Background: Overview Mythology Yōkai & Bakemono Folklore in Art Content: Mukashibanashi Densetsu Kaidan Kotowaza   Further Reading Resources

Elements of Folklore in Japanese Art As is true in many cultures, elements of folklore can be clearly seen in the traditional art forms of Japan. As their influence in the arts is so particularly pervasive in the case of the Sunrise Country, it would be impossible to even sufficiently summarize the presence of folklore in Japanese art. Much progress toward this goal has the book Japanese Ghosts and Demons, edited by Stephen Addiss, made, especially on the subjects highlighted by its title. While this book does not touch certain subjects, such as kami, folktales and legends, it at least provides a good introduction to the many different types of art forms in which folklore is present. For the purposes of this site, I shall give examples of a single artist's work, showing selections from the many examples of folklore in his art. The artist in question is one of my favorites: Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, often called Yoshitoshi Taiso, an ukiyo-e print artist who in addition to his ghosts was famous for his depiction of beautiful women. He lived in the ninteenth century, when ghost and monster lore was at its peak in Japanese history. Below are a few examples of folkloric subjects in his work. There are countless other artists who have represented folklore in their art, among whom are Toriyama Sekien, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Yōsa Buson, Sawaki Sūshi, and Takehara Shunsen, just to name a few. Sekien is perhaps the most famous for his depictions of monsters and ghosts; his Hyakki Yakō series have depicted about 200 different types of obake. It is widely thought that Sekien created a large portion of his monsters from whole cloth; and while this is certainly true in some cases, closer investigatin shows that many of his obake thought to be original to his works have antecedents in emaki scrolls, such as those by Sawaki Sūshi. Regardless, Sekien's contributions, to the art of and to the further visualization of the mysterious, were influential and noteworthy. Folklore in Yoshitoshi: Kintoki, also called Kintarō Kaguya-hime, received back into the Moon Palace Minamoto Yorimasa looks for the Nue A kami of poetry appears in Lord Teika's dream Amaterasu, the sun goddess, hides in a cave Hidesato, called "Tawara Toda" (Lord Ricebag) Koremochi fights the demon of Mount Togakushi; this print was based on a noh play called Momiji Gari. Raiko and Shuten Dōji The tengu flock Raiko discovers Kintarō Michizane as the thunder god Tenjin Kiritarō and his tengu army Susano-o and his bride Inada-hime Women at the Bon festival Orihime and Hikoboshi meet at the Tanabata festival The tengu ghost of Sasaki Kiyotaka A monster responds to Tsunenobu's poem The serpent ghost of General Tamichi Daruma's meditation Tengu collision Also, see Yoshitoshi's New Forms of Thirty Six Ghosts.