Famous Japanese Yokai and Masterpieces of Yokai Art: The Night Parade Scrolls, Toriyama Sekien, Hokusai, Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi—and Museums to Meet Them

Yokai are mysterious phenomena beyond human understanding, or the beings believed to cause them. Long called “mononoke” or “bakemono,” they have been told of in folklore and stories across Japan. The culture of depicting and enjoying them in pictures began with Muromachi-period picture scrolls, and in the Edo period yokai encyclopedias and ukiyo-e were published one after another, becoming popular entertainment. This article introduces representative yokai, masterpieces of yokai art, and museums and exhibitions where you can meet them.

Representative Japanese yokai

• Kappa: Water yokai said to live in rivers and marshes. The image of a dish on the head, a shell on the back and a fondness for cucumbers spread in the Edo period. Legends exist across Japan, and people in Edo recorded sightings and drawings in books.

• Tengu: Yokai said to live deep in the mountains. They are often shown either as “hanadaka tengu,” with red faces and long noses, or “karasu tengu,” with beaks, and are associated with the garb of yamabushi mountain ascetics.

• Oni: Usually depicted with horns and fangs, wearing a tiger-skin loincloth. The legend of Shuten-doji of Mount Oe became a popular subject for picture scrolls and ukiyo-e.

• Tsukumogami: Tools that have acquired a spirit after many years and turned into yokai. They appear in great numbers in the “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons” scrolls, where old utensils march in procession.

• Rokurokubi: Yokai whose necks stretch out at night, a familiar presence in Edo-period ghost stories and yokai encyclopedias.

• Yuki-onna and noppera-bo: They appear in “Kwaidan,” published in 1904 by Koizumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn), and became known abroad as well.

Masterpieces of yokai art

Night Parade of One Hundred Demons scroll (Shinju-an version)

This Muromachi-period picture scroll, handed down at Shinju-an, a sub-temple of Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, is designated an Important Cultural Property. It shows tsukumogami—old utensils such as biwa lutes, pots and fans turned into yokai—marching in a lively procession. It is traditionally attributed to Tosa Mitsunobu. The Night Parade scrolls were copied many times afterward, producing numerous variants.

Toriyama Sekien, “The Illustrated Night Parade of One Hundred Demons”

A collection of yokai pictures published in 1776. Arranged like an encyclopedia, it depicts yokai one by one with their names, and together with its sequels it contains more than 200 kinds. It is said to have influenced later yokai art, including the yokai pictures of Mizuki Shigeru.

Katsushika Hokusai, “One Hundred Ghost Stories”

A series from around 1831–32, of which five prints survive, including “Oiwa-san,” which merges the ghost Oiwa with a paper lantern, and “Sara-yashiki,” in which the ghost Okiku stretches out of a well. Made around the same time as “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji,” it combines Hokusai’s humor with a sense of fear.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, “Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre”

A work from around 1845–46 that shows, across a large three-sheet composition, a giant skeleton summoned by sorcery by Princess Takiyasha, daughter of Taira no Masakado, attacking Oya no Taro Mitsukuni. It is also celebrated as an ukiyo-e masterpiece (see 12 famous ukiyo-e prints).

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, “New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts”

Published in 1889–92, this is the series of yokai and supernatural tales from the last years of Yoshitoshi’s life (36 prints). It depicts historical figures confronting yokai and the passions of ghosts with delicate lines and restrained colors.

Kawanabe Kyosai, “Kyosai’s Illustrated Tales of One Hundred Demons”

A woodblock-printed book published in 1889. Carrying on the tradition of the Night Parade, it depicts a humorous procession of skeletons and yokai.

Museums and exhibitions where you can meet yokai

• Yumoto Koichi Memorial Japan Yokai Museum (Miyoshi Mononoke Museum) (Miyoshi, Hiroshima Prefecture): Opened on April 26, 2019, it is Japan’s first museum devoted to yokai. It displays by theme about 5,000 items donated by yokai researcher Yumoto Koichi, and also has a permanent digital installation, “teamLab Yokai Amusement Park.” Miyoshi is also the setting of the Edo-period yokai tale “Ino Mononoke-roku.”

• Mizuki Shigeru Memorial Museum (Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture): A museum introducing the life and works of Mizuki Shigeru, creator of “GeGeGe no Kitaro.” It reopened on April 20, 2024, after being rebuilt. Bronze statues of yokai line the nearby “Mizuki Shigeru Road.”

• National Archives of Japan (Takebashi, Tokyo): The exhibition “Playful Spirits” runs until December 6. Edo-period books and records featuring kappa and mermaids can be seen free of charge (see our article on the exhibition).

An immersive exhibition that brings yokai art to life: “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition”

The “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition” lets visitors experience yokai art by Edo- and Meiji-period painters—Night Parade scrolls, ghost stories, oni, tengu, kappa, tsukumogami and more—through 3DCG, projection mapping and sculptural installations. With the cooperation of the Nishio City Iwase Bunko Library (Aichi Prefecture), described as Japan’s first museum of old books, and the Yokai Art Museum on Shodoshima (Kagawa Prefecture), it has drawn a cumulative total of more than 300,000 visitors at three venues in Nagoya, Tokyo and Kagoshima. It also received a 2026 Good Design Award (see our article on the award and our article on the Kagoshima exhibition).

Frequently asked questions

What are the most representative Japanese yokai?

Well-known yokai include kappa, tengu, oni, tsukumogami, rokurokubi and yuki-onna. Kappa and tengu have legends across Japan and appear frequently in Edo-period pictures and books.

What is the “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons”?

It refers to yokai marching in a procession in the middle of the night. In the Muromachi-period “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons” scroll (Shinju-an version), it is depicted as a lively procession of tsukumogami, old utensils turned into yokai.

What is the difference between yokai and ghosts?

Generally, a ghost (yurei) is the spirit of a dead person appearing in the form they had in life, while yokai often refers to mysterious non-human beings or phenomena. The distinction is not clear-cut, however, and the two were often treated together in Edo-period pictures and books.

Which museums show yokai art?

There is the Yumoto Koichi Memorial Japan Yokai Museum (Miyoshi Mononoke Museum) in Miyoshi, Hiroshima Prefecture, and the Mizuki Shigeru Memorial Museum in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture. In Takebashi, Tokyo, the National Archives of Japan is holding the exhibition “Playful Spirits” free of charge until December 6.

A note from the publisher

*Disclosure: The “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition” introduced in this article is an exhibition planned and produced by HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE, together with TV Aichi (About us).

For the latest information on events by HITOHATA, INC., see HITOHATA, INC.’s event page.

For Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s life, major works and where to see them, see Who Was Utagawa Kuniyoshi?

*Top image: Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition KAGOSHIMA (from HITOHATA, INC.’s press release)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on official announcements from museums, local governments and organizers (as of November 9, 2026) and general knowledge from art history and folklore studies on yokai and yokai art.