Night Parade of One Hundred Demons

Organised by the Japan Foundation, the “Yokai Parade: Supernatural Monsters from Japan” comprised four chapters in total: from “The Spectacular World of Yokai Picture Scrolls”, “The Richly Colorful World of Yokai”, “Yokai and Games”, as well as “Yokai Passed Down to Present Day”. The curator Yumoto Kōichi unveils the dissemination and inheritance of yokai culture.

It is believed that some sort of presence lurks within the darkness, resulting in the birth of the yokai. During the Heian period, there was rumors of Hyakki Yagyo (百鬼夜行) encounter in Kyoto, where yokai rampantly parade at night. The oldest surviving Hyakki Yagyo Emaki is housed in the Daitoku-ji Temple in Kyoto and gained recognition as the most popular picture.

Thanks to the woodblock printing, a world different from hand painted picture scrolls came to unfold. During the Edo period, the reproduction made the yokai culture affordable for anyone to obtain. In particular, miniature-colored nishiki-e (錦絵) captured the hearts of people and resulted in a high demand. Yokai nishiki-e with playful and satirical contents came to be created.

People in the Edo period felt the close presence of mysterious creatures. Among these phantom beasts are “Prophetic Beasts” that could foretell the future. During the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019, illustrations of Amabie were viral in social media, who allegedly emerged from the sea to prophesize the epidemic. It instructed people to disseminate its image to defend against illness.

Japan adopted Western culture in the Meiji period. Yokai therefore came to be systematically discussed as an academic discipline. Buddhist philosopher Inoue Enryo scientifically explained the phenomenon of yokai and established “yokai studies," which served to abolish superstitions. Commercialisation in the anime, games and manga aspects further gains its popularity overseas.

Hyaku Monogatari (百物語) is still a popular game, where people gather to take turns orating tales of ghoulish and supernatural encounters. After each tale, the storyteller extinguishes one light, with the legend that mysterious phenomena would occur when the last light was gone and the room was enshrouded at night. It was originally played among samurai for testing courage.

Time to kick off a captivating journey transcending generations and borders, and unravel the timeless allure of yokai. Knock, knock. Dare to open the door when you extinguish a candle?

Title: Yokai Parade ~ Supernatural Monsters from Japan ~

Date: 5 April 2024 to 5 May 2024

Location: Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong

Curator: Yumoto Kōichi, Director Emeritus of the Yumoto Koichi Memorial Japan Yokai Museum