crow and nightingale pass through it too... purification hoop 御鴉も鶯も潜る茅の輪哉 -Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶). Trans. David G. Lanoue. As the haiku suggests (crow = commoners and nightingale = nobility), the summer purification ceremony does not discriminate...all are welcome🐦‍⬛ #Kyoto

One of my favourite #yokai.

'Abe no Yasunari reveals the true form of Tamamo-no-Mae, a nine-tailed fox' - Utagawa Kunisada, 1947. From the National Diet Library collection. Single panel of triptych. #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe

'Hakuryoku' - Nishijima Katsuyuki. #JapaneseArt

In the mist-veiled mountains of Kuaiji, Chinese #folklore remembers a man surnamed Cai, known simply as the Cat Immortal. Hidden deep in the wilderness, he kept a thousand cats, summoning them with a gesture and dismissing them just as easily. They came at once, 1/3 #caturday

🥤THE SOLSTICE🌞 'Geshi' (夏至), the 'summer solstice', marks a period of purification in Japan. Now that the first half of the year has passed thanks are given, and prayers made that the second half (beginning with fiercely hot months) will be healthy and misfortune free. #Japan

☀️ Geshi ☀️ 夏至 ☀️ Summer Solstice ☀️ Today is Geshi, the summer solstice, when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky and daylight is at its longest. In Tokyo, there are nearly five more hours of daylight than at Tōji, the winter solstice. #summer #summersolstice #solstice #geshi

'Kanasugi Bridge, Shibaura' - Utagawa Hiroshige, 1857. #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1846 #JapaneseArt

An ancient Bingo Province record (備後国風土記) tells how the chinowa (茅の輪) came to be. On his travels the god Susanoo (須佐之男), his identity concealed as a poor wanderer, asked a wealthy farmer called Kotan Shōrai (巨旦将来) for a bed for the night but was refused. #Japan

👣🌿RING OF PROTECTION🔄🙏 Shortly before the mid-point of the year giant rings of reed begin appearing in shrine precincts across the country. 'Chinowa' (茅の輪) are sacred portals, washing off the impurities gathered over the last six months and offering protection for the next six😇 #茅の輪 #chinowa

The waning moon Traversing the hot water tap The sound of a key Wait, is that a frog in a bath? 🌖 🐸♨️ Check out today's #yokai from Chikuzen bakemono emaki on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/theyokaiguy/...

The kappa is said to have a special talent for flatulence and even uses it as a method of attack. The phrase "he no kappa," meaning "a kappa's fart," is used like the English "piece of cake!" to mean that something is easy to do #FolkloreThursday

Many cultures have hyperbole to indicate "long, long ago" in mythic times, but Korea's is uniquely strange: "back when tigers used to smoke" is one of many ways tigers appear in Korean folklore and myth. #FolkloreThursday

A double-page spread from an antique Japanese woodblock-printed book titled Choju Ryakugashiki (‘Simplified Forms of Drawing Birds and Plants’) by Masayoshi Kitao, published in 1797. 2 of 3

On the midsummer Day of the Ox it's traditional to eat grilled eel, which folklore says gives you strength in hot weather. Modern Japanese science has found some evidence for this belief, but it may have really taken off as a sales promotion by an eel shop in the Edo period. #FolkloreThursday

Attention yokai lovers on Bluesky! This July, don't miss Mononoke Ichi in Kyoto on 7/19-20, at Daishōgun Hachi Jinja (near Kitano Tenmangū). Hope to see you there!

'Red Torii of Heian Jingu Shrine' from the series 'Fifteen Views of Kyoto' - Tokuriki Tomikichiro, ca. 1950s. #ToriiTuesday #JapaneseArt

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

'Torii Gate in a Moonlit Night' - attributed to Ueno Tadamasa, ca 1930s. #ToriiTuesday #shinhanga #JapaneseArt

Memory of Moonlight 2011

the softness of golden hour

We think that this cat ojime is just purr-fect! An ojime is a bead used to fasten the drawstring of a purse, or the cords of an inrō (tiered lacquer carrying case). They are often intricately carved from materials like wood, lacquer, or metal. 🐈 Ojime in the form of a cat, c.1890. EAX.11470

'Courtesan Seated with a Pipe' from the series 'History of the Three Kingdoms, Courtesans in Peach Banquet' - Totoya Hokkei, with poems by Fukurokutei and Fukkosha Nakayoshi, late Edo period. From the Harvard Art Museum collection. #JapaneseArt #ukiyoe

Originally a Chinese term, the name 'Plum Rain' applied to the 4th and 5th lunar months, and the belief that the rainy conditions were created by the plum trees south of the Yangtze. When the plums turned yellow and dropped, it is thought the moisture created turned to rain.

As the rainy season has now begun in Japan, I thought I’d re-share this post from last year. It has plenty of folklore and art to enjoy on rainy days, some yokai to keep an eye out during the rainy season, and a folk tradition used to keep the rain away. open.substack.com/pub/curiouso...

The King of Oni had to be destroyed, but all who stood against him fell. Minamoto no Raikō determined how to do it: he wore two sets of armor and killed Shutendōji, and when the decapitated demon head leaped up to devour him, it ate his armor instead. #MythologyMonday

UNVEILING NEW ACCOUNT If you were following my Coffin Boffin account on Twitter @drsamgeorge1 please follow this bsky account. I can't make the transition easily as I have 35K followers on there and only 700+ on here. I am posting on the same themes of Gothic Enchantment and Dark Folklore!!

During Japan’s Edo period, an artist gathered wonder into Strange Birds and Beasts 怪奇鳥獣図巻, a scroll of fantastical creatures, many with roots reaching back to China’s Shanhaijing 山海经. This mythic geography of mountains, spirits, strange nations, and #art

This elegant Satsuma vase was made in Kyoto during the late 19th century. Take a moment to enjoy the serene decoration - delicate mandarin ducks enjoying the water under cherry blossom. 🦆 Kyo-Satsuma vase in double-gourd form with mandarin ducks under cherry blossom, late 19th century. EA1956.698

'Playing with a Kitten' - Takeuchi Keishu, 1912. Frontispiece for a novel 'Sabishiki Yube' on Bungei Kurabu magazine, Vol. 18, No. 12. #Caturday #JapaneseArt

While it is unproven, many people believe hydrangeas originated in Japan. The Japanese name 'ajisai' (紫陽花), meaning 'gathering of blue' (aji/atsu 集まる = gathering/ai 藍 = indigo), suggests the flowers were originally mostly blue in colour. #hydrangea #あじさい #紫陽花 #Japan

In different types of soil hydrangea petals differ in colour, giving rise to the nickname 'shichihenge' (七変化 '7 transformations'). Throughout history the warrior class shunned the flowers, considering hydrangea to symbolise fickleness and a change of heart or loyalties. #Kyoto #hydrangeas

Introducing the tanuki ball sack bag you never knew you needed until today ("his balls get bigger as you shop"). You're welcome.

Famous Heroes of the Kabuki Stage Played by Frogs by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), a woodcut illustration of personified frogs in costume acting out scenes from Kabuki plays. Original from Library of Congress. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel. Text by rawpixel

This beautiful ribbed sake bottle is from 17th–century Japan. On each of the ribbed sections, the character fuku (good luck) is repeated seven times. Decorating it with multiple fuku characters in this way expressed a wish for health and prosperity.

18th century Katabira (summer kimono) with patterns of dry hedges, carnations and swallows. Matsuzakaya collection, Japan

A large number of youkai who suddenly appeared in Minamoto no Yorimitsu (19th c). From Kuniyoshi Utagawa’s Minamoto no Yoryokan Douzaku Yokaizu.

Long before Poe’s The Black Cat, China had its own tale of feline vengeance. In 1836, during the Daoguang reign, workers repairing a county yamen in Yangchun caught a cat stealing food. One starving laborer, enraged, sealed it alive inside a wall. Soon after, 1/3 #Caturday

Takagi Haruyama, 1850’s.

I didn't know this, but there's also a boar at Goou Shrine in Kyoto. This is based on a legend that Wake no Kiyomaro (733-99) was rescued by a herd of wild boars while in exile and safely escorted to Usa Hachimangu Shrine. Originally, this shrine was located on Mount Takao.

I just published a new article about the goddess Marishiten and a shrine dedicated to her in Kyoto. curiousordinary.substack.com/p/marishiten... #JapaneseFolklore #JapaneseArt

🦊THE FOX FAMILIARS🌾 A Heian period tale tells of how foxes (kitsune '狐') became familiars to the 'rice god'. 📖A wise family of foxes from Funaoka-yama (船岡山 -just north of the palace) visited the shrine around 810 and asked Inari Ōkami if they might become his/her servants🙇‍♂️

⛩️⛩️🦊TEN THOUSAND GATES🦊⛩️⛩️ faces of devils faces of foxes... spring breeze 鬼の面狐の面や春の風 -Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶 1763-1828). Trans. David Lanoue. An afternoon hike amongst the foxes of Fushimi Inari (伏見稲荷大社). Kitsune (狐) are familiars to the 'rice god' Inari Ōkami (稲荷大神). #Kyoto #京都

The shapeshifting tanuki of Japanese folklore often disguises itself as a monk and can do calligraphy. In one tale, a visiting monk's writing was odd enough to raise suspicions, making his host think, this seems like the sort of thing a tanuki would write. #folklorethursday

Japanese raccoon dogs are called Tanuki (狸). In Japanese mythology these adorable animals are tricksters who love sake more than trouble, and will go to great lengths to gain it. Many pose as priests for that purpose, and can be quite friendly. #FolkloreThursday 🖼: Yoshitoshi

In Luzhou, Sichuan, Jinlong Temple (四川瀘州金龍寺) rises from the hillside of Binjiang Village with a guardian worthy of its name: a colossal golden dragon head. Set before the Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings, the sculpture stretches about 12 meters long and nearly 10 meters 1/2

In Japan, when rain falls from a clear sky, it's said that foxes are having a wedding #FolkloreThursday art by Mizuki Shigeru

The three-legged crow Yatagarasu is the messenger of the gods of the Shinto shrines of Kumano. It's also the symbol of the Japan Football Association, perhaps because they feel that an extra leg would often be a handy thing to have? #FolkloreThursday

Goodnight. 🖼️ Jian Chong Min