Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro

Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro

Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro (百器徒然袋 – A Horde of Haunted Housewares) is a compendium of Yōkai, demons and ghosts compiled by Toriyama Sekien, published in 1781.

The books were inspired by the 10th Century Demon Horde’s Night Parade. These books, alongside the previous books, the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki and Konjaku Hyakki Shūi are different to earlier depictions of Yōkai as they place the Yōkai in a time and a place instead of just depicting them on a blank background.

This book was created as a set with the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō though they weren’t released together. The book was divided into three sections and contains 48 different Yōkai.¹

Introduction

The introduction of the book reads:

There’s an old joke about a man told to resemble a holy tree. Viewed from a distance, it’s branches soar like peaks of a mountian range against the spring sunshine. Up close, however, its roots are infested with shape-shifting foxes.

This could well have been written about Sekien. A man who appeared to the West of Tiantai, peers beneath shrines, consorts with thousands of demons, and generally wows the world with his drawings of the wierd. Thus he wound up with the nickname, “old fox.” Fitting, is it not?¹

Part One – Jō – 上

Takara bune	Chirizuka kaiō
Fuguruma yōhi	Osa kōburi
Kutsu tsura	Bakenokawa goromo
Kinu tanuki	Kōroka
Tenjō name	Shiro uneri
Hone karakasa	Shōgorō
Hosu mori	Sazae oni

Part 2 – Chū – 中

Part 3 – Ge – 下

External Links

• View the book online here: Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro.

Footnotes

1. Yoda, H. and Alt, M. (2016) “Japandemonium: Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopaedia of Toriyama Sekien.”. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

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