Drypoint etching, 100×150, November 2020 Series: Japanese phantoms In the second year of the Koka era (1845), after severe weather had been continuing for several days and nights at Osorezan (Mount Osore) in what is now Aomori Prefecture, this mythical beast appeared in a black cloud at the foot of the mountain. It was in … Read more
For us, like everyone else, 2020 has been a very challenging year, and we feel a bit sheepish to lay claim to woes of our own. But last month we added another entry to our list of troubles. We discovered we had termites.
Drypoint etching, 100×150, October 2020 Series: Japanese phantoms This unusual bird appeared in Hirado, Hizen Province (now Nagasaki and Saga Prefectures) in the Edo period. It was said to have issued a prophecy as a divine messenger. The prediction was for a good harvest and the outbreak of an epidemic within seven years from the … Read more
Drypoint etching, 100×150, October 2020 Series: Japanese phantoms In the Edo period, this yokai appeared at Tenpaizan mountain in Chikuzen Province (now Fukuoka Prefecture). It claimed to be a beast of the twelve signs of the zodiac that had been honoured since the age of the gods, and called on people to draw its figure … Read more
Drypoint etching, 100×150, October 2020 Series: Japanese phantoms In the Edo period (probably in 1849), a female voice called out to people from the ocean in Echigo Province (now Niigata Prefecture). This heteromorph in a spiral shell called herself ‘Umidebito’ (person from the sea), and said, ‘There will be a good harvest for five years, … Read more
