From Kuniyoshi prints to moving demons, “Ugokidasu YOKAI-ten TOKYO” blurs folklore and immersive art
Slip into an Edo-period ghost scroll and suddenly the monsters start moving.
At Tokyo’s Terrada Warehouse, the immersive exhibition “Ugokidasu YOKAI-ten (動き出す妖怪展) TOKYO: “YOKAI Immersive Experience Exhibition”” turns centuries-old yokai art into a swirling digital fever dream. Oni demons stomp across the floor. Tengu hover overhead. Kappa lurk in glowing projections. Even tsukumogami — everyday objects believed to gain spirits with age — emerge from holographic shadows.
The show pulls heavily from classic Japanese imagery like “Hyakki Yagyo (百鬼夜行絵巻),” the legendary “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons” picture scrolls. But this isn’t a quiet exhibition of framed artworks. The yokai dart across walls, creep through darkened corridors, and occasionally seem to follow visitors from room to room.
Alongside the projection-heavy spectacle, the exhibition also features physical creature sculptures and original monster-themed ukiyo-e prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Collaborations with the Iwase Bunko Library Museum and Shodoshima’s Yokai Art Museum add deeper folklore and satirical yokai imagery to the mix.
Despite the historical material, the atmosphere feels more playful than terrifying — less haunted house, more beautifully strange alternate universe.
The exhibition debuted in Nagoya in 2025 and drew more than 100,000 visitors. The Tokyo edition runs at Terrada Warehouse from March 27 to June 28, 2026, while a Kagoshima edition is scheduled from July 2026 through September 23, 2026.
During the Tokyo exhibition, weekday visitors throughout May 2026 may also spot roaming fox spirits like “Otoragitsune,” (おとら狐) with one or two fox yokai appearing daily between 9:30am and 8pm to perform “security patrols” and elevator guidance throughout the venue. Because apparently even yokai need part-time jobs.
Japanese monsters have always been strange reflections of people themselves — funny, unsettling, oddly beautiful. This show lets them loose.
Ugokidasu YOKAI-ten TOKYO
・When: March 27–June 28, 2026
・Where: Warehouse TERRADA G1 Bldg (6-4, Higashi-Shinagawa 2-chome, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo)
・Hours: 9:30 AM – 8:00 PM (last admission 7:30 PM)
・Price: Varies by ticket type
Ugokidasu YOKAI-ten KAGOSHIMA
・When: July 3 – August 31, 2026
・Where: First Special Exhibition Room, Kagoshima Prefectural Museum of Culture REIMEIKAN
(7-2 Shiroyama-cho, Kagoshima-shi, Kagoshima)
・Hours: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM (last admission 5:30 PM)
・Price: Varies by ticket type
・Official site : https://www.yokaiimmersive.com/en
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