Japanese Bestiary: Animals in Japanese Mythology, Arts and Literature

For artists, tattooers, and collectors building a stronger visual vocabulary for Japanese nature motifs, Japanese Bestiary is a serious reference on how animals live inside Japanese culture—symbol, story, and design language.

This richly illustrated book explores the deep connection between Japan and the animal world through 28 real-life creatures—from the fox, frog, cat, monkey, and firefly to the crane and the mischievous tanuki. It combines haiku, folklore, and everyday anecdotes with artwork by masters such as Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Ohara Koson.

Rather than focusing on “pretty pictures,” the book shows how animals appear across media—paintings, prints, textiles, ceramics, and objects like netsuke—revealing how motif, meaning, and craft travel between tradition and modern visual culture (including manga and animation).

This title is especially useful if you want to:

• Study how animals function as symbols, omens, and archetypes
• Build stronger reference for animal motifs in Japanese-inspired design
• See how the same subjects evolve across prints, objects, and craft

Book details

• Title: Japanese Bestiary
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Pages: 208
• Size: 278 × 230 × 22 mm (10.94 × 9.06 × 0.87 in)