Gazu Hyakki Yagyō

Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (画図百鬼夜行, "The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons" or The Illustrated Demon Horde's Night Parade) is the first book of Japanese artist Toriyama Sekien's famous Gazu Hyakki Yagyō e-hon tetralogy, published in 1776. A version of the tetralogy translated and annotated in English was published in 2016.^[1] Although the title translates to "The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons", it is based on an idiom, hyakki yagyō, that is akin to pandemonium in English and implies an uncountable horde.^[2] The book is followed by Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki, Konjaku Hyakki Shūi, and Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro.

The book is a supernatural bestiary, a collection of ghosts, spirits, spooks and monsters from literature, folklore, and other artwork. The art of Gazu Hyakki Yagyō heavily references a 1737 scroll-painting called the Hyakkai Zukan by artist Sawaki Sūshi;^[3] Sekien's innovation was preparing the illustrations as woodblock prints that could be mass-produced in a bound book format.^[4] Intended as a parody of then-popular reference books such as the Wakan Sansai Zue, it ended up becoming a reference book in its own right, profoundly influencing subsequent yōkai imagery in Japan.^[5] The book proved popular enough to be reprinted three times over the course of the Edo era by various book-sellers.^[6] The book is compiled in three sub-volumes: Yin, Yang, and Wind. Yin features a foreword by poet Maki Tōei, while Wind ends with an afterword by Sekien.^[7]

First Volume "Yin" – 陰

The first volume of Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, called "Yin", includes the following yōkai.

• 
  Kodama (木魅)
  Sekien's comments: (kami) are said to appear in ancient trees. (百年の樹には神ありてかたちをあらはすといふ。)
• 
  Tengu (天狗)
• 
  Yamabiko (幽谷響)
• 
  Yamawaro (山童)
• 
  Yamauba (山姥)
• 
  Inugami (犬神)
  Sekien depicted it accompanied by a smaller creature called Shirachigo (白児).
• 
  Nekomata (猫股)
• 
  Kappa (河童)
  Sekien's comments: It is also called kawatarō. (川太郎ともいふ。)
• 
  Kawauso (獺) (River otter)
• 
  Akaname (垢嘗)
• 
  Tanuki (狸) (raccoon dog)
• 
  Kamaitachi (窮奇)
• 
  Amikiri (網剪)
• 
  Kitsunebi (狐火) (Fox-fire)

Second Volume "Yang" – 陽

The second volume of Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, called "Yang", includes the following yōkai.

• 
  Jorōgumo (ja:絡新婦)
• 
  Ten (鼬), (Marten)
• 
  Sōgenbi (ja:叢原火)
  Sekien's comments: It can be found in the west of Saiin outside the capital, near Mibudera temple. It is also called Sōgenbi of Suzaku.
• 
  Tsurubebi (ja:釣瓶火)
• 
  Furaribi (ja:ふらり火)
• 
  Ubagabi (ja:姥ヶ火).
  Sekien's comments: It is said to appear in Kawachi Province.
• 
  Kasha (ja:火車)
• 
  Yanari (ja:鳴屋)
• 
  Ubume (ja:産女)
• 
  Umi zatō (ja:海座頭)
• 
  Noderabō (ja:野寺坊)
• 
  Takaonna (ja:高女)
• 
  Tenome (ja:手の目)
• 
  Tesso (ja:鉄鼠).
  Sekien's comments: Raigō became a plague of rats, and went into the world.
• 
  Kurozuka (ja:黒塚)
• 
  Rokurokubi (ja:ろくろ首)
• 
  Sakabashira (ja:逆柱)
• 
  Makuragaeshi (ja:枕返し)
• 
  Yuki-onna (ja:雪女)
• 
  Ikiryō (ja:生霊)
• 
  Shiryō (ja:死霊)
• 
  Yūrei (幽霊)

Third Volume "Wind" – 風

The third volume of Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, called "Wind", includes the following yōkai.

• 
  Mikoshi (見越, ja:見越し入道)
• 
  Shōkera (ja:しょうけら)
• 
  Hyōsube (ja:ひょうすべ)
• 
  Waira (ja:わいら)
• 
  Otoroshi (ja:おとろし)
• 
  Nuribotoke (ja:塗仏)
• 
  Nure-onna (ja:濡れ女)
• 
  Nurarihyon (ぬらりひょん)
• 
  Gagoze (元興寺)
• 
  Ouni (ja:苧うに)
• 
  Aobōzu (青坊主)
• 
  Akashita (赤舌)
• 
  Nuppeppō (ぬっぺっぽう, ぬっぺふほふ)
• 
  Ushi-oni (牛鬼)
• 
  Uwan (うわん)

See also

• Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro
• Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki
• Konjaku Hyakki Shūi

References

Bibliography

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