和漢三才図会
The book is a supernatural bestiary, a collection of ghosts, spirits, spooks and monsters from literature, folklore, and other artwork. The art of "Gazu Hyakki Yagyō" heavily references a 1737 scroll-painting called the "Hyakkai Zukan" by artist Sawaki Sūshi; Sekien's innovation was preparing the illustrations as woodblock prints that could be mass-produced in a bound book format. Intended as a parody of then-popular reference books such as the "Wakan Sansai Zue", it ended up becoming a reference book in its own right, profoundly influencing subsequent "yōkai" imagery in Japan. The book proved popular enough to be reprinted three times over the course of the Edo era by various book-sellers. The book is compiled in three sub-volumes: "Yin", "Yang", and "Wind". "Yin" features a foreword by poet Maki Tōei, while Wind ends with an afterword by Sekien.