'Seven Samurai - Battle of Mt. Ishibashi' - Katsukawa Shuntei. Print is said to depict Minamoto Yorimoto (who defeated the Taira and later established the Kamakura shogunate) and his six retainers fleeing from the Taira warriors, going down the steep slope of Mt. Ishibashi. #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe

Frontispiece depicting two couples relaxing in fashionable house, one pair playing game of ken, by Suzuki Harunobu, 18th century. #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe

'Ghost Mother and Child' - unknown Japanese artist, ca. 1890s. #PhantomsFriday #JapaneseArt

Really nice review of my book from the Japan Society in UK. Link: www.japansociety.org.uk/review?revie...

Yesterday’s story 2024

‘Kintoki Scattering Beans to Oni’ - Torii Kiyonaga, 1803. #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe #Setsubun

More for Setsubun. 👹

Another print depicting the Setsubun bean throwing ritual which is believed to chase away bad luck and welcome good fortune for the year ahead. 🎨‘Young Man Throwing Beans at Setsubun’ - Suzuki Harunobu, 1768. #JapaneseArt #JapaneseFolklore

This ukiyo-e print titled ‘Inviting Fortune’ by Toyohara Chikanobu (1889) depicts the Setsubun mamemaki (bean-throwing) ritual undertaken to banish misfortune and welcome good luck for the year ahead. #JapaneseArt #JapaneseFolklore

Today is Setsubun! 👹 open.substack.com/pub/curiouso...

🫘👋DRIVING OUT DEMONS👹💨 It is time to gather your lucky beans, 'fukumame' (福豆), for Setsubun and the first day of lunar spring is almost here! Let's drive away misfortune for another year! 🫘👹🚪➡️ "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" 🍀➡️🚪😊 "Devils out! Fortune in!" (鬼は外! 福は内!)

'Torii in Snow' from the series 'Famous Places in Kyoto' - Utagawa Hiroshige, originally from Edo period, republished early 1900s. #ToriiTuesday #ukiyoe #JapaneseArt

Yuki onna is a fearful #yokai appearing on snowy winter nights. She glides across the snow with her blue lips and transparent skin. Beware as her icy gaze can be deadly and she will suck the life force out of you and leave you to die in the snow. #LegendaryWednesday #JapaneseFolklore 🎨Shigeru Mizuki

#WyrdWednesday #yokai

#LegendaryWednesday #yokai

Tsurube Otoshi are bizarre #yokai that take the form of disembodied heads. They live in treetops waiting for victims. More info below. #WyrdWednesday #JapaneseFolklore

#LegendaryWednesday ❄️

If you hear a knock on your door during a snow storm be very careful, it could be amazake baba. #LegendaryWednesday #yokai

'The Fox Kuzunoha and the Abe Baby' from the series 'Ogura Imitations of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets' - Utagawa Hiroshige, 1845-48 (detail). A great thread below by @camelliakyoto.bsky.social all about Abe no Seimei and his shrine in Kyoto. #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe #JapaneseArt

'Ninnaiji Temple Pagoda in Snow' - Ito Nisaburo, ca. 1950s. #JapaneseArt #shinhanga

'Snow at Miyajima' - Tsuchiya Koitsu, 1937. #ToriiTuesday #JapaneseArt

AI is really pissing me off today! What is the point of writing or sharing anything online anymore when everything is just stolen and repurposed for AI slop? Even AI summaries (which I try to ignore) quote my own work back to me amongst a jumble of misinformation. I'm honestly ready to give up. 😮‍💨

'Snow at Miyajima' - Kawase Hasui, 1932. #ToriiTuesday #JapaneseArt

Sasuke Inari Shrine in Kamakura. #ToriiTuesday #Shinto #Japan

'Tenjin Shrine at Yushima' - Takahashi Shotei, 1936. #ToriiTuesday #JapaneseArt

In Japanese mythology Amaterasu is the kami (goddess) of the Sun. She is the chief Shinto kami, ruler of the heavenly realm, and the mythical divine ancestress of the Japanese Imperial family. I've written about her most famous myth in the thread below. 🎨 Utagawa Kunisada (detail). #MythologyMonday

'Crow' - Yamamoto Shunkyo, ca. 1890-1900. #JapaneseArt

'Hall of the Golden Hue at Hiraizumi' - Kawase Hasui, 1957. This was Hasui's final work before his death later the same year. #JapaneseArt #shinhanga

My favourite little vixen, reimagined as a many-tailed fox #FoxFriday 🦊🌀🌒

Mokugyo Daruma. - [Tsukumogami] - A wooden fish which after 9 years of meditative use, sprung to life in the guise of daruma. Much like the legend himself: it stares forward with a deadpan expression & seeks enlightenment. Like Hossumori, perhaps its unstoppable... samkalensky.com/products/mok...

Eritate-Goromo - [Yokai | Tsukumogami] - The high collared Kimono of the profoundly prideful Tengu King, Sōjōbō of Mt Kurama. After decades of being worn by such a powerful yokai, the robes sprung to life. Perhaps they are just prideful as the Tengu who wore them... samkalensky.com/products/eri...

❄️GREATER COLD🏔️ In the traditional calendar the 'greater cold' (大寒 January 20th-February 3rd) is upon us, and snowy days are here🙌 Cold morning prayers on my way to work🥶🌨️☃️ #Kyoto #京都 #Japan #snow #winter #Japan #kyotosnow #snowday

'Finch and Apricot' - Nakayama Sugakudo, 1859. #JapaneseArt #BookologyThursday

In #JapaneseFolklore there is definitely a #yokai for every occasion. When it comes to fruit, I present suika no bakemono, which appears as a watermelon-headed samurai. Very little is known about this strange supernatural creature. It comes from the Buson Yokai Emaki, a... #BookologyThursday 1/2

Immortal Island (1984, Foreign Languages Press) is a hidden gem of Chinese myth and brushwork. Du Dakei’s ethereal illustrations breathe life into celestial palaces, spirit beasts, and dreamlike realms, each page a gateway to ancient wonder. 👇 1/3 #mythology #art

Another #yokai in #JapaneseFolklore that is said to deliver prophecies is yogen no tori, a two-headed crow. Looking at their image was also said to protect you from harm. The card below is by @yokaiparade.bsky.social (link in comments). #WyrdWednesday

In #JapaneseFolklore kamikakushi is the concept of being spirited away by the kami, or gods. Sometimes when people disappeared it was blamed on evil #yokai who may have taken the person to the spirit world. The Ghibli film Spirited Away is based on this concept. #LegendaryWednesday

A prophetic #yokai for today's #WyrdWednesday is kudagitsune. They are miniature fox familiars but they can also assist with divination, curses and prophecies. More in the thread below. This extremely cute sticker kudagitsune is by amazing yokai artist @samkalensky.com.

There is a very bizarre tale from #JapaneseFolklore about todaiki, which is when a sorcerer used dark magic to transform their enemy into a human candle in order to keep them trapped, unable to either move or speak. #LegendaryWednesday #yokai

Here is another prophetic mermaid #yokai for #WyrdWednesday.

In #JapaneseFolklore mermaids are known as ningyo and they also have prophetic abilities. More info in thread 👇 #WyrdWednesday #yokai

A very mysterious #yokai for #LegendaryWednesday.

'Saishoin Temple in Snow, Hirosaki' - Kawase Hasui, 1936. #JapaneseArt #shinhanga

This wintery scene of Imado Bridge and Matsuchi Hill is by Japanese print designer Utagawa Hiroshige II. Hiroshige II was one of the most successful students of the great print artist Hiroshige I. He continued the landscape style pioneered by his master, creating many series of landscape prints.

This early 20th century Japanese wedding robe displays a sense of movement and energy through the careful positioning of the cranes in various stages of flight, their wings captured at different angles to suggest the continuous motion of a flock navigating the turbulent seascape below.

NETSUKE (根付) DRAGONS. These exquisite miniature sculptures, popular during the Edo period in Japan, reflect important aspects of Japanese #folklore. Supernatural animals & spirits inspired by the #Dragon King of the Sea are common #AppreciateADragonDay

'View of Kiso Mountains and River in Snow' - Utagawa Hiroshige, 1857. #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe

'Torii at Itsukushima' from the series ' Views of the Famous Sights of Japan' - Kobayashi Kiyochika, 1896. #ToriiTuesday #ukiyoe #JapaneseArt

Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. #ToriiTuesday #Shinto #Japan

'Snow at Miyajima' - Kawase Hasui, 1928. #ToriiTuesday #shinhanga #JapaneseArt