to demonstrate Yorimitsu’s prowess. The purpose of this story is to expound on Yorimitsu’s heroism. The Tsuchigumo scroll tells the legend of how Minamoto no Yorimitsu (944 – 1021) slayed Tsuchigumo and features many human characters in addition to the demon spider. While earlier depictions of yōkai do exist (for example Tsuchigumo, a giant demon spider, from the Tsuchigumo Sōshi scroll painted during the 1300s) the focus in such works is not on the yōkai themselves. This scroll, a national important cultural property, is housed in the collection at Shinju-an, a sub-temple at Daitokuji Temple in Kyōto.Īlthough it’s not entirely accurate to call Daitokuji’s Hyakki Yagyō scroll the oldest depiction of yōkai, it is indeed the oldest to feature yōkai alone. Emaki (picture scrolls) are the oldest form of document relating to yōkai that remain to this day. The earliest of these is Hyakki Yagyō ( Night Parade of a Hundred Demons), verified as having been painted during the Muromachi Period by Tosa Mitsunobu (lived 1434 – 1525), the founder of the Tosa school of painting.
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