Chōchin bi

Chōchin bi (提灯火 – Lantern Fire) is a type of Yōkai depicted in the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki by Toriyama Sekien.

This creature is a type of atmospheric light in the form of a fire which can be seen to appear on the footpaths between different rice fields. These fires are said to be carried by the ‘Lord of Night.’ An idiom for this Lord of Night is ‘yoru no tono,’ and refers to foxes.¹

External Links

• View the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki online here: Konjaku Online.

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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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 yōkai, demons 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

Ōmagatoki	Oni
Sansei	Hiderigami
Suiko	Satori
Shuten-dōji	Hashihime
Hannya	Teratsutsuki
Nyūnai-Suzume	Tamamo-no-mae
Osakabe	Ushi-no-tokimairi

Part Two – Dark – 晦

Shiranui	Kosenjō no hi
Aosagi no hi	Chōchin bi
Haka no hi	Hikeshi baba
Abura-akago	Katawa guruma
Wanyūdō	Onmoraki
Sarakazoe	Hitodama
Funa yūrei	Kawa akago
Furutsubaki-no-rei	Ganbari nyūdō
Amefuri kozō	Hiyoribō
Aonyōbō	Kejōrō
Hone-onna

Part Three – Dawn – 明

Nue	Itsumade
Jami	Mōryō
Mujina	Nobusuma
Nozuchi	Tsuchigumo
Hihi	Dodomeki
Buru-buru	Gaikotsu
Tenjō-Kudari	Ōkaburo
Ōkubi	Momonjii
Kanedama	Amanozako
Hinode

External Links

• View the book online here: Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki Online.

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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