Special Spring Exhibition Can’t Wait for Summer! Edo’s Monsters and Specters
Exhibit Period
First Half: Friday, April 17 - Sunday, May 17, 2015
Second Half: Friday, May 22 - Sunday, June 21, 2015
Exhibit Times
9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(last admissions at 4:30 p.m.)
Organized by
Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum of Art
Museum closed
April 20, 27; May 7, 11; the exhibit change period (May 18-21); May 25; June 1, 8, 15
Admission Fee
Adults: 700 (630) yen High School, College Students: 400 (360) yen * Fees in parentheses are group rates for 20 or more visitors * Free admission for elementary and junior high school students, and preschoolers * Half price for visitors with a physical disability certificate, and half price for one accompanying caregiver
Overview
“Yokai Watch” and “Ge-ge-ge no Kintaro” are immensely popular with youths today. Friendly monsters and specters have become a familiar presence to us. Monsters and specters were a familiar presence to the people of the Edo Period, as well. However, not all of the monsters in those days were friendly. It was an age when at nighttime there were no street lights, only the moonlight and the dim light cast on footpaths by hand-carried lanterns. People were on the lookout for monsters and specters in every dark corner and alley. When some horrible incident or strange event occurred, they believed it was “the work of specters.” Although people of the Edo Period feared monsters and specters, it seems anything that looked scary fed their curiosity. Ukiyo-e artists met the demands of the people in their ukiyo-e art, depicting monsters and specters in various forms, sometimes frightening, sometimes humorous. In these works, you can see the ancestors of “Yokai Watch” and “Ge-ge-ge no Kintaro.” In this exhibition, we introduce the monsters, specters and ghosts of the time as seen in ukiyo-e art produced from the Edo Period through the Meiji Period. Please enjoy the strange world of monsters and specters.
Museum Talk
First Half: Saturday, April 18, 2015 beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Second Half: Saturday, May 22, 2015 beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Talks (a guided tour of the exhibit) presented by our museum curators