here be monsters

A link here, a click there, and suddenly I'm tumbling down another geeky rabbit hole of sweetness. As mentioned before, I've loved Japanese art for pretty much ever, and I'm a sucker for monsters and general straunge and vvonderfulness especially in pre-cinematic times. I've never gotten into anime really, but I can see a lot of the parallels from what I have seen and what I know from those who dwell in that world. Anyways, these are nishiki-e newspaper prints detailing what Pravda English might call "anamalous phenomena" involving all manner of freaky-deaky ghosts and monsters wreaking havoc on regular folk.

In the early morning hours of August 4, 1873, a man named Umemura Toyotaro was awakened by an earthquake. As he struggled to get back to sleep, his child, who lay nearby, suddenly burst out crying hysterically. The man looked up to find a strange, three-eyed monk standing over them. He watched in disbelief as the mysterious monk grew taller and taller, until his head reached the ceiling. Unrattled, the man grabbed the monk's sleeve and pulled him to the ground. The monk turned out to be an old shape-shifting tanuki. 

 Around twelve midnight a monster would appear in the house of a master carpenter in the Kanda area of Tokyo and do "horrible things" to his sleeping wife. Unable to endure it, the family had prayers chanted to ward off the monster, the article reports. This monster, which does look lecherous, may have been the sort of evil spirit that appears in one’s dreams.

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Despite appearances, this monster means no harm. The helpful creature is attempting to reform a failed Hyogo-area politician named Nakayama, who neglected his responsibilities after falling victim to a widow's charms. 

 This print depicts a giant alligator inhabiting the Koga inlet of eastern Mie prefecture. The feared sea monster, which was described as being covered in seaweed and oysters, was known to attack ships and devour anyone thrown overboard. One day a ship in the area caught fire. As the crew abandoned the burning vessel, the creature ate them all. 

I'm also not sure how I never learned about Utagawa Kuniyoshi until now, but expect more of him in posts to come. 

 Kuniyoshi depicting a samurai stabbing a giant salamander. 

In Japanese folklore, Gashadokuro, (がしゃどくろ) also known as Odokuro, are giant skeletons, fifteen times taller than an average person. If a Gashadokuro sees a human, it will grab it and attempt to bite its head off. Gashadokuro are created from gathering bones from people who have died of starvation. The only way a Gashadokuro can be detected before it appears is by hearing a ringing in one's ears.