Umi-zatōThe Biwa-Playing Zatō Standing on the Waves

Umi-zatō survives only as a figure in Edo-period picture scrolls and yokai paintings. No accompanying story explains his nature or actions. The composition centers on a zatō standing upright among the waves, with his biwa and walking staff made unmistakable. The impossible posture—feet planted on a surface that will not stay still—is what makes the image so uncanny.

Yokai researcher Kenji Murakami calls Umi-zatō a yokai that exists only in paintings and notes that its imagery may overlap with Umibōzu. Beyond that, the sources do not say whether it brings harm or benefit, nor do they preserve any rite or means of driving it away. Only the visual details are secure; what it does, and how anyone should respond, remain unanswered.

This yokai is included in the following collections:

The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

Toriyama Sekien’s 1776 yokai art book presenting one creature per leaf, the first in the “Gazu Hyakki Yagyo” series.

カスタム

画図百鬼夜行鳥山石燕

Japanese Sea Yokai｜Apparitions of Ships, Shores, and the Deep

Explore Japanese sea yokai including Umibōzu, Funayūrei, Iso-onna, Nure-onna, Shiranui, Amabie, Bake-kujira, and Isonade through place and folklore.

テーマ別

海の妖怪水の妖怪

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