Hokusai’s Ghosts: Inside the One Hundred Ghost Tales
When most travelers think of Katsushika Hokusai, their minds immediately drift to the crashing azure waters of The Great Wave off Kanagawa or the serene silhouette of Red Fuji. Hokusai is the undisputed master of ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world), celebrated for capturing the beauty of Japan’s landscapes. However, there is a darker, more macabre side to his portfolio that captivates art historians and horror enthusiasts alike: his series on yurei (ghosts).
Specifically, Hokusai’s Hyaku Monogatari (One Hundred Ghost Tales) represents a chilling departure from scenic views, diving deep into the Edo period’s obsession with the supernatural. As a traveler exploring the cultural depths of Japan, understanding these haunting images offers a unique window into the Japanese psyche, where the line between the living and the dead is terrifyingly thin.
Origins: The Game of One Hundred Candles
To understand Hokusai’s ghost prints, one must first understand the summer tradition that inspired them. In the Edo period (1603–1867), a popular parlor game known as Hyaku Monogatari Kaidankai (A Gathering of One Hundred Supernatural Tales) swept through society.
A Test of Courage
The game was simple yet terrifying. Participants would gather at night in a room lit by one hundred ando lanterns (paper lamps). They would take turns telling a scary story (kaidan). After each tale, the storyteller would extinguish one light. As the room grew darker, the tension mounted. The belief was that when the final candle was snuffed out, plunging the room into total darkness, a real spirit would manifest.
Publishers, sensing a lucrative trend, commissioned artists to create woodblock prints depicting these famous ghost stories. Hokusai, already in his 70s and at the height of his creative powers, began his own series in roughly 1831. Although the title suggests a hundred prints, only five are known to exist today. Yet, these five remain some of the most iconic depictions of horror in Japanese art history.
Legend: The Stories Behind the Prints
Hokusai’s genius lay in his ability to visualize the grotesque with psychological depth. He didn’t just draw monsters; he drew sorrow, betrayal, and vengeance.
The Ghost of Oiwa (Oiwa-san)
Perhaps the most famous of the set is the print of Oiwa. Based on the kabuki play Yotsuya Kaidan, Oiwa was a woman poisoned by her husband so he could marry a younger heiress. The poison disfigured her face, causing her eye to droop and her hair to fall out. Hokusai depicts her not as a human, but as a lantern—her drooping eye merging with the paper folds of the lamp, haunting her husband even in household objects. It is a masterful representation of paranoia.
The Mansion of Plates (Okiku)
Another print depicts the tale of Bancho Sarayashiki. Okiku was a servant girl falsely accused of breaking a precious plate by her master. She was thrown into a well and died. Legend says her spirit rises from the well, counting plates: “One… two…” shrieked in agony. Hokusai renders her spirit as a serpentine neck made of plates rising from the well, a surreal and disturbing image that emphasizes the object of her torment.
Kohada Koheiji
This print features the skeletal ghost of Koheiji, a kabuki actor who was murdered by his wife and her lover. In the print, his skeletal fingers pull down the mosquito net to peer at his sleeping murderers. The juxtaposition of the domestic setting with the grinning skull is pure nightmare fuel.
Modern Culture: The Legacy of Fear
The visual language established by Hokusai and his contemporaries in these prints laid the groundwork for modern J-Horror.
When you watch movies like The Ring (Ringu) or The Grudge (Ju-On), the appearance of the ghosts—long black hair, white burial kimonos, and contorted expressions—can be traced back to Edo-period imagery. The psychological aspect of Hokusai’s work, where the ghost is often a manifestation of guilt (like the lantern face of Oiwa), is a trope heavily utilized in modern psychological anime and manga.
Even in contemporary tattoo culture (Irezumi), Hokusai’s severed heads and skeletal figures remain popular designs, symbolizing impermanence and a connection to the spiritual realm.
Traveler’s Tips: Where to Find the Ghosts
If you are visiting Japan and wish to see these haunting masterpieces or learn more about the culture of yurei, here are the best spots to visit.
- The Sumida Hokusai Museum (Tokyo): Located in Ryogoku, this modern museum is dedicated to the master’s life and work. While the original prints are fragile and rotated frequently to preserve color, high-quality replicas and digital archives are often on display.
- Ota Memorial Museum of Art (Tokyo): Situated in Harajuku, this museum specializes in ukiyo-e. They frequently hold exhibitions centered on supernatural or “scary” prints, especially during the summer.
- Summer is Ghost Season: In Japan, ghost stories are told in August (during Obon) to “chill the blood” and beat the summer heat. This is the best time to find haunted house attractions and special museum exhibits dedicated to Hokusai’s ghosts.
- Yotsuya Oiwa Inari Tamiya Shrine: For the brave, a visit to this shrine in Tokyo, dedicated to the spirit of Oiwa, is a must. It is said to appease her spirit, and actors playing her role still visit to pray for safety before performances.
Sources & Further Reading
To deepen your understanding of the folklore that inspired Hokusai, consider exploring the following:
- Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters): The oldest extant chronicle in Japan (dating to 711–712). It provides the foundational myths of the Shinto religion, including the origins of the land of the dead (Yomi), which informs the Japanese view of the afterlife.
- Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan): Alongside the Kojiki, this text establishes the historical lineage of Japan and includes early accounts of spirits and deities.
- Tales of Moonlight and Rain (Ugetsu Monogatari): A collection of nine supernatural tales by Ueda Akinari (1776), which captures the literary atmosphere of the era in which Hokusai lived.