Ultra-Pop Yokai Arrive at the Yokai Art Museum with “Yokai Like! Like!” and “Plamo Kai”

Humans Continue to Create Yokai in the Modern Age

In ancient Japan, nature, which was beyond human control, was considered to be gods. People believed that all natural disasters, such as earthquakes, typhoons, wildfires, and floods, were caused by invisible, greater forces.

Influenced by Buddhist art, the concept of invisible beings causing mysterious events began to be depicted as yokai (monsters) during the Heian period. However, in the Edo period, the perception of yokai shifted, and they became a form of entertainment for the common people. People began to enjoy colorful yokai illustrations and ghost stories in ukiyo-e prints or in books resembling encyclopedias. This legacy continues today in modern anime and manga works that feature yokai as a central theme. One consistent fact is that yokai are products of human thought. Even today, humans continue to create yokai with their imagination, either to enjoy different stories or to find comfort, constantly updating the forms of yokai in response to the times.

Located in Kagawa Prefecture’s Shodoshima, the Yokai Art Museum is the only place in the world where you can encounter contemporary art of yokai. Housed in restored buildings, including a kimono storehouse, a soy sauce warehouse, a printing factory, and a samurai family’s residence from the Meiji and Showa periods, the museum displays nearly 1,000 sculptures of yokai created by contemporary artists.

The collection, gathered from both domestic and international sources, consists of original pieces submitted to the Yokai Sculpture Grand Prize art contest, which has been held seven times since 2013. These works emit a unique charm, blending ancient yokai culture with modern pop culture. The themes of the pieces range from traditional yokai figures such as “oni” (demons), “tengu” (goblins), “kappa” (water creatures), and “tsukumogami” (possessed objects), to contemporary yokai inspired by social media and the internet.

In November, the book POP YOKAI Contemporary Character Art of Japan (published by Rockbook, France) will be released worldwide (in Japan, it was released earlier in September). The book is structured to mirror the exhibits at the Yokai Art Museum. It introduces some of the “modern yokai” works from traditional yokai to those based on local yokai from Shodoshima and works by the yokai artist Tadahira Yagyu. The commentary is provided by Masanobu Kagawa, Japan’s first “Yokai Doctor.”