Events

Time and Location

March 20 – May 24
Oglethorpe University Museum of Art (Brookhaven, GA)

About

This exhibition introduces Japan’s Yokai culture that has been depicted in picture scrolls and Nishiki-e (“brocade picture,” a type of Japanese multi-colored woodblock print) since ancient times. Presenting the way in which the image of Yokai came to change from a subject of fear to a more charming and friendly presence along with transitions in media from picture scrolls to Nishiki-e, books and toys which would gradually become familiar to the masses, the exhibition showcases the charm of Yokai culture that continues to live within people’s imagination until the present day.

General Admission is FREE. Curated by Yumoto Koichi – Director Emeritus of the Yumoto Koichi Memorial JAPAN YOKAI MUSEUM (Miyoshi Mononoke Museum). Organized by the Japan Foundation.

For more information: Yokai Parade: Supernatural Monsters from Japan – OUMA

This presentation of the exhibition at Oglethorpe University Museum of Art (OUMA) was facilitated by Japan Foundation New York in collaboration with the Consulate General of Japan to Atlanta and OUMA.

Photo Credit #1: Countless works were created by many illustrators that depict the appearance of a Tsuchigumo spider yokai monster in the hall of Minamoto no Yorimitsu. This work depicts the very moment that Yorimitsu reaches to unsheathe his sword as the Tsuchigumo attacks him, but notably, the face of the Tsuchigumo is oddly humorous rather than terrifying. One can see a large spider’s web strung behind the Tsuchigumo.

Photo Credit #2: Ōishi Hyōroku was a samurai from the Satsuma Domain (now Kagoshima Prefecture) during the Edo period and is a character in a yokai monster story that has been passed down. The story involves foxes that Hyōroku is said to have encountered. This work depicts this story in pictures and words. Entering the forest to drive out a fox that had turned into a person, Hyōroku is met by numerous monsters, but through his bravery, he overcomes the fox and returns to his friends. The illustrations of the yokai stretched over a two-page spread are visually impressive.