Ghost Pictures of Japan

Summer equals spooky here in Japan, and there are few things more eerie than the ghostly scrolls at Zenshoan Temple in old town Yanaka. The scrolls, which go on display annually throughout August, date largely from the nineteenth century and include work by luminaries such as Utagawa and Hiroshige. Particularly haunting is the latter's 'Ghost of a Blind Female Street Singer', which appears to loom out of the mist with its unseeing eyes. A chilling way to spend a late afternoon in balmy Yanaka.

For a more in-depth look at the exhibition, it might be worth joining the 'Haunted Scrolls' tour, led by Haunted Tokyo Tours director, Lilly Fields, taking place on August 11.