The Conversation

In Japan, supernatural beliefs connect the spiritual realm with the earthly objects around us

Author: Larissa Hjorth, Professor of Mobile Media and Games. Director of the Design & Creative Practice Platform., RMIT University

Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Mitsukuni defies the skeleton spectre conjured up by Princess Takiyasha (1845–46) Art Gallery of NSW

Sometimes life appears incomprehensible, of another world. The supernatural has been evoked in many cultures and religions as a way to make sense of the thresholds of mortal and immortal worlds through images and stories.

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