National Archives of Japan’s “Playful Spirits” Is Free Until December 6: Edo-Period Books and Records Featuring Kappa and Mermaids

The National Archives of Japan’s second exhibition of fiscal 2026, “Playful Spirits: Yokai and Fantastic Beasts in the Edo Period,” is being held in the 1st-floor exhibition hall of its Tokyo main building (Kitanomaru Park, Chiyoda City, Tokyo). Drawing on Edo-period herbals, essays and other materials in the archives’ collection, it introduces documents featuring “mononoke” (spirits) such as kappa, mermaids, dragons and vengeful cats. To protect the materials, the exhibition period is divided into five parts, and some documents are opened to different pages in each period. It runs until Sunday, December 6. Open 9:15–17:00; free admission, no reservation required.

What materials are on display? From herbals to town gossip

The organizers explain the purpose of the exhibition as follows. Since ancient times, uncanny phenomena had been a threat to Japanese society, foretelling misfortune. In the Edo period, however, the uncanny transformed into more harmless “mononoke,” and people enjoyed the wonders of everyday life as mononoke and recorded them in books and documents. The exhibition introduces these Edo-period mononoke that “play between reality and fantasy.”

The official website and poster highlight two main exhibits. The “Nitto Honzo Zusan” is an herbal compiled in the mid-18th century that mainly covers animals, plants and other things used as medicine. According to the organizers, mononoke were also a subject of study in herbal science (honzogaku). The “Gaidan Bunbun Shuyo” is a collection of essays recording town talk—that is, the gossip of the day—from the Bunka and Bunsei eras (1804–1830), featuring vengeful cats, strange fish and more.

The notice of display changes also lists the “Gyokaizu,” “Suiko Koryaku,” “Hirokata Zuihitsu,” “Tenpo Zakki” and “Shukuchi Senri.” Of these, the archives introduced the “Hirokata Zuihitsu” at its special display of the original “utsuro-bune” document in September 2026 as a compilation of miscellaneous notes kept by the shogunal retainer Yashiro Hirokata (1758–1841), consisting of 60 volumes of strange events and rumors, simple scholarly investigations and the like (formerly held by the Home Ministry). This exhibition features its “Grave Washing” scene.

Five exhibition periods; the mermaid scene is on view until November 6

The exhibition is divided into five periods, and some materials are opened to different scenes in each period.

• (1) Friday, October 16 – Friday, October 23

• (2) Saturday, October 24 – Friday, November 6

• (3) Saturday, November 7 – Sunday, November 15

• (4) Tuesday, November 17 – Monday, November 23 (national holiday)

• (5) Wednesday, November 25 – Sunday, December 6

The “Suiko Koryaku” shows a different kappa scene in each period, from “Kappa 1” to “Kappa 5.” The “Gyokaizu” shows a mermaid only in period (2) and a dragon in the other periods. The “Shukuchi Senri” shows the “Mainai Bird” in periods (1) and (2) and a “Snail” from period (3) onward. The originals of the “Grave Washing” scene in the “Hirokata Zuihitsu” and the “Kikazari” in the “Tenpo Zakki” are shown only in period (2), with panel displays in the other periods. To see the mermaid scene and the originals of “Grave Washing” and “Kikazari,” visit by Friday, November 6.

“Kitanomaru Great Yokai Exhibition,” a first collaboration with the Science Museum

At the Science Museum, also in Kitanomaru Park, the panel exhibition “Hyakki Soran: Disasters and Yokai Legends” (Science Gallery, 4th floor) is being held over the same period. It presents “disasters” such as earthquakes, storms and floods, landslides and infectious diseases, together with the lessons and prayers that can be read from yokai legends around Japan, alongside the science and technology of disasters; it was produced by the Nagoya City Minato Disaster Prevention Center and the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo. The two museums have named the pairing the “Kitanomaru Great Yokai Exhibition,” and the poster calls it the first collaboration between them. According to the Science Museum, the two are about 200 m apart.

As a joint project, reproductions of materials from the National Archives’ collection are displayed at the Science Museum venue. Visit both and show your Science Museum admission ticket at the shop counter on the 1st floor of the National Archives to receive an original souvenir made from acrylic offcuts (while supplies last). There is also a stamp rally with stamps at both venues. The Science Museum’s panel exhibition can be seen with general admission only; the museum is open 9:30–16:50 and closed on November 4 and 11 (both Wednesdays).

Gallery talks and a talk session require advance registration

Following those on October 22 and 30, a gallery talk in which the exhibition’s curator explains the highlights will be held from 14:00 on Wednesday, November 18, in the 4th-floor conference room of the Tokyo main building (about 40 minutes). Participation is free, capacity is 40, and the registration deadline is 17:00 on Monday, November 16. Apply through the registration form on the official website or the designated email address.

From 14:00 on Wednesday, November 4, staff of the National Archives and the Science Museum will discuss highlights and behind-the-scenes stories in a conversation-style talk session (about 60 minutes, same conference room, free, capacity 40). The registration deadline is 17:00 on Friday, October 30. On Sunday, November 1, a yokai-themed workshop will also be held at the Science Museum (participation fee ¥2,000, admission separate, cash only).

Admission, hours and access

Admission is free, and no reservation is needed. The exhibition is open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:15–17:00, which differs from the hours of the reading room. It is closed on Mondays but open on November 23 (Mon, national holiday) and 30 (Mon), and closed on Tuesday, November 24.

Access is a 5-minute walk from Exit 1b of Takebashi Station on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line. Visitors coming by car are asked to use nearby paid parking (vehicles used by people with disabilities can use the archives’ parking space). The exhibition is also a participating event in “Tokyo Cultural Heritage Week 2026.” From Saturday, October 31 to Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday), a special display of the original Constitution of Japan (free) is also held in the permanent exhibition hall of the Tokyo main building (closed Monday, November 2).

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a reservation or to pay?

Admission is free, and no reservation is needed. The gallery talks and the talk session require advance registration, with a capacity of 40 for each.

When can I see the mermaid scene?

The mermaid in the “Gyokaizu” is shown only from Saturday, October 24 to Friday, November 6, which corresponds to period (2). In the other periods, the same document shows a dragon scene.

Is it open on Mondays?

It is generally closed. However, it is open on November 23 (Mon, national holiday) and 30 (Mon), and closed on Tuesday, November 24.

Is the Science Museum exhibition also free?

The Science Museum’s panel exhibition requires the museum’s general admission (it can be seen with general admission only). A Science Museum admission ticket is also needed to receive the souvenir.

Editor’s perspective

The National Archives of Japan holds more than public records transferred from government ministries. According to the archives, the Cabinet Library, which originated in the Library Section of the Dajokan in 1873 (Meiji 6), includes Japanese and Chinese books inherited from the Edo shogunate’s Momijiyama Library, the Shoheizaka Gakumonjo and the Wagaku Kodansho, and was transferred to the National Archives of Japan when it opened in Kitanomaru Park in 1971 (Showa 46). The “Hirokata Zuihitsu” in this exhibition is also a book compiled by a shogunal retainer and held by the Home Ministry. The fact that records of mononoke written down by the people of Edo survive in the holdings of the national archives is the premise of this exhibition.

In this exhibition, herbals compiling medicinal animals and plants and essays recording town gossip sit side by side in the same exhibition hall. That the “playful” mononoke the organizers describe were both objects of scholarship and topics of talk in town can be read from the types of documents themselves. To see the forms of yokai drawn by painters, our article on the Kawanabe Kyosai exhibition at the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, which also runs until December 6, is a good reference.

The archives has taken up the uncanny from its holdings before, in exhibitions such as “Legends of Yokai Slaying” in 2013–14, “Mysterious Incidents of Edo” at the Tsukuba Annex in 2014 and “Dragons: Mystery Blended into Daily Life” in 2024. This time it has teamed up with the Science Museum in the same park so visitors can go back and forth to an exhibition on disasters and yokai legends. Because bound materials can show only one spread at a time, the display changes in each period are also an opportunity to show different scenes from the same book. Exhibitions of Japanese art on view this autumn and winter are summarized in our guide to Japanese art exhibitions, and other exhibitions in Tokyo in our 20 recommended exhibitions in Tokyo for autumn and winter 2026.

Exhibition overview

Title: National Archives of Japan, second exhibition of fiscal 2026, “Playful Spirits: Yokai and Fantastic Beasts in the Edo Period”
Dates: Friday, October 16 – Sunday, December 6, 2026 *Divided into five periods, with some materials changed
Hours: 9:15–17:00
Closed: Mondays (open November 23 and 30), Tuesday, November 24
Venue: 1st-floor exhibition hall, National Archives of Japan, Tokyo main building
Address: 3-2 Kitanomaru Koen, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Admission: Free (no reservation required)
Organizer: National Archives of Japan (cooperation: Chiyoda City Tourism Association)
Official website: https://www.archives.go.jp/exhibition/
*Information as of October 30, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

For Japan’s representative yokai and yokai art by the Night Parade scrolls, Toriyama Sekien, Hokusai, Kuniyoshi and Yoshitoshi, see Famous Japanese Yokai and Masterpieces of Yokai Art.

*Top image: National Archives of Japan, Tokyo main building (Photo: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information from the official website of the National Archives of Japan (exhibition information, exhibition poster, display change notice, Kitanomaru Great Yokai Exhibition collaboration event flyer, access, Archives News Vol. 43 and more; all accessed October 30, 2026) and the official website of the Science Museum (special project “Kitanomaru Great Yokai Exhibition,” accessed the same day).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team