Unexpected encounters
For the 2025 exhibition in Tokyo we had the topic „Japanese mythology“. So I went on a week-long dive into different mythological creatures, including many Yokais and in the end came up with the concept of „unexpected encounters“ series where yokais or other creatures with somehow similar „perks“ get to suddenly meet each other.
Nue and Shachihoko
This particular piece features a meeting between Nue (鵺) and Shachihoko (鯱・鯱鉾), the two chimera-like yokais!
Nue is a curious puzzle – a head of a monkey, the body of a racoon, chicken or a tiger, limbs of a tanuki or tiger, tail of a fox, or my favourite version – having a snake for a tail! On top of this it can turn into a black cloud and thus fly around, while making eerie bird cries. You are most likely to come across Nue at night.
Shachihoko is an equally curious combo: head of a dragon or tiger lion and the body of a carp, covered in dark scales and spikes. It is believed to live in the northern ocean, having an ability to swallow and hold a huge amount of water, also summoning the clouds and bringing the rain! These figures are often constructed on the roofs, with teh tails pointing to the sky.
Fascinated by the chimera-like quality of them both, I thought it would be interesting to see Nue arriving among the clouds, summoned by Shachihoko, and the two thus meeting over the ocean.
Nuppeppō and Noppera-bō
This encounter is between Nuppeppō (ぬっぺふほふ) and Noppera-bō (野箆坊), and I thought this one would be particularly funny, because of their similarities. Imagine a figure walking through the evening streets, that first seems like an ordinary human, until it turns, and – plottwist! It has no face! What is even more unexpected? The other one has no face either! And not even a clear head for that matter!
Noppera-bō is a shapeshifter, that usually looks like a human, and may appear as soneome familiar. They like scaring humans by making their face suddenly dissappear as they are being approached, but are in general otherwise harmless. According to some sources, they might now and then have a tail.
Nuppeppō is an even stranger creature, missing not only the face, but having no distinction between the head and body. It is a weird wrinkly blob of flesh with four short stumpy limbs.
I did not find a lot of reference images for Nuppeppō, but tried to work with the ones that were available, and as for Noppera-bō – well it could actually take the shape of any human being, and I found that interesting! As usual, I gathered an extensive board of available references not only for the look of the creatures, but in general to see how typicla backgrounds for them are depicted in Ukiyo e – what would the sky and the road look like etc. I then adapted then to the rest of the series.
Ameonna and Kasa-obake
This particular piece features a meeting between Ameonna (雨あめ女おんな, “rain woman”) and Kasa-obake (傘おばけ), two Yokai who are both related to my favourite type of weather – rain!
Ameonna is a woman, that is thought to bring rain with her wherewher she goes, which also tends to be associated with bringing bad luck (which I disagree with! Rain is the best! 🙂 ) She is often seen tasting the rain that she has brought with her extra long tongue.
Kasa-obake is an old umbrella, that has somehow turned alive and is a really fun yokai, mainly depicted with one leg, long tongue and semi-human semi-bird/goblin hands.
I thought these two would also have a fun meeting, as one is the rain-bringer and the other one always gets taken out and brought along in a rainy weather!
Takaonna and Mikoshi-nyūdō
This particular piece features a meeting between Takaonna (高女) and Mikoshi-nyūdō (見越し入道), two Yokai who share a curious and fun characteristic.
Takaonna is a woman with an elongated lower body who’s known for peeking over fences and into the second-story windows of brothels, frightening the visitors inside.
Mikoshi-nyūdō, on the other hand, is a bald, goblin-like Yokai with a seemingly endless neck. He, too, enjoys startling people by suddenly rising up to look over fences or screens. Some legends also describe him as a shapeshifter, though that part’s up for debate.
I thought it would be a fun scene if the two ended up peeking over something at the same time -only to come face to face with each other!
I gathered a large collection of reference images showing how both Yokai have been portrayed over time, and then developed my own interpretations, while staying respectful to traditional depictions.
Akkorokamui and Amemasu
This one is a meeting between Akkorokamui (アッコロカムイ) and Amemasu (雨鱒アメマス), the two deep sea creatures, coming from the very old beliefs.
Akkorokamui is an octopus-Like creature, which is the colour of the setting sun, reflecting on the water. It used to be a giant spider, threatening the local people, but then eventually got turned into its current form by gods, who answered the villagers prayers.
Amemasu is a fish-like creature, known for creating earthquakes, capsizing boats and bringing other natural disasters. Some villagers believed that a giant Amemasu used to hold the earth.