Yomawari night alone2/2/2023 ![]() ![]() While I was in Japan this year, I went to an exhibition of Seiu Ito’s yūrei-ga. August – the month of spirits in Japan - would be the month for yūrei-ga (ga being “painting”) exhibitions, and those exhibitions were always very popular indeed. Within that style, some artists focused on ghosts, or yūrei, and the contrast between these works, and the more naturalistic works of so many ukiyo-e, had a chilling influence on audiences. Called ukiyo-e, you’ve almost certainly seen examples of it in the past: that famous The Great Wave off Kanagawa painting by Hokusai is a very famous example of this style. There, a distinctive style of art emerged. The aesthetic started in the paintings of the Edo era. There’s a specific aesthetic that is unique to Japanese horror, perhaps because so much of it was designed to have that specific impact on its audience. Related reading: Project Zero is another very Japanese horror franchise. They do this precisely because that chilling effect of a good horror experience provides some small relief (psychologically, at least), to the oppressive, stifling heat of the Japanese summer. For centuries the Japanese have flocked to exhibitions of ghost paintings, haunted houses, and the cinema in the hottest months of the year in order to experience scares and chills. ![]()
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