A red torii (gate) spears to be floating on water. It is mowing and snow is sitting on the torii and on the rooftops of houses on the shore. There are mountains in the background. A person in a small boat moves through the water in front of the torii.
'Snow at Miyajima' - Kawase Hasui, 1928.
#ToriiTuesday #shinhanga #JapaneseArt
A stone torii (gate) leads to a small shrine with trees beyond.
A sub-shrine on Mount Inari at Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto.
#ToriiTuesday #Shinto #Japan
A person with an umbrella is walking through the snow towards a red torii (gate). Beyond are snow-laden trees.
'Torii Gate on Snowy Day' - Kawase Hasui, ca. 1930s.
#ToriiTuesday #JapaneseArt #shinhanga
Yes. It's odd, it doesn't seem particularly contained.
I would be surprised if they didn't.
Thank you for the extra details, my eyes would never have picked up the details on that sign.
Several women sit in a room of a traditional Japanese style home and a huge dirty, hairy foot appears to hang from above. Two of the women have tubs of water and cloths and appear to be washing the foot.
...and again. If it was not washed it would smash the house to pieces. The owner of the house despaired and when someone offered to swap houses he jumped at the chance. After that, the disembodied foot never returned to visit the new owners.
🎨1. Utagawa Kuniteru III
2. Matthew Meyer @yokai.com
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Two women sit in a room and a huge dirty foot appears to hang from above. A water bath sits on the floor.
In #JapaneseFolklore there was a strange #yokai phenomenon known as ashiarai yashiki (foot washing manor) where a giant, hairy, bloody, disembodied foot crashed through the roof of a house demanding to be washed. If it was washed it would then disappear only to return again...
#MythologyMonday
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I have heard of this practice but hadn't seen that print before, thank you for sharing.
That looks great! I hope you are feeling better soon.
That looks like a great exhibition.
A young child holding fans stands at the entrance to a room.
Zashiki-warashi are mischief-loving house #yokai appearing as young children. Phantom noises in the night or strange children's footprints can be a sign that they are haunting a home. They are considered lucky, protective, and can bring good fortune to a household.
#MythologyMonday
🎨Lawrence Rasson
A card from the Yokai Oracle showing a shoji screen with eyes peering through the torn paper. The card text reads "Mokumokuren - Many-Eyed Monsters Awareness, vigilance, perception"
...dangerous itself, they are certainly very spooky and are often believed to indicate that there is a #yokai infestation within the building.
🎨1. Shigeru Mizuki.
2. A card from the Yokai Oracle by Thersa Matsuura (@uncannyjapan.bsky.social) illustrated by Michelle Wang.
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Illustration by Shigeru Mizuki depicting a man running out of a house. Behind him is a paper screen covered in pairs of yellow eyes.
In #JapaneseFolklore, mokumokuren is a strange supernatural phenomenon occurring when the shoji (paper sliding doors) in buildings get old and damaged. Over time, the holes transform into disembodied eyeballs which peer out at you. While this yokai is not particularly...
#MythologyMonday
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Traditional wooden footwear from Japan, possibly imported originally from Southern China. They were (& still can be) worn for practical purposes, eg keeping feet & kimono dry during wet weather. They were also worn for style eg by geisha and oiran with different styles denoting their distinct roles.
Print depicting the living room of a traditional farmer's house. A white cat with black spots is on the floor. A kettle with fire in foreground. Two geese hanging from roof beam. Door leads out to garden.
'Farmer's House' - Minagawa Taizo, ca. 1950s.
#JapaneseArt
An illustration of an owl with head slightly tilted and crescent moon above. Poem text reads "かたむいた月のふくろうとして" I am unsure of an appropriate translation.
'Owl and Crescent Moon' - Kozaki Kan, ca. 1990s.
#OwlishMonday #JapaneseArt
Weeping plum blossoms at Jonan-gu.
Weeping plum blossoms at Jonan-gu.
Weeping plum blossoms at Jonan-gu.
Nao-san enjoys the plum blossoms at Jonan-gu.
🗺️🤔SOUTH OF THE CAPITAL🧭🌸
Second only to Kitano Tenmangū as the go-to destination for plum blossoms, Jōnan-gū's "Spring Mountain" (春の山) reimagines a Heian-period style garden.
even the mean monks
come to eat rice cakes-
God of Jōnan
腹あしき僧も餅くへ城南神
-Yosa-no-Buson (与謝蕪村).
A blind man holding a wooden cane.
Around the 13th century in Japan there was a ranking system enforced by the Shogunate that restricted certain occupations to specific classes of people. Zato were a class of blind people trained initially as lute players but later this expanded to massage, acupuncture, and...
#MythologyMonday
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Matt and Hiroko are so great. Hiroko just published a book about Japanese spirituality and I really loved it. It put so many things I'd read about into context and was also just a very enjoyable read.
Thank you for reading, & for your kind comment. She was definitely popular with female entertainers during the Edo period, & there is a print in my article showing their pilgrimage to her shrine on Enoshima. As a patron of the arts, and protector deity, I imagine they would have viewed her that way.
Benzaiten is the Japanese goddess of all that flows including water, love, music, speech and knowledge. She is the only goddess among the seven lucky gods and is widely worshipped in both Buddhism and Shinto. I've written more about her here:
open.substack.com/pub/curiouso...
#InternationalWomensDay
Here's the tale of Amaterasu and the cave.
bsky.app/profile/curi...
#JapaneseFolklore
#InternationalWomensDay
I hope you enjoy your next trip!
I have only been twice, but I am longing to visit again.
This week: a new yokai to justify your fear of swimming in the ocean.
Meet tsunakiri ika, the rope-cutting squid. Straight out of your nightmares!
Read about it for free on my Patreon or on yokai.com -> www.patreon.com/posts/152446...
The pre-order still will be closing later this month. If you've been putting off pre-ordering Echizen-Wakasa Kidan, this is your last chance to get premium editions of the book, plus unique traditional Japanese crafts based on the yokai from the book that won't be available in stores!
A path leads towards a shrine with tall trees to each side and in the distance. On the path many deer are standing or sitting.
'Way to the Kasuga Shrine' - Yoshida Hiroshi, 1938.
#JapaneseArt
I love these words 🖤🖤🖤
