Tomoko Koida: In Search of the Phantom Skeleton Picture Scrolls

2023/12/11

From Golden Bat and Horrorman in Anpanman to Brook in One Piece, skeleton characters have always been popular. While they evoke death and evil, they are also perceived as reliable and adorable. When and how did this image of skeletons originate?

Many stories about skeletons have been told since ancient times, but cheerful skeletons first appeared in the Muromachi period otogi-zoshi (illustrated narrative) titled "Genchu Soda-ga" (Skeletons in a Dream). The story depicts a traveling monk dozing in a Buddhist temple who converses with a skeleton that emerges from a grave, followed by a banquet of skeletons playing hand drums and flutes and dancing. It goes on to portray everything—from a man and woman embracing to the man's death and funeral, and the remaining woman becoming a nun and engaging in Buddhist dialogue—entirely with skeletons, narrating a skeleton's life. It caricatures the philosophy of "Shoji Ichinyo" (the oneness of life and death), suggesting that once the skin is removed, everyone is the same skeleton, with no distinction between male and female, or even life and death. The title "Genchu Soda," derived from Zen terminology, signifies realizing the emptiness of the world through a skeleton in a dream, and the work can be seen as a hogo emaki (sermon picture scroll) teaching Zen principles.

In later years, the first half of this work was adapted and published under the title "Ikkyu Gaikotsu" (Ikkyu's Skeletons), attributed to the Rinzai monk Ikkyu Sojun. These comical skeletons seemingly fascinated people, becoming so popular that the work was reprinted many times during the Edo period. The roots of the skeletons found in modern anime can be traced back to these narrative picture skeletons originating in the Muromachi period.

In fact, this work was once literally considered a "phantom." Although it was introduced by the Japanese literature scholar Masao Okami in 1973, the owner was unknown and no other manuscripts were identified, leading to the belief that it had been lost. As a researcher of Muromachi narratives, I pursued these phantom skeleton scrolls and discovered that a copy survived at Kakuman-ji Temple in Osaka. It was also found that manuscripts existed at the National Museum of Japanese History and the Yomei Bunko collection. Furthermore, in recent years, a new scroll was put up for sale at an antiquarian bookstore in Kyoto, revealing that there are as many as four extant manuscripts of this once-mythical work.

The background for the creation of skeleton narrative pictures in the Muromachi period likely includes the rise of "iruimono" (stories of non-human beings)—a genre of otogi-zoshi that anthropomorphizes animals and plants—as well as the influence of skeleton paintings from China's Song Dynasty. The narrative picture format was likely used to explain complex Zen philosophy to people in an easy-to-understand way. By being linked with imagery, a new dimension was added to the skeleton. This is the source of the reliable and adorable skeletons we envision today.

Muromachi narrative pictures are full of hints for exploring the roots of modern culture. The fact that new manuscripts are still being discovered today, allowing us to tackle new mysteries, is the true thrill of research.