Drypoint etching, 100×150, 2020 August Series: Japanese phantoms It appeared in the mountains in Amakusa, Higo Province (now Kumamoto Prefecture) in 1843. It had three legs, and was covered with leaves or feathers. It foretold a plague, and it was said that one could escape misfortune by looking at its picture every day.

Drypoint etching, 100×150, 2020 August Series: Japanese phantoms It is said that the ‘e’ in the name ‘Amabie’ was a miswriting of the ‘ko’ in ‘Amabiko’. The Amabiko was found in Higo Province (now Kumamoto Prefecture). It looked and sounded like a monkey, with a round face and covered with hair. It had three legs … Read more

Drypoint etching, 100×150, 2020 July Series: Japanese phantoms A yokai called Yamawarawa once appeared in the mountains in Amakusa, Higo Province (now Kumamoto Prefecture), and there is a tradition that it said: ‘A bad disease is prevalent. The beholder avoids illness with my figure’. After I made it, I noticed that the Yamawarawa that combats … Read more

Drypoint etching, 100×150, 2020 July Series: Japanese phantoms The Kudan is a yokai that became known all over Japan from the early nineteenth century. In the Kanji character ‘Kudan’ (件), the left side is ‘human’ and the right side is ‘cow’, and its figure is half human and half cow. An oral tradition that was … Read more