Bookiyo-e: The Nue Monster

Bookiyo-e
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Nue Monster, the End, 1852
Bookiyo-e
By TROY WORKMAN

Nue is one of the oldest recorded ghosts in Japanese history. Being first documented in 712 CE, the Nue has the head of a monkey, the legs of a tiger, the torso of a racoon, and a snake as the tail. Nue's most famous appearance happens when Emperor Konoe begins to have nightmares about this creature, and out of stress, grew very sick. His illness was attributed to the evil spirit that visited his dreams, because medicine could not cure him. A few days later, a massive storm gathered over the emperor's palace, as seen above. Lightning caught the thatch roof on fire, and Emperor Konoe summoned his best samurai, Minamoto no Yorimasa, to eliminate the Nue. Yorimasa brought along his retainer I no Hayata, and his legendary bow to kill the monster. Soon, a gust of wind blew over the palace, and a giant black cloud followed. Yorimasa shot an arrow into the cloud, a horrible scream sounded, and out fell the wounded Nue, plummeting to the ground. I no Hayata climbed on its body and cut the monster down with his sword, killing it instantly. Emperor Konoe instantaneously recovered from his illness, and rewarded the valiant warriors with a legendary sword.
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Bookiyo-e: The Sailor Tokuso and the Sea Monster

Bookiyo-e
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Sailor Tokuso and the Sea Monster, 1830

Bookiyo-e
By TROY WORKMAN

The Japanese name for this sea monster is Umibōzu, or "sea monk," hence the bald head. Umibōzu are said to sink the ships of anyone who dares talk to it. They appear out of nowhere, usually approaching in calm waters, but when they surface, raging waves and storms instantly accumulate. Umibōzu typically try to smash the hulls of the ships with its long arms, but depending on the size, it may use other methods. These monsters ared categorize as demonic ghosts, because it is an accumulation of many different souls. They are thought to be made of drowned priests, due to the shaven head, and usually appear to be praying. These priests were usually thrown into the sea by angry villagers. 

Because of their terrible deaths, the priest's souls seek vengeance by drowning people. Others belive that Umibōzu are made up of souls who have no one to maintain their graves, as they take refuge at sea. Their bodies are described as cloud-like, and often have serpentine limbs or tentacles. If the Umibōzu is angered, it will ask for a ladle or a barrel. which it will then continue to fill up with water to drown the boat. In order to survive the Umibōzu, one must provide a bottomless ladle or barrel, so the water will pour out before it sinks the boat.
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Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre

Alex McDonald

Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1844

While browsing the internet, I came upon this beauty of a painting. My initial thought was, “God, this is a cool Metallica shirt.” But then I became saddened when I realized this painting was not a promotion of one of my favorite metal bands. Instead, Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre by Utagawa Kuniyoshi happens to be a cultural landmark for Japanese art. Though for the record, I personally would head bang in a shirt with this Skeleton Spectre on it. He stands up there alongside Iron Maiden’s Eddie or Megadeth’s Vic Rattlehead. 

Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s art embodied the last great moment of the Ukiyo-e movement in Japanese art. Ukiyo-e translates to “pictures of the floating world.” The idea behind the movement seems rather abstract, but I believe it would not be a stretch to compare Ukiyo-e to European Romanticism. In Kuniyoshi’s time, many of the paintings or woodcuts tried to capture the spirit of Japan, so they focused on landscapes and cultural icons. In Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre, the samurai Mitsukuni has been sent by the Emperor of Japan to bring the Witch Takiyasha to justice. Takiyasha’s father, who had already been slain in combat, had led a rebellion against the emperor. The Witch then continued on her father’s crusade. Mitsukuni confronts her only to find she has the magical ability to summon a gigantic Skeleton Spectre who will do anything she says. Kuniyoshi illustrates the final confrontation between the Witch and Mitsukuni. This tale had captivated Japan for around nine hundred years when Kuniyoshi’s painting finally came out.

A Metallica Shirt          
The Skeleton Spectre, much like Murray on a Dio album cover, takes up a majority of the painting. In fact, one could say he consumes half of the whole painting. The abstract yellow hay that separates Mitsukuni and the Spectre diagonally divides the painting in two. Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre also is a triptych (as Kuniyoshi was very much inspired by European paintings he had seen since the opening up of Japan), which divides the painting vertically into threes. The Witch gets her own panel on the left. Notice the zigzag bars coming down on her head and how her gaze creates a dent in the yellow hay. This mimics the downward force of the Skeleton Spectre looming over the Mitsukuni. Though the Skeleton’s hand peeling back the hay takes the Witch’s piercing gaze a couple steps farther.

While I may not have gotten the metal band I wanted when I first looked at this painting, I can certainly say that I did receive a new appreciation for Japanese art. To be honest (and this may come as a shock to you), our Renaissance Art History class does not put much emphasis on Japanese artwork. So I can proudly say I am all the more cultured in my art history studies thanks to Kuniyoshi’s painting… and my love for intense metal music.
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