Pink Tentacle has posted 25 pictures from the Kaibutsu Ehon, “The Illustrated Book of Monsters”. Ukiyo-e (浮世絵) is a a genre of Japanese woodblock Art. They are cut, printed and inked.

The Kaibutsu Ehon (“Illustrated Book of Monsters”) is an 1881 book featuring woodblock prints of yōkai, or creatures from Japanese folklore. Illustrated by painter Nabeta Gyokuei, the book is modeled after the influential works of Toriyama Sekien, an 18th-century scholar and ukiyo-e artist known for his attempt to catalog the many species of yōkai in Japan.

I particularly dig this one, entitled “Yanari — Little demons that produce the creaking sounds heard in old houses”.

 

A bit more on the freakish side is the post about Kaikidan Ekotoba.

…. a mysterious handscroll that profiles 33 legendary monsters and human oddities, mostly from the Kyushu region of Japan (with several from overseas). The cartoonish document, whose author is unknown, is believed to date from the mid-19th century. It is now in the possession of the Fukuoka City Museum.

This is form of water imp “which, according to the accompanying text, likes to eat people and practice sumo.” ^^

Enjoy perusing.