Byōbunozoki (, ''folding screen peeper'') is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

in the collection of monster paintings by

Toriyama Sekien 200px, A , specifically a Miage-nyūdō, as portrayed by Toriyama , real name Sano Toyofusa, was a scholar, '' kyōka'' poet, and ''ukiyo-e'' artist of Japanese folklore. Early life Born to a family of high-ranking servants to the Tokugawa sh ...

, "

Konjaku Hyakki Shūi is the third book of Japanese artist Toriyama Sekien's ''Gazu Hyakki Yagyō'' tetralogy, published c. 1781. These books are supernatural bestiaries, collections of ghosts, spirits, spooks and monsters, many of which Toriyama based on literature ...

Overview

According to the commentary in ''The One Hundred Demons'', the Byōbunozoki is a monster who looks at a person from the outside of a

folding screen A folding screen, also known as pingfeng (), is a type of free-standing furniture consisting of several frames or panels, which are often connected by hinges or by other means. They have practical and decorative uses, and can be made in a variet ...

, and looks beyond the 7-inch folding screen. According to

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

classics, the Qin Shio emperor jumped over the screen of

Xianyang Palace Xianyang Palace ( 咸陽宮), in (Qin) Xianyang (咸陽), now 15 km/9 miles east of modern Xianyang, Shaanxi province, was the royal palace of the state of Qin before the Chinese unification, and then the palace of the First Emperor when Ch ...

when he was about to be murdered.

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List of legendary creatures from Japan The following is a list of Akuma (demons), Yūrei (ghosts), Yōkai (spirits), Kami and other legendary creatures that are notable in Japanese folklore and mythology. A ...

References

{{Reflist Edo-period works