Frolicking animals

鳥獣戯画 chōjū giga

Frolicking animals

Rabbits and frogs wrestling, swimming and playing at being people, from the 12th-century picture scrolls of Kōzan-ji in Kyoto, often called the oldest manga. A cheerful motif of play, friendship and not taking life too seriously.

Kōzan-ji temple, Kyoto, Heian to Kamakura periods (12th–13th century)

Four ink picture scrolls kept at Kōzan-ji; the first scroll (kō-kan) shows rabbits, frogs and monkeys bathing, wrestling and holding a mock Buddhist service. Long attributed to the priest-painter Toba Sōjō (1053–1140), though the attribution is unproven. The scrolls are National Treasures, now on deposit at the Tokyo and Kyoto National Museums, and the rabbit and frog have become popular motifs on tenugui and furoshiki.

Often called the oldest manga in Japan.

Technique catalog · draft for review

Every way to wrap, carry and wear a furoshiki.

The furoshiki.com archive, sliced into annotated steps with plain directions, plus techniques found in research.