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Japan: 'Hyakki Yako', 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons', detail from a scroll, 18th century.

Japan: 'Hyakki Yako', 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons', detail from a scroll, 18th century.

Hyakki Yakō ('Night Parade of One Hundred Demons') is a Japanese folk belief. The belief holds that every year yōkai, the Japanese supernatural beings, will take to the streets during summer nights. Anyone who comes across the procession will die, unless protected by some Buddhist sutra. It is a popular theme in Japanese visual art.

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