Monkdogz Urban Art Gallery

Shigeru Mizuki "53 stations of the Yokaido"

Monkdogz Urban Art is pleased to announce the exclusive world representation outside of Japan of Shigeru Mizuki’s 53 stations of the Yokaido featuring "GeGeGe no Kitaro".

These original woodblock images by Mizuki were inspired by Hiroshige’s 53 Stations of the Tokaido. Redrawing the original landscapes, Mizuki inserted his own Yokai characters from the manga series “GeGeGe no Kitaro” which he originally drew from 1959 to 1969 for the Shukan Shonen Magazine.

The works were recently displayed at the Japan Information and Cultural Center at the Japanese Embassy in Washington D.C. and at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York. The prints were displayed with copies of the original stations executed by Hiroshige from 1831-1834 to allow visitors to see both the differences and similarities between the old masterpieces and the Mizuki Yokai versions.

In a letter, Shigeru Mizuki explains his understanding of the Yokai world and his inspiration for this project. "I wish you a happy haunted journey through the realm of the Yokai. When something strange or something mysterious happens, most of the time there are Yokai--goblins from Japanese folklore--involved behind the scenes. I have the impression that the recent economic recession and depressed social conditions might be a result of the fact that we drove the Yokai away from our world. Fluorescent lights, street lamps and neon signs are glaring everywhere in our houses and in the streets today, leaving nowhere for the Yokai to live.

Once upon a time--though it was only seventy or eighty years ago--Japan had abundant darkness, where many Yokai used to dwell. Even in your house, you could sense the presence of Yokai in the bathroom, lavatory and closet. Some of them might have been hiding there ever since the Edo period. In the Edo period when this journey took place, Yokai seemed to be more active and alive, as they were featured in many emakemono (narrative picture scrolls) and illustrated booklets of those days. People in Edo times were capable of sensing Yokai, as they were more sensitive to them. People nowadays are working hard all day always looking grim and desperate, while Edo people seemed to know how to enjoy life. And they owe it to Yokai, who used to exist around them. It took me two years to draw 'Fifty-three Stations of the Yokaido Road', doing my own version of Hiroshige's 'Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road'. Looking at these fifty-five pictures all lined up from Nihonbashi to Kyoto, I think they are quite fascinating. For people in the Edo period, it was not easy to go on journeys, so they appreciated and amused themselves with the landscapes Hiroshige painted. I have no doubt that they would have loved it had they found Yokai among the landscapes and people in the pictures. Supposed hard times mean everything seems to go wrong these days, but I hope these fifty-five pictures of a haunted Yokai journey will bring you a little happiness."

The 53 stations in reality are 55 images with the inclusion of Edo (Tokyo), the start and Kyoto, the destination. To date 8 images have been completed using up to 34 blocks per image.

Hiroshige Utagawa - Japan "53 stations of the Tokaido" [ 1831 - 1834 ]

Shigeru Mizuki - Japan "53 stations of the Yokaido" [ 2001 - present ]