Ehon Hyaku Monogatari

Published in the 12th year of Tenpo (1841), the strange tale collection "Ehon Hyaku Monogatari" (Picture Book of a Hundred Stories) — also known as "Tosan Jin Yawa" (Night Tales of Tosan Jin) — is a representative yokai book of the late Edo period. With text by Tosan Jin and color woodblock illustrations by Takehara Shunsen, it introduced strange phenomena selected from nationwide lore and gossip alongside emotionally rich pictures and short narratives. This single volume cemented the image of yokai passed down to later generations, such as the Futakuchi-onna, Hinoenma, and Maikubi. From monstrous sea fish to ghosts of those burdened by karma ── gathered here are the yokai born from a book of strange tales, given vivid form by Shunsen's brush.