餓鬼草紙

Brief History and Background to Gaki Sōshi

Gaki Sōshi 餓鬼草紙, translated as "The Hungry Ghost Scroll", are illustrated handscrolls which depict the lives of "Gaki", meaning "Hungry Ghost" literally in Japanese, under the Realm of hungry ghosts (more information will be explained under the Six Realms of Existence tab). This includes the introduction of certain types of "Gaki", their sufferings and salvations, distributed into seven passages in total. Although the illustrator is unknown, Gaki Sōshi is said to be created in the late Heian (794-1185) to early Kamakura (1185-1333) periods. Currently, the scroll is being displayed in Kyoto National Museum in Japan, and it has been studied by many historians and scholars over the years. In this site, the seven passages of Gaki Sōshi will be transcribed and translated, with explanations of certain characters and concepts, as well as some grammar structures, as the texts were written in Classical Japanese, which is slightly different from modern Japanese literature.

Copyright notice

The images of Gakisōshi used on this site are used for academic purposes. The scrolls are publicly viewable on the Internet through e国宝, accessible here: https://emuseum.nich.go.jp/