The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons scroll

Hyakki Yagyō ("The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons") is a tradition of Japanese folklore referring to the gathering of a large group of yōkai (ghouls of Japanese folklore). These supernatural creatures are said to walk the streets of Japan on summer nights 'spiriting away' onlookers. As a popular centuries old idiom, knowledge of its origin and meaning has become somewhat obscured. Numerous Emakimono (picture scrolls) appearing to be based on the Hyakki Yagyō are known to exist dating as far back as the 16th century. These hand scrolls have sometimes been laid out as bestiaries documenting the different yōkai or as depictions of the parade, often with a narrative script.

In this project carried out during Summer 2020 an international group of artists were assembled to recreate a Night Parade Emakimono in their own styles. The understanding of its origin seems to be confused, however the Hyakki Yagyō illustration used as reference for the project can be viewed here:

https://iiif.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/rep...

Size is approx 16 ft / 5 meters in length.