Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki

Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki
Cover of the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki.

Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki

The Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki (今昔画図続百鬼 – The Illustrated Demon Horde from Past and Present) is a compendium of yōkaidemons and ghosts compiled by Toriyama Sekien, published in 1779.

The books were inspired by the 10th Century Demon Horde’s Night Parade. These books, alongside the previous book, the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō and the following books, the Konjaku Hyakki Shūi and Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro 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 54 different Yōkai.1

Introduction

The introduction of the book reads:

Since times of old, the night parade of the demon horde has been passed down, copied, and kept in the houses of the great masters. Here I have acquiesced to demands to apply my humble techniques to the topic. There’s no hope of achieving realism when it comes to the fearsome faces of things that can’t be seen with the human eye, but I can at least shock and awe, and so I have tried my best with humble skills to capture their bizarre forms once again.

Running my fingers over my beloved earlier work, I mused: I certainly love drawing this sort of thing, but what if a real demon showed up? When a certain man got a visit from a real dragon it was utterly terrifying. But even still, when the bookseller pleaded for a sequel to my book of a few years back, I found it hard to refuse. And so I, Toriyama Sekien, find myself again taking up my brush under the moonlight.1

Part One – Rain – 雨

ŌmagatokiOni
SanseiHiderigami
SuikoSatori
Shuten-dōjiHashihime
HannyaTeratsutsuki
Nyūnai-SuzumeTamamo-no-mae
OsakabeUshi-no-tokimairi

Part Two – Dark –

ShiranuiKosenjō no hi
Aosagi no hiChōchin bi
Haka no hiHikeshi baba
Abura-akagoKatawa guruma
WanyūdōOnmoraki
SarakazoeHitodama
Funa yūreiKawa akago
Furutsubaki-no-reiGanbari nyūdō
Amefuri kozōHiyoribō
AonyōbōKejōrō
Hone-onna

Part Three – Dawn –

NueItsumade
JamiMōryō
MujinaNobusuma
NozuchiTsuchigumo
HihiDodomeki
Buru-buruGaikotsu
Tenjō-KudariŌkaburo
ŌkubiMomonjii
KanedamaAmanozako
Hinode

External Links

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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