The Edo Period

The Edo period, from 1603 - 1867 was a time of peace and prosperity for Japan. It also saw Japan isolate itself from the rest of world and brought about an unexpected change in social hierachy and class definitions.

The Arts And Ukiyo-E

Today, one of the most famous influences that remains from this time was the development of the arts. The genre of painting known as ukiyo-E originates from the Edo era. Paintings were based on pictures of what was known as 'the floating world'.

Due to better living conditions and the growth in personal wealth, money was spent on indulging the senses in ways that had not been accessible to the public before. Ukiyo-e paintings reflected these new 'hobbies' and in modern terms may be considered to be artistic pornography.

The ukiyo-e style of art continued to grow in popularity and soon many different subjects were depicted in this style.

The method of painting later evolved into using hand-colored woodblock prints to create the image. Perhaps the most famous of the ukiyo-e artists is Hokusai. His most popular series,36 views of Fuji mountain, which includes 'The Great Wave' to your right, has been reproduced many times and is recognized world wide.

This is the famous "In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa", often known in the West as "The Wave".

Mount Fuji in Clear Weather. This often also known as "Red Fuji".

Book: The illustrated Night Parade of A Hundred Demons

This is the first book of Japanese artist Toriyama Sekien's famous Gazu Hyakki Yakō series, published 1776. These books are supernatural bestiaries, collections of ghosts, spirits, spooks and monsters, many of which Toriyama based on literature, folklore, other artwork. These works have had a profound influence on subsequent yōkai imagery in Japan.

My animation adapted from a story of this book. the charecter called Dodomeki, She is a girl who was a thief. One day she saw a rich woman in the market. She followed her,and just when she reached out her hand, she suddenly felt a great pain in her arm. She ran to the riverside and found her arm grew lots of eyes. As she stole more and more things, there were more and more eyes on her body.So she had to wear long robe and cover a cloth on her head.She was afraid, but couldn't stop, and turned into a moster.

A monk heard of this monster, and he had to destroy it before it collected 100 eyes.The monster appeared as a beautiful lady, but the monk used spell to show its original look. The monster's 98 eyes shot rays of sparkling lights and numbed the monk. Just as it nearly got his eyes, to the monster's surprise, the monk hurt his own eyes and blinded the monster with incense ashes. At last, the monk's sacred light shot through the 100-eyed monster's chest.At last,the monster turned into ashes.