Gazu Hyakki Yagyō

Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (画図百鬼夜行, "The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons") is the first book of Japanese artist Toriyama Sekien's famous Gazu Hyakki Yagyō e-hon series, published 1776. These books are supernatural bestiaries, collections of ghosts, spirits, spooks and monsters, many of which Toriyama based on literature, folklore, other artwork. These works have had a profound influence on subsequent yōkai imagery in Japan. (Also see: Hyakki Yagyō). The various creatures are described, below, using images to illustrate many of them.

First Volume "Yin" - 陰

The first volume of Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, called "Yin," includes the following demonic creatures.

• 

  Kodama (木魅) : Sekien's comments: A spirit (kami) said to appear in one-hundred-year-old trees. (百年の樹には神ありてかたちをあらはすといふ。)

• 

  Tengu (天狗) is a popular bird-like demon in Japanese folklore.

• 

  Yamabiko (幽谷響) means "echo", so Sekien likely meant to imply that this creature is a spirit that mimics sounds in the mountains.

• 

  Yamawaro (山童), usually called yamawaro, is a mountain-dwelling creature from Kyūshū, sometimes considered to be the form taken on by the kappa in winter.

• 

  Yamauba (山姥) the mountain hag is a staple of Japanese folktales.

• 

  Inugami (犬神) is a dog-spirit said to do the bidding of certain families on Shikoku. Sekien depicted it in anthropomorphic form, wearing an eboshi hat. It is accompanied by a smaller creature called Shirachigo (白児) which may be an invention of Sekien's.

• 

  Nekomata (猫股) is a cat whose forked tail is a clue that it has become a dangerous supernatural creature.

• 

  Kappa (河童) is a famous water imp. Sekien's comments: It is also called kawatarō. (川太郎ともいふ。)

• 

  Kawauso (獺) is a river otter, seen here attempting to appear as a human.

• 

  Akaname (垢嘗) is a creature which Sekien illustrated lurking in an old-fashioned bathroom. Its name means "filth-licker", so the function of its protruding tongue isn't hard to imagine.

• 

  Tanuki (狸) is a raccoon dog which appears frequently in Japanese folkore.

• 

  Kamaitachi (鎌鼬) is a slicing wind spirit. Sekien was the first to imagine it as a weasel-like creature, as an illustration of a pun.

• 

  Amikiri (網剪) is illustrated by Sekien as a small snake-like creature with a bird-like head and lobster-like claws. Its name means "net cutter".

• 

  Kitsunebi (狐火) is ghostly fire created by foxes.

Second Volume "Yang" - 陽

The second volume of Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, called "Yang," includes the following creatures.

• 

  Jorōgumo (絡新婦) means "prostitute spider", but the name is written with characters that mean "entwining bride".

• 

  Ten, martens which form a column which emits a mysterious flame.

• 

  Sōgenbi Sekien's comments: It can be found in the west of Saiin outside the capital, near Mibudera temple. As slang it is called Sōgenbi of Suzaku. (、。。) This is based on a real legend from Kyoto, concerning the ghost of a monk who stole lamp oil.^[1][2]

• 

  Tsurubebi is a fireball dropping out of a tree. It may be related to the tsurube-otoshi.

• 

  Furaribi means "aimless flame".

• 

  Ubagabi. Sekien's comments: It is said to appear in Kawachi Province. (。) This image shares its name with a real legend from Kyoto.^[3]

• 

  Kasha is a cat-like monster which steals corpses during a funeral.

• 

  Yanari means the rattling sounds of an old house, which these small demons presumably make.

• 

  Ubume is the ghost of a pregnant woman who appears holding her child near bodies of water.

• 

  Umizatō is a blind man walking on the surface of the sea.

• 

  Noderabō is a strange creature standing near a temple bell.

• 

  Takaonna (, tall woman) is a female monster stretching itself to peer into the second story of a house.

• 

  Tenome is a creature with its eyes on its hands.

• 

  Tesso. Sekien's comments: Raigō became a spirit-rat, and went into the world. (、也。) Raigō Anjari was a priest of Mii-dera, who was snubbed by the emperor in favor of Enryaku-ji, and according to legend became a swarm of rats which laid waste to the rival temple.

• 

  Kurozuka (ja:黒塚) is the infamous, cannibalistic hag of Adachigahara.^[4][5][6]

• 

  Rokurokubi (飛頭蛮) is a woman who suffers from a supernatural illness, causing her head to float away from her body at night while her neck stretches indefinitely.^[7][8]

• 

  Sakabashira (ja:逆柱) is a pillar that has been installed upside down, which causes the house to become haunted.^[9][10]

• 

  Makuragaeshi (反枕) is a spirit that takes your pillow out from under your head while you sleep and places it by your feet instead.^[11][12]

• 

  Yukionna is a pale female spirit who appears in the snow, who sometimes causes people to freeze to death.^[13][14]

• 

  Ikiryō is a "living ghost", a spirit which appears outside of its body while its owner is still alive. It often belongs to a woman motivated by jealousy.^[15][16]

• 

  Shiryō (ja:死霊) is the spirit of a dead person.^[17]

• 

  Yūrei is a ghost.^[18]

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ [5]
6. ^ [6]
7. ^ [7]
8. ^ [8]
9. ^ [9]
10. ^ [10]
11. ^ [11]
12. ^ [12]
13. ^ [13]
14. ^ [14]
15. ^ [15]
16. ^ [16]
17. ^ [17]
18. ^ [18]

Third Volume "Wind" - 風

The third volume of Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, called "Wind," includes the following creatures.

• 

  Mikoshi (見越, ja:見越し入道) is a long-necked creature whose height increases as fast as you can look up at it.^[1][2]

• 

  Shōkera (ja:しょうけら) is a creature which peeks in through the skylight of an old house.^[3][4]

• 

  Hyōsube (ja:ひょうすべ) is a monkey-like creature which is kin to the kappa.^[5][6]

• 

  Waira (ja:わいら) is a large beast that lurks in the mountains, about which little is known.^[7][8]

• 

  Otoroshi (ja:おとろし) is a hairy creature sitting on top of a torii gate, thought to be a guardian of the shrine.^[9][10]

• 

  Nuribotoke (ja:塗仏) An animated corpse with blackened flesh and dangling eyeballs.

• 

  Nureonna (ja:濡れ女) A female snake-like monster who appears on the shore.

• 

  Nurarihyon (ぬらりひょん) A strange character who sneaks into houses on busy evenings

• 

  Gagoze (元興寺) A demon who attacked young priests at Gangō-ji temple.

• 

  Ouni (ja:苧うに) An old hag covered in long hair.

• 

  Aobōzu (青坊主) The green monk who kidnaps children.

• 

  Akashita (赤舌) A creature that looms in a black cloud over a floodgate.

• 

  Nuppeppō (ぬっぺっぽう, ぬっぺふほふ) An animated lump of decaying human flesh.

• 

  Ushioni (牛鬼) A name given to an assortment of ox-headed monsters.

• 

  Uwan (うわん) A spirit named for the sound it shouts when surprising people.

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ [5]
6. ^ [6]
7. ^ [7]
8. ^ [8]
9. ^ [9]
10. ^ [10]

See also

• Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro
• Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki
• Konjaku Hyakki Shūi

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gazu Hyakki Yagyō.

• Toriyama, Sekien (July 2005). Toriyama Sekien Gazu Hyakki Yagyō Zen Gashū (in Japanese). Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd. pp. 10–65. ISBN 4-04-405101-1. 
• "Hyakki Zufu Obake Iroha Sakuin" (HTML). CSK Pavilion: Hyakki Yagyō. Retrieved 2007-04-22.