The Ghost of Kohada Koheiji

After completing yesterday’s post on Japanese Edo period artist Katsushika Hokusai, I learned that the ukiyo-e woodblock print that I featured from the Museum of Fine Art Boston exhibition was part of a series of artworks based on a long tradition of Japanese ghost stories.

The Laughing Hannya

Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai is a folk tradition in which people gather at night to tell scary supernatural stories. The participants traditionally meet in a room lit by 100 candles. After each story is told, a candle is extinguished, slowly plunging the room into gloomy darkness. Although Hokusai is renowned for his depictions of landscape, wildlife, and daily life, in his later years he delved into the supernatural themes and stories. One Hundred Ghost Stories is a fascinating collection of spooky woodblock prints created by Hokusai during the final years of his life. He planned a collection of one hundred macbre prints, but only five were completed before Hokusai died in 1849.

The Plate Mansion (Sara-yashiki)

Obsession

The Buddhist swastika, known as the manji in Japanese, on the bowl was a symbol that Hokusai used as a pseudonym.