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Yokai
The world of Japan's yokai monsters, mutants, and vengeful mononoke spirits
Immerse yourself in yokai images and their mesmerizing detail showcased over more than 500 pages in this epic collection! selections include over 60 works chosen from the collection at the Yumoto Koichi Memorial Japan Yokai Museum (Miyoshi Mononoke Museum), Japan's - and, in fact, the world's - only museum specializing in Japanese yokai monsters, each reproduced in high-resolution images with explanations. This compilation provides readers with the rare experience of seeing the brushwork of Edo-era (16th-19th centuries) painters like Tsukioka Yoshitoshi in detail firsthand.
About the Yumoto Koichi Collection
With over 5,000 works, the Yumoto Koichi Collection is the largest yokai collection in Japan. Spanning from the early modern period to the present day, the collection includes a wide range of artistic woodblock prints and handicrafts such as kimono, metalworks, folk art and toys. The donated collection is housed at the Yumoto Koichi Memorial Japan Yokai Museum (Miyoshi Mononoke Museum) in Miyoshi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and part of the collection tours the world as part of exhibitions overseas.
Immerse yourself in yokai images and their mesmerizing detail showcased over more than 500 pages in this epic collection! selections include over 60 works chosen from the collection at the Yumoto Koichi Memorial Japan Yokai Museum (Miyoshi Mononoke Museum), Japan's - and, in fact, the world's - only museum specializing in Japanese yokai monsters, each reproduced in high-resolution images with explanations. This compilation provides readers with the rare experience of seeing the brushwork of Edo-era (16th-19th centuries) painters like Tsukioka Yoshitoshi in detail firsthand.
About the Yumoto Koichi Collection
With over 5,000 works, the Yumoto Koichi Collection is the largest yokai collection in Japan. Spanning from the early modern period to the present day, the collection includes a wide range of artistic woodblock prints and handicrafts such as kimono, metalworks, folk art and toys. The donated collection is housed at the Yumoto Koichi Memorial Japan Yokai Museum (Miyoshi Mononoke Museum) in Miyoshi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and part of the collection tours the world as part of exhibitions overseas.
509 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 11, 2024
There was not much to read in this album, to be honest. I was keeping it on my work table for a couple of months just as a source of pure enjoyment.
What is yokai? Wikipedia says that: Yōkai (妖怪, "strange apparition") are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word yōkai comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply the Japanese transliteration or pronunciation of the Chinese term yaoguai (which designates similarly strange creatures), some Japanese commentators argue that the word yōkai has taken on multiple different meanings particular to a Japanese context, including referring to a large number of uniquely Japanese creatures.
So there are many traditional beings like kappas, for example, who are classified and very well know from legends and myths. But there's also a thing that in Japan pretty anyone or anything, even, can become a vengeful ghost or an evil/not so evil supernatural presence. It can scare you or attack you for a revenge or with no obvious reason. Or for shits and giggles. Just google shirime .
Also, any human being or dead neighbour's dog, a wild racoon, a broom, a teapot, or whatever else that holds a grudge or feels insulted in any way after their demise can haunt all those around them for ages. Or till someone exorcises them. Or till someone farts at them, yes, there was a documented case that there was in fact such a treatment used against evil ghosts and it worked.
What can I say. I love Japanese culture and its various aspects very much.
What is yokai? Wikipedia says that: Yōkai (妖怪, "strange apparition") are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word yōkai comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply the Japanese transliteration or pronunciation of the Chinese term yaoguai (which designates similarly strange creatures), some Japanese commentators argue that the word yōkai has taken on multiple different meanings particular to a Japanese context, including referring to a large number of uniquely Japanese creatures.
So there are many traditional beings like kappas, for example, who are classified and very well know from legends and myths. But there's also a thing that in Japan pretty anyone or anything, even, can become a vengeful ghost or an evil/not so evil supernatural presence. It can scare you or attack you for a revenge or with no obvious reason. Or for shits and giggles. Just google shirime .
Also, any human being or dead neighbour's dog, a wild racoon, a broom, a teapot, or whatever else that holds a grudge or feels insulted in any way after their demise can haunt all those around them for ages. Or till someone exorcises them. Or till someone farts at them, yes, there was a documented case that there was in fact such a treatment used against evil ghosts and it worked.
What can I say. I love Japanese culture and its various aspects very much.
April 28, 2023
these new gen pokémon are absolutely insane
December 8, 2023
This is the single best collection of Yokai art I have ever come across. Well worth taking a full week or so to go through slowly-something I normally don't do with primarily image based books. Even the paper it is printed on is of amazingly high quality and smells very nice.
Gets the coveted living room (rather than office) art book shelf space so guests can see it.
Gets the coveted living room (rather than office) art book shelf space so guests can see it.
Want to read
July 3, 2025The World of Yokai Art --- Exploring The Appeal of Yokai, Koichi Yumoto
YOKAI & MONSTERS, Daniel Sastre
--Ghost Picture Scroll
--The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons Picture Scroll
--Night Parade of One Hundred Demons
--The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons Picture Scroll
--Night Performance of One Hundred Demons' Satirical Poems
--The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons Picture Scroll
--Yokai Appear in the Retired Emperor Go-Toba's Dream
--Yanari
--Monster Poetry Contest Picture Scroll
--Strange Kappa
--One Hundred Demons
--Horde of Beasts
--Ōishi Hyōroku
--Fox Ōtsu-e
--Shapeshifting Fox Votive Tablet
--Minamoto no Yorimitsu Ōtsu-e
--Kui
--Amabiko
--Kaiki Denshōzushi
--Water Tiger Illustrations
--Hidari Jingorō and Kappa
--Picture Scroll of Diseases
--Beasts Galore Picture Scroll
--Turtle Woman
--Fish of Abundant Harvest
--Fish of Abundant Harvest
--Record of the Rare Beast of Doshū
--The Human-Headed Snake of Bishū
--The Ghost of Asakura Tōgo
--"Kotomi of Nakanochō with a Lantern of the Pleasure District"
--Sato Masakiyo Slaying Yokai in the Mountains During the Conquest of Shikoku (Toad Version)
--Sato Masakiyo Slaying Yokai in the Mountains During the Conquest of Shikoku (Hihi Version)
--The Defeat of the Nue
--One Hundred Ghost Stories of China and Japan
--The Defeat of the Goshawk of Shinano Province
--Tsuchigumo Attack
--The Old Imperial Palace of Sōma
--The Tale of the Tongue-Cut Sparrow
--The Heavy Basket
--A One Hundred Ghost Stories Caricature
--Shinnō Conquers the Island of Ogres Picture Scroll
--One Hundred Tales Monster Picture Scroll
--Monsters Galore Picture Scroll
--One Hundred Ghost Stories Picture Scroll
--Kaidan Momonjii
--Tōtei Bukkai Roku
--Old-Fangled Chinese Monsters
--Kaidan Momonjii
--Bakemono Yamato Honzō
--A Procession Led by Foxes
--The Seven Wonders of Honjo
--The Seven Wonders of Honjo Votive Cards
--Crazy Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo
--Osaka Nishiki-e Shimbun Number 4
--Wedding of Monsters
--Night Parade of One Hundred Demons
--Yokai Envelopes
--Matchbox Labels
Acknowledgement
About the Yumoto Koichi collection
About Koichi Yumoto
Notes
Bibliography
Photo Credits
YOKAI & MONSTERS, Daniel Sastre
--Ghost Picture Scroll
--The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons Picture Scroll
--Night Parade of One Hundred Demons
--The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons Picture Scroll
--Night Performance of One Hundred Demons' Satirical Poems
--The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons Picture Scroll
--Yokai Appear in the Retired Emperor Go-Toba's Dream
--Yanari
--Monster Poetry Contest Picture Scroll
--Strange Kappa
--One Hundred Demons
--Horde of Beasts
--Ōishi Hyōroku
--Fox Ōtsu-e
--Shapeshifting Fox Votive Tablet
--Minamoto no Yorimitsu Ōtsu-e
--Kui
--Amabiko
--Kaiki Denshōzushi
--Water Tiger Illustrations
--Hidari Jingorō and Kappa
--Picture Scroll of Diseases
--Beasts Galore Picture Scroll
--Turtle Woman
--Fish of Abundant Harvest
--Fish of Abundant Harvest
--Record of the Rare Beast of Doshū
--The Human-Headed Snake of Bishū
--The Ghost of Asakura Tōgo
--"Kotomi of Nakanochō with a Lantern of the Pleasure District"
--Sato Masakiyo Slaying Yokai in the Mountains During the Conquest of Shikoku (Toad Version)
--Sato Masakiyo Slaying Yokai in the Mountains During the Conquest of Shikoku (Hihi Version)
--The Defeat of the Nue
--One Hundred Ghost Stories of China and Japan
--The Defeat of the Goshawk of Shinano Province
--Tsuchigumo Attack
--The Old Imperial Palace of Sōma
--The Tale of the Tongue-Cut Sparrow
--The Heavy Basket
--A One Hundred Ghost Stories Caricature
--Shinnō Conquers the Island of Ogres Picture Scroll
--One Hundred Tales Monster Picture Scroll
--Monsters Galore Picture Scroll
--One Hundred Ghost Stories Picture Scroll
--Kaidan Momonjii
--Tōtei Bukkai Roku
--Old-Fangled Chinese Monsters
--Kaidan Momonjii
--Bakemono Yamato Honzō
--A Procession Led by Foxes
--The Seven Wonders of Honjo
--The Seven Wonders of Honjo Votive Cards
--Crazy Pictures of Famous Places in Tokyo
--Osaka Nishiki-e Shimbun Number 4
--Wedding of Monsters
--Night Parade of One Hundred Demons
--Yokai Envelopes
--Matchbox Labels
Acknowledgement
About the Yumoto Koichi collection
About Koichi Yumoto
Notes
Bibliography
Photo Credits
June 16, 2022
Beautifully presented fantastical illustrations of spirits, ghouls, demons and sprites. Breathtaking detail and formatting makes this a wonder to look at. The only thing missing is more text commentary and dates, and while the latter is a simple miss, the former may be outside the intended scope of the book.
March 28, 2023
It is interesting to understand how legend are born and how they have been shared during all these centuries
January 9, 2022
L'ippocampo non delude mai: un volume che ogni amante del Giappone dovrebbe sfogliare! Molto utile il testo in giapponese a fronte per chi vuole sperimentare la lettura in lingua.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews