Kyōsai’s Pictures of One Hundred Demons (Kyōsai hyakki gadan) 暁斎百鬼画談
Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎 Japanese
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This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
A man, perhaps the artist himself, has set down his calligraphy brush and reaches to extinguish a lamp. Once darkness falls, the demons will appear.
Skeleton soldiers, a horse with the head of a man, and other monsters advance in the growing darkness.
A one-eyed, malformed goddess, Benzaiten, is accompanied by an elephant, reptilian monsters, and, at left, the fierce Buddhist guardian Fudō Myōō holding a sword.
At right, a demon with a large nose and wings (tengū) carries panpipes (shō) and a pilgrim’s staff. His servant follows in wooden clogs (geta), with a wolf-like head and gaping mouth.
A helmet for a court dance (bugaku), a chime (kei), ritual scepter (nyoi), and a folding fan turn into flying and running demons.
At right, a monster grips a feathered spear. An ogre follows, wearing a nobleman’s cap (eboshi) and carrying a similar spear.
At left, a small demon riding a badger with a stirrup on its head follows a hairy headed demon and at far right, a shrouded, furry animal.
At right, a horned demon bears a spiked spear. At left, a beaked demon wields a wooden mallet over a one-eyed red demon’s head.
At left, a monster holds up a mirror for an Otafuku-esque ghoul to apply black dye to her teeth. At right, a chubby faced figure carries a bag beside a three-eyed ghoul.
Animal demons, including one resembling a mad Shinto priest, carouse on an enormous bolt of cloth. A clawed monster hides underneath.
At left, a beaked demon holds an umbrella monster, followed by a rope monster riding a hobbyhorse, and a hairy monster with a long, horned snout (kirin).
Monsters, including a badger wearing a courtier’s cap, carry Buddhist ritual implements, such as a magical scroll inscribed in Sanskrit, at far right.
Several monsters, continue the procession, including one with a Buddhist monk’s alms bowl on its head.
At right is the demon Nurarihyon, in the guise of an old man with a huge head and Buddhist rosary. He is followed by rodent-like monsters.
A green dragon chases demons, including a winged hag, at right, who is embracing a tiny creature. Below, a pink one-eyed monster wears a grass skirt.
Under dawn’s red sun, the parade of demons ends. From left: the one-eyed Aobōzu, who kidnaps children, a water dwelling creature (kappa), and Nuribotoke, a Buddha-like demon with dangling eyeballs.