Home / Events / Katsushika Hokusai "One Hundred Ghost Stories: Hokusai’s Spine-Chilling Ukiyo-e"

Katsushika Hokusai "One Hundred Ghost Stories: Hokusai’s Spine-Chilling Ukiyo-e"

Hokusai Museum

Starts 6/17

Artists

Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai is particularly famous for his landscape paintings, including "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji," but he also painted many pictures of ghosts and monsters. Most of these were not woodblock prints but illustrations for yomihon, a type of novel from the Edo period. Hokusai worked on many yomihon illustrations, including stories centered on ghost tales such as Ryūtei Tanehiko's "Kinsei Kaidan Shimoyo Hoshi" (1808) and Kyokutei Bakin's "Shin Rui Gedatsu Monogatari" (1807), as well as essay collections of strange stories and ghost tales from various regions, such as "Hokuetsu Kidan" (1812). Furthermore, ghosts and monsters are frequently depicted in "Hokusai Manga," a work known for depicting all things in nature.

During the Edo period, when Hokusai was active, ghost stories were popular, and ghost story gatherings called "Hyakumonogatari" (One Hundred Ghost Stories) were held. A Hyakumonogatari is a gathering where several people come together, prepare one hundred candles or a lantern with one hundred wicks, and tell ghost stories, extinguishing one candle after each story is finished. It was said that when all one hundred stories were told and it became completely dark, something supernatural would appear.
This exhibition features works related to ghosts, monsters, and ghost stories, based on the theme of "Hyakumonogatari" (One Hundred Ghost Stories). Furthermore, we will focus on "fear," an essential element of ghost stories, and present 100 works that evoke a sense of dread. Please come and cool off with Hokusai's chilling paintings.

Schedule

Jun 17 (Wed) 2026-Jul 26 (Sun) 2026