Ghouls, monsters, specters, ghosts ¡ª all manner of the supernatural have long fascinated and frightened in all cultures, but the Japanese have historically enjoyed a particularly entertaining, and pictorial, relationship with the eerie and uncanny.
Through a selection of around 250 ²â¨°ì²¹¾± (ghouls and monsters) ukiyo-e prints, the Ukiyo-e Ota Memorial Museum of Art introduces visitors to folkloric demons, long-nosed goblins, spirit spiders, ghoulish apparitions and more.
Divided into three themed showings ¡ª ¡°Specters¡± (July 1-27), ¡°Ghosts¡± (Aug. 1-26), and ¡°Sorcerers¡± (Aug. 30-Sept.25) ¡ª these creatures haunt, frighten and perform magical deeds. Not all are evil ¡ª some are benign and others simply mischievous¡ª but they are all rather bizarre.
Featured works of particular note include those by Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Hishikawa Moronobu and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi; July 1-Sept. 25.
Ukiyo-e Ota Memorial Museum of Art; 1-10-10 Jingumae Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Harajuku Stn. 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. ?900. Closed Mon. 03-5777-8600;
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