Hyakki Yagyo

[Posted： 2025/05/20]

A classical Japanese folklore tradition tells of yokai-supernatural creatures-marching through human towns and villages in a long procession each night.

Oni, tengu, fox spirits, nekomata, kasa-obake, nopperabo… all manner of strange and eerie beings appear in a group and parade through the streets.

It is said that encountering this Night Parade of One Hundred Demons can lead to death.

The roots of this legend are believed to date back as far as the Heian period.

Unlike today, nights in ancient Japan were nearly pitch black.

The only light was the faint glow of the moon.

In addition to fears of random attackers, people were haunted by the primal fear of the dark shared by all living creatures.

This image of nocturnal terror was given form in the Kamakura to Muromachi periods through illustrated scrolls known as Hyakki Yagyo Emaki (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons picture scrolls).

In the Edo period, Toriyama Sekien further popularized the concept through his illustrated collections: Gazu Hyakki Yagyo, Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki, and Konjaku Hyakki Shuui.

Even in modern times, the world of Hyakki Yagyo continues to be reimagined, such as in Shigeru Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitaro or Natsuhiko Kyogoku's Hyakki Yagyo Series.

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