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 Yagyōe-hontetralogy, 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。)
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.