The ''Tosa Obake Zōshi'' is a Japanese ''

yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and Spirit (supernatural entity) , spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply ...

emaki Illustrated handscrolls, , or is an illustrated horizontal narration system of painted handscrolls that dates back to Nara-period (710–794 CE) Japan. Initially copying their much older Chinese counterparts in style, during the succeeding He ...

'' (illustrated scroll). It was written by an unknown author and is set in

Tosa Province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syst ...

(now

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 669,516 (1 April 2023) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and Tok ...

), with 16 sections about yōkai in total; it was created during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. There are two editions, the private collection, originally owned by the Horimi family, and the collection of the Sakawa Education Committee of

Sakawa Sakawa is a Ghanaian term for illegal practices which combine modern Internet-based fraud with African traditionalist rituals. The term or word Sakawa is an Hausa word which means ''putting inside, how to make money''. The rituals, which are most ...

Summary

At the opening of all sixteen yōkai tales, yōkai from each area of Japan gather at Tosa, and in the end, at dawn, the yōkai disperse, bringing each tale to its conclusion. It is notable for collecting folktales from Tosa during the Edo period, including the Kechibi and the Yamajijii among others. The yōkai are presented with a rich local colouring, but it is a work that has attracted national interest as recounting iconic yōkai tales of the Edo period. The depictions present the yōkai as mischievously naive and playful, allowing the reader to feel close to the yōkai rather than as dreadful creatures.

Editions

Horimi (private collection)

It is estimated the private collection was composed during the period spanning from the middle to late Edo period. According to the postscript written when the end leaves were repaired after the war, the head karō of Tosa, the comber of the Fukao family, received this work from Masanari Eisuke, the 3rd from the Yoshimoto family, who worked for them for years since in

Kan'en was a after and before . This period spanned the years from July 1748 to October 1751. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1748 : The era name was changed to (meaning "Prolonging Lenience") to mark the enthronement of Emperor Momozo ...

2 (1749), and the sixth daughter of the Takehira family brought it into the family she married into, and from

Heisei The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, when hi ...

onwards, it has been passed down in that family. According to the postscript, it was used by a young lord for staying over the night, and the author is seen not as a famous artist of yōkai and yūrei and so on, but rather a nameless artist who lived in the countryside. The Horimi family copy is held at the

Kōchi Prefectural Museum of History opened in Nankoku, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan, in 1991. Located on the site of Okō Castle and the Chōsokabe clan residence, the collection relates to the archaeology, history, and folk customs of the area. See also * List of Cultural Properti ...

Sawaka Education Committee

The works of the Sawaka Education Committee collection were made in

Ansei was a after '' Kaei'' and before ''Man'en''. This period spanned the years from November 1854 through March 1860. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * November 27, 1854 (): The new era name of ''Ansei'' (meaning "tranquil government ...

6 (1859), according to the statements in the end of the book. This is during approximately the same time period as the private collection and the yōkai tales stated earlier, and thus it is believed this ''emaki'' either was drawn in succession at that place, or was drawn as a copy of the private collection. However, because the sequence of tales and the characteristics of the yōkai are different than the private collection, it is not simply a reproduction; the chronology of the owners of the Sawaka Education Committee collection is also unclear, so how the book was drawn and passed down still awaits further research.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tosa Obake Zoshi Works of unknown authorship Yōkai Emakimono