Bakemono no e

Lore & Background

Bakemono no e is held by the L. Tom Perry Special Collections of the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University and is part of the Harry F. Bruning Collection of Japanese rare books and manuscripts. Harry F. Bruning acquired the scroll from Charles E. Tuttle in 1952. The artwork is dated to c. 1660 according to the description in Tuttle's catalog 266 (October 1952), which would make it arguably the oldest extant example of the bakemonozukushi genre. Most of the bakemono illustrated are also found in other scrolls and books of the Edo period, with a few exceptions.

The scroll came to the attention of Japanese scholars and the famous manga artist Shigeru Mizuki in 2007 when digital images were shared with Kōichi Yumoto, then curator at the Kawasaki City Museum. Yumoto was surprised to find an image of a three-eyed bakemono clearly labeled 'Nurikabe' in the BYU scroll that matched an unlabeled illustration of the same figure in a scroll Yumoto owns. The Nurikabe image later became the topic of scholarly debate in Japan.

Reader's Guide

Bakemono no e is significant as arguably the oldest extant example of the bakemonozukushi, or monster index, genre, a type of illustrated catalog of supernatural beings from Japanese folklore. Its dating to c. 1660 places it early in the Edo period, providing a rare visual record of how these creatures were depicted and named at that time. The scroll's provenance—from Charles E. Tuttle to Harry F. Bruning and now at Brigham Young University—highlights its journey from Japanese collections to an American university library. The scroll gained scholarly attention in 2007 when the labeled 'Nurikabe' image sparked debate in Japan, as it matched an unlabeled figure in a scroll owned by curator Kōichi Yumoto. This discovery, involving manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, underscores the scroll's value for comparative study of Edo-period monster iconography. The hand-painted figures with gold and silver pigments also demonstrate the artistic care given to such works. The scroll's legacy lies in its contribution to understanding the development of Japanese folklore illustration and its role in ongoing scholarly discussions about specific bakemono.

Did You Know?

• The scroll is hand-painted on paper with vivid pigments and accents in gold and silver.
• Each of the 35 bakemono is labeled with its name in hand-brushed ink, but there is no artist's signature or seal.
• The scroll is dated to c. 1660 based on Charles E. Tuttle's catalog 266 from October 1952.
• A three-eyed bakemono labeled 'Nurikabe' in this scroll matched an unlabeled illustration in a scroll owned by curator Kōichi Yumoto, sparking scholarly debate in Japan.