1. Earthquake victims take revenge on the giant catfish responsible for the destruction [+]

The popularity of namazu-e exploded, and as many as 400 different types became available within weeks. However, the namazu-e phenomenon abruptly ended two months later when the Tokugawa government, which ordinarily maintained a strict system of censorship over the publishing industry, cracked down on production. Only a handful are known to survive today.

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2. Namazu and the kaname-ishi rock [+]

Namazu are normally kept under control by the god Kashima using a large rock known as kaname-ishi. The Great Ansei Earthquake of 1855 is said to have occurred when Kashima went out of town and left Ebisu (god of fishing and commerce) in charge. In this print, the giant subterranean catfish unleashes destruction on the city while Ebisu sleeps on the job. Kashima rushes home on horseback while the city burns, and Raijin the thunder god defecates drums. Large gold coins fall from the sky, symbolizing the redistribution of wealth during the rebuilding phase.

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3. Tug-of-war between namazu and the god Kashima [+]

This print shows a namazu engaged in a fierce game of "neck tug-of-war" with the god Kashima. A group of earthquake victims root for Kashima, while those who typically profit from earthquakes (construction workers, firemen, news publishers, etc.) root for the catfish.

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4. Ancient catfish (Artists: Kyosai Kawanabe and Robun Kanagaki)

Produced two days after the earthquake, this work by Kyosai Kawanabe and Robun Kanagaki is considered the first namazu-e catfish print. The picture, which makes reference to a popular kabuki play of the era, inspired the creation of many namazu-e prints to follow.

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5. Magical method of earthquake protection [+]

This protective print, which claims to prevent earthquake damage to one's home if attached to the ceiling, shows a group of remorseful catfish apologizing to the god Kashima for causing earthquakes while he was away.

* * * * *

6. Catfish family

This print shows a mob of earthquake victims coming to take revenge on a namazu and its children.

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7. For peace and tranquility [+]

In this print, which claims to offer protection from earthquakes, the god Kashima and prostitutes from the Yoshiwara red-light district express their anger toward the catfish responsible for earthquakes.

* * * * *

8. Namazu saviors

Some prints show the benevolent side of namazu. Here, they are seen rescuing people from the rubble.

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9. Daikoku, the popular god of wealth, restrains a namazu and showers people with money [+]

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10. Kashima restrains a namazu using the kaname-ishi rock

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11. Kashima, kaname-ishi, and namazu [+]

In this print, the god Kashima is pictured in the top right corner. The kaname-ishi rock, portrayed as a person, stands on the head of the catfish, while a crowd of people try to subdue the giant beast. The people on the left who are not helping subdue the catfish include construction workers and others who typically profit from earthquakes.

* * * * *

12. Earthquake hand game

This print is a reference to the old Japanese saying, "The most frightening things are earthquakes, thunder, fires, and fathers." Here, a namazu plays janken (paper-rock-scissors) with the gods of thunder and fire while an elderly man (father) looks on.

* * * * *

13. Earthquakes, thunder, fires and fathers [+]

This print also makes reference to the old Japanese saying, "The most frightening things are earthquakes, thunder, fires, and fathers." Here, a namazu and the gods of thunder and fire discuss their powers over a fish dinner while a middle-aged man (father) looks on.

* * * * *

14. Tipsiness following the great namazu [+]

In this print, the god Kashima stabs his sword into the throat of the namazu, which is laid out on a giant table. The crowd of onlookers is divided into two groups. The people in the top half of the picture are labeled as "smiling" (those who benefit from the earthquake) and the people at the bottom are labeled as "weeping" (those who are harmed by the earthquake). The top group includes a carpenter, a plasterer, a lumber salesman, a blacksmith and a roofer, as well as an elite courtesan, an ordinary prostitute, a physician, and sellers of ready-to-eat foods. The bottom group includes a teahouse proprietor, an eel seller, various entertainers such as musicians, comedians and storytellers, a seller of luxury goods, a diamond seller, and a seller of imported goods.

* * * * *

15. Prosperity of the Ansei era [+]

This print, which shows a namazu punishing a rich man and a famous actor, illustrates a popular theory that the gods deliberately allowed the earthquake to happen in order to rectify some of the imbalances in the world.

* * * * *

16. Namazu attacked by the citizens of Edo [+]

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17. Catfish and construction workers partying in the Yoshiwara red-light district, pt. 1 [+]

This print depicts a crowd of namazu and newly prosperous construction workers living it up at a parlor house in the Yoshiwara pleasure district.

* * * * *

18. Catfish and construction workers partying in the Yoshiwara red-light district, pt. 2 [+]

This print also shows carpenters, plasterers and roofers drinking and making merry in the Yoshiwara pleasure district while a namazu is restrained with a gourd.

* * * * *

19. The earthquake and a "million prayers" [+]

This print depicts a namazu as a priest seated inside a giant rosary. The creature does not want to cause any more earthquakes, but the "worshipers" -- tradesmen such as lumber dealers and carpenters who profit from the disaster -- are praying for it to act up again. The ghosts of earthquake victims float overhead.

* * * * *

20. Earthquake catfish and world rectification [+]

In this print, a group of construction workers pay respect to the namazu for helping them strike it rich.

* * * * *

21. The shaking of greater Edo [+]

This print shows a massive steamship-like namazu approaching the city. The creature is spouting money, and people on shore beckon for it to come closer. The depiction of this namazu conjures up images of Commodore Perry's black ships, which arrived in Japan in 1853 and eventually forced the country to open its ports to Western commerce.

* * * * *

22. The perpetrators of three big quakes captured alive [+]

In this print, the god Kashima has captured the catfish responsible for the major earthquakes in Shinshu, Edo, and Odawara. A carpenter, fireman, plasterer and roofer try to persuade the god to release the catfish, saying the creatures have apologized enough. The unforgiving Kashima sentences the fish to be cooked in a nabe stew.

* * * * *

23. Namazu of Edo and Shinshu

* * * * *

24. Ebisu apologizes [+]

In this print, Ebisu (god of fishing and commerce) apologizes to Kashima for falling asleep on the job after drinking. The catfish leader is also apologizing, saying it was the thoughtless ones that went wild.

* * * * *

25. Peace in the Ansei era

This print shows the god Kashima using the kaname-ishi to subdue the namazu responsible for the recent earthquakes.

* * * * *

26. Namazu is wrestled into submission and placed under the kaname-ishi rock [+]

* * * * *

27. Ridgepole raising

This print shows a group of namazu construction workers erecting the kanji character 平 (hira), which can symbolize "peace."

* * * * *

28. A man entertains a namazu [+]

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29. People inspect a namazu picture

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30. Monster namazu in the storehouse [+]

* * * * *

31. Gourd and catfish

In this print, a namazu tries to help a comrade escape from a trap by handing it a gourd. The image is a reference to the old Japanese expression "gourd and catfish" (meaning "slippery" or "elusive"), which originates from a famous 15th-century Zen painting of a man trying to catch a catfish with a gourd.

* * * * *

32. Mob takes revenge on a namazu [+]

* * * * *

33. Catching a catfish with a gourd (Artist: Kunisada Utagawa) [+]

* * * * *

34. People who profit from earthquakes make offerings to a namazu [+]

* * * * *

35. Fear of Kashima

This print shows people dancing around a namazu dressed as a representative of Kashima shrine in an annual ritual held before the start of the new agricultural season. The image of the rabbit represents the zodiac year of the rabbit (1855).

* * * * *

36. Reassurance of the quake-suppressing rock [+]

A crowd of elderly people, carpenters, young wives, china-shop owners, entertainers, Yoshiwara prostitutes, physicians, and others are offering prayers to the kaname-ishi rock, believed to have the power to keep earthquakes in check. When a person in the crowd voices his doubts about the rock's powers, the rock responds, "I assure you that if the earth moves even a little I will stand on my head." In the original Japanese, this answer features a pun on the words ishi-gaeshi ("overturning a rock") and ishu-gaeshi ("taking revenge").

* * * * *

37. Earthquake protection song

In this print, Daikoku, the popular god of wealth, showers people with money while the god Kashima restrains a namazu.

* * * * *

38. Frightened namazu [+]

This print shows a mother namazu chasing a mob of people who have kidnapped her two children. The message on the flag carried by a person in the crowd suggests they intend to grill and eat the young catfish.

* * * * *

39. Namazu with construction tools, portrayed as the legendary warrior Benkei

* * * * *

40. The god Ebisu restrains a giant catfish with a gourd [+]

[More: Disaster Prevention Museum, National Diet Library]

Mikoshi-nyūdō -- Monk-like creature that grows taller the more you look at it

Nue -- Chimera-like bringer of misfortune that can fly and morph into a dark cloud

Futsukeshibaba (a.k.a. Hikeshibaba) -- Mysterious old woman in white who extinguishes lanterns

Kasha -- Cat-like demon that descends from the sky to feed on corpses before cremation

Noderabō -- Strange creature standing near a temple bell

Waraime (a.k.a. Kerakera-onna) -- Giant cackling woman

Daibutsu-kaibutsu -- Mysterious pile of crumbling skulls

Ubagabi -- Fiery ghost of old woman encountered along the Hozu River in Kyoto

Yamao -- One-eyed mountain creature (possibly related to the yama-waro of Kyushu)

Nyūnaisuzume -- Sparrows flying from the mouth of exiled poet Fujiwara no Sanekata

Buruburu -- Forest-dwelling ghost that causes victims to shiver violently

Aoi no Ue -- Character from The Tale of Genji who suffers episodes of spirit possession

Nekomata -- Fork-tailed cat with a host of supernatural abilities

Umizatō -- Blind lute player who walks on the sea

Shuten Dōji -- Fearsome oni known for kidnapping, enslaving and devouring young Kyoto maidens

Yūrei -- Ghost

Ubume -- Ghost of woman who died during childbirth

Raigō -- 11th-century monk reborn as a giant book-eating rat (a.k.a. Tesso - "Iron Rat")

Hitotsume-bōzu -- Monk with cyclopean eye

Shiriyau (a.k.a. Shiryō) -- Spirit of the dead

Tanuki-bō -- A monk who turned into a tanuki

Sōgenbi -- Fiery ghost of oil-thieving monk (based on Kyoto legend)

Teratsutsuki -- Mononobe no Moriya's resentment turns into a woodpecker

Tengu -- Bird-like demon

Yanari -- Little demons that produce the creaking sounds heard in old houses

[Link: Kaibutsu Ehon]

1 -- Kyuradorosu (vampire monster)/ Height: 5 meters/ Weight: 800 kilograms/ From Chiba
2 -- Kashuasu (pollution monster)/ Height: 10 meters/ Weight: 3,000 tons/ From Osaka

3 -- Gohoho (ice monster)/ 18m/ 10,000 tons/ From the South Pole, moved to Tokyo
4 -- Altamegaro (space monster)/ 35m/ Weight unknown/ From Alta W, planet 5

5 -- Deredoron (pesticide monster)/ 20m/ 10,000 tons/ From Tohoku
6 -- Tapikurosaurus (ancient monster)/ 35m/ 9,000 tons/ From Kyushu

7 -- Elekipurosu (electric humanoid)/ 25m/ 15,000 tons/ From Kurobe Dam
8 -- Meji (space wolf)/ 16m/ 5 tons/ From Meteoroid R

9 -- Eru (space monster)/ 32m/ 18,000 tons/ From the planet Pegasus
10 -- Puradon (space monster)/ 32m/ 5,000 tons/ From Galaxy W, planet 8

J -- Mambaa (monster fish)/ 20m/ 15,000 tons/ From the Arctic depths
Q -- Oapiaa (proto-Saharan)/ 6m/ 1 ton/ From the Sahara Desert

K -- Alien Achiira (space monster)/ 15m/ 9 tons/ From the planet Achiira, moved to Japan Alps
1 -- Methanoron (pollution monster)/ 28m/ 30,000 tons/ From Tokyo-Kawasaki-Yokohama area

2 -- Buranpiitaa (ultrahigh-speed monster)/ 25m/ 5,000 tons/ From the planet Narcissus
3 -- Aurororas (South Pole monster)/ 85m/ 80,000 tons/ From the South Pole

4 -- Andromeropius (space monster)/ 60m/ 10,000 tons/ From the planet Sparta
5 -- Peroggaa (adhesive monster)/ 30m/ 30,000 tons/ From Eagle Comet

6 -- Goroboasu (macro monster)/ 108m/ 180,000 tons/ From New York
7 -- Vacuuma (vacuum monster)/ 25m/ 6,000 tons/ From Yumenoshima

8 -- Metrokabayan (space eel)/ 46m/ 40,000 tons/ Origin unknown
9 -- Tibetron (Himalayan monster)/ 5 m/ 10,000 tons/ From the northern Himalayas

10 -- Aamu (radiowave monster)/ 60m/ 80,000 tons/ From Guam, moved to Shizuoka
J -- Jiradon (dragon)/ 15m/ 40 tons/ From the northern Alps

Q -- Kimu (space monster)/ 30m/ 20,000 tons/ From the Methane Nebula
K -- Alien Carter (alien)/ 28m/ 7,000 tons/ From the Carter Nebula

1 -- Oxydron (pollution monster)/ 35m/ 10,000 tons/ From the Tokyo suburbs
2 -- Heater (heat monster)/ 30m/ 10,000 tons/ From Hokuriku (northwest Honshu)

3 -- Jeunesse (Mach speed monster)/ 105m/ 100,000 tons/ From the M18 star cluster
4 -- Spater (space monster)/ 12m/ 2,000 tons/ From the Jupiter Nebula

5 -- Begovia (space monster)/ 70m/ 30,000 tons/ From somewhere in space
6 -- Orix (meteor monster)/ 3m/ 300kg/ From the Orionids

7 -- Kabisantaa (bacteria monster)/ 20m/ 7,000 tons/ From central China
8 -- Peshura (space mouse)/ 40m/ 20,000 tons/ From the planet Corona

9 -- Chiipaa (invisible monster)/ 23m/ 4 tons/ From Europe
10 -- H (hydrogen monster)/ 1,000m/ 500kg/ From Egypt

J -- Raru (monster bug)/ 19m/ 600kg/ From the tropics
Q -- Meromeron (Meron monster)/ 23m/ 30,000 tons/ From the Meron Comet

K -- Alien Morris (alien)/ 20m/ 10,000 tons/ From the Morris meteoroid
1 -- Smogger (pollution monster)/ 45m/ 20,000 tons/ From the Kanto area

2 -- Uradon (nuclear monster)/ 40m/ 30,000 tons/ From the ocean depths, moved to Osaka
3 -- Computron (mechanical monster)/ 35m/ 8,000 tons/ From Tokyo

4 -- Gurora (space monster)/ 95m/ 120,000 tons/ From the planet Beta, moved to Tokyo area
5 -- Perebon (Saturn monster)/ 25m/ 40,000 tons/ From Saturn

6 -- Menakujira (soft-bodied monster)/ 40m/ 40,000 tons/ From Okutama
7 -- Pla-king (plastic man)/ 20m/ 5 tons/ From Kanagawa prefecture

8 -- Okusu (space gorilla)/ 30m/ 30,000 tons/ From the planet Claude
9 -- Betarasu (fifth-dimension monster)/ 7m/ less than 1kg/ From the fifth dimension

10 -- Buruburu (ape monster)/ 45m/ 6 tons/ From the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro
J -- Glamingo (bird monster)/ 3m/ 400kg/ From northern Alaska, moved to Hokkaido

Q -- Pira (solar monster)/ 13m/ 300kg/ From near the sun
K -- Alien Iron (alien)/ 40m/ 20,000 tons/ From the planet Sigma

Jokers

[Link: Pachi Playing Cards Flickr set by Fiends Ain't Family]

Hakkōda Mountains, Aomori prefecture [via]

Hakkōda Mountains, Aomori prefecture [via]

Mt. Moriyoshi, Akita prefecture [via]

Hakkōda Mountains, Aomori prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]

Mt. Moriyoshi, Akita prefecture [via]

Mt. Moriyoshi, Akita prefecture [via]

Mt. Moriyoshi (Moriyoshi shrine), Akita prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]

Hakkōda Mountains, Aomori prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Miyagi prefecture [via]

Mt. Zao, Yamagata prefecture [via]

Mt. Moriyoshi, Akita prefecture [via]

Hachimantai Plateau, Akita prefecture [via]

Mt. Moriyoshi, Akita prefecture [via]

Mt. Azuma, Fukushima prefecture [via]

Mt. Azuma, Fukushima prefecture [via]

Hakkōda Mountains, Aomori prefecture [via]

Gamera

Gamera's features include infrared eyes with night vision, arms that can lift 50,000 tons, an organ for producing the flames he shoots from his hands, electrical spikes on his back, poison claws, sac-like organs for storing lava, coal, oil and uranium, balloon-like organs that blast jets of air out through the feet, and a tail of elastic cartilage that can deliver a powerful punch.

Guiron

Guiron's most prominent feature is his knife-shaped head, which is 100 times harder than diamond and is packed with shuriken-like stars that can be fired from a pair of openings above the eyes. The creature has 360-degree radar vision, 60 times more teeth than a piranha, lungs adapted for long-distance space travel, sac-like organs for storing energy and uranium, balloon-like organs in the legs that blast jets of liquid through the feet, webbed fins for stability in water, and magnetic suction cups on the hands.

Barugon

Barugon's features include dorsal spikes that produce a deadly rainbow ray, an organ to produce frosty liquid (-100 degree Celsius) that can be shot from his 30-meter-long weaponized tongue, a stomach that can digest diamonds (his favorite food), and radar horns atop his head.

Viras

Viras's features include a spike-shaped head capable of piercing through a meter of steel, a brain with an IQ of 2500, organs for producing a force field and controlling the minds of others, tentacles that are 10,000 times stronger than an elephant's trunk and which can emit powerful beams for space travel, and organs to break down cell tissue and control metamorphosis (for creating its human disguise).

Jiger

Jiger's features include a pair of horns that shoot missiles made of hardened saliva and one that fires a deadly "magnetium" beam, powerful suction cups covering her entire body, an organ for shooting jets of seawater at 300 kilometers per hour, a stomach that can melt iron ore, and an ovipositor tail.

[Via: Tokusatsu Figure-kan]

Godzilla (Poland, 1957)

Son of Godzilla (Poland, 1974)

Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (Czechoslovakia, 1986)

War of the Gargantuas (Poland, 1975)

Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (Poland, 1978)

Terror of Mechagodzilla (Poland, 1977)

Gappa the Triphibian Monster (Poland, 1973)

Gamera Super Monster (Poland, 1980)

King Kong Escapes (Poland, 1967)

Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (Poland, 1971)

The X from Outer Space (Czechoslovakia, 1968)

Godzilla vs. Gigan (Poland, 1977)

- Old-school Tokyo subway manner posters: 27 train etiquette posters from the 1970s-1980s

* * * * *

- Custom scooters: Photos of 30 Japanese scooter mods

* * * * *

- Post-apocalyptic Tokyo scenery: Fantastic photo manipulations by Tokyogenso

* * * * *

- Macabre kids' book art by Gojin Ishihara: Not just for kids

* * * * *

- Concept cars: A look back at 50+ years of Japanese concept car designs

* * * * *

- Japanese town logos: 50 examples of kanji-based logos for Japanese towns

* * * * *

- Kaikidan Ekotoba monster scroll: Mysterious mid-19th century scroll featuring 33 legendary monsters and human oddities

* * * * *

- Futuristic mega-projects: Shimizu Corporation's bold architectural plans for the world of tomorrow

* * * * *

- Horror illustrations by Tatsuya Morino: The great monsters of Gothic literature get a makeover

* * * * *

Selections from the Japanese urban legend series

- Ningen: Giant humanoid sea creatures of the Antarctic
- Sony timer: Rumors of a secret kill switch in Sony products
- Severed samurai head in Tokyo: A head buried in Tokyo has haunted the city for 1,000 years
- Secrets of the Tokyo underground: Rumors of a hidden city under Tokyo
- Hanako-san: Girl ghost haunts restrooms across Japan
- Human-faced dog: Encounters with mysterious canines
- Okiku doll: A haunted toy with hair that grows
- Urban legends from Meiji-period Japan: Phantom trains, bloody chocolate, and more
- Cursed commercial: Infamous Kleenex ad that sparked fear across Japan
- Human pillars: Tales of human sacrifice for large-scale construction projects

* * * * *

- Sci-fi illustrations by Shigeru Komatsuzaki: Fantastic art from the 1960s-1970s (bonus points for the comments)

* * * * *

- Manga farming: Nifty gardening technique by Tokyo-based artist Koshi Kawachi

* * * * *

- Paintings by Tetsuya Ishida: Surreal and provocative

Happy holidays, and thanks for reading. See you again in 2011!

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley, 1818 [+]

The Fly - George Langelaan, 1957

Moxon's Master - Ambrose Bierce, 1919

The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1901

The Voice in the Night - William Hope Hodgson, 1907

War with the Newts (Válka s mloky) - Karel Čapek, 1936

The Sea Raiders - H.G. Wells, 1896

Morlock (from The Time Machine) - H.G. Wells, 1895 [+]

Dracula - Bram Stoker, 1897

The Flowering of the Strange Orchid - H.G. Wells, 1894

The Murders in the Rue Morgue - Edgar Allan Poe, 1841

Moby Dick - Herman Melville, 1851

La Vénus d'Ille - Prosper Mérimée, 1837

The Dunwich Horror - H.P. Lovecraft, 1929 [+]

The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells, 1898

The Terror of Blue John Gap - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1912

The Hunting of the Snark - Lewis Carroll, 1874

Nyarlathotep - H.P. Lovecraft, 1920

Empire of the Ants - H.G. Wells, 1905

The Call of Cthulhu - H.P. Lovecraft, 1926

[Source: Kaibutsu Gensō Gashū (published by Fūjinsha, 1999)]

Hari-onago ("Hooked woman" with deadly hair, from Ehime prefecture)

Kijimuna (Okinawan tree sprite)

Kerakera-onna ("Cackling woman")

Gagoze (Demonic ghost haunting Gango-ji temple in Nara prefecture)

Aonyobu ("Blue wife," the ruined aristocrat)

+ Video

Giant sea frog? Ningen? Smiling rock with sea sponge eyes? You be the judge.