The Laughing Demoness (Warai-hannya) – Katsushika Hokusai (c. 1831)

One of the most unsettling faces in Japanese art. In Warai-hannya, “The Laughing Demoness”, Katsushika Hokusai shows a hannya bursting out of a round frame: horns, bulging blue eyes, wild hair and an enormous grin full of teeth. In her clawed hand she holds the head of a child she has just devoured. The contrast between her almost comic laughter and the horror of the scene is what makes this print unforgettable.

The print belongs to Hyaku monogatari, “One Hundred Ghost Stories”, a series Hokusai designed around 1831-1832. Its title refers to a popular Edo-period game: on summer nights, people gathered to tell ghost stories by the light of a hundred candles, blowing one out after each tale. Hokusai planned a hundred prints, but only five are known today, which makes each design all the more precious. The round frame evokes a lantern, the light by which these tales were told.

Who is the hannya?

The hannya is a woman turned into a demon by jealousy or resentment, famous through the horned masks of Noh theatre. Read more in our guide to Japanese yokai.

• Artist: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)
• Date: c. 1831-1832
• Series: Hyaku monogatari (One Hundred Ghost Stories)
• Format: chūban, vertical
• Theme: hannya, Japanese demon, ghost story

A bold, graphic piece for lovers of the strange, and a perfect Halloween companion to our other yokai prints. Discover more demons and ghosts in our yokai print collection and more of the artist in our Hokusai collection.