Also known as "The Buddha of Immeasurable Light and Life,” here in this pre-Edo Buddhist painting we see Amida and his two assistant bodhisattvas, Seishi on the left (associated with wisdom and strength), and Kannon on the right (associated with compassion and mercy), descending from the Western Pure Land to welcome newly deceased believers into the realm of paradise...

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a skeleton. Realistically rendered for use in a doctor's office. Great detail and shading. Frontal view with a top view of the foot. Painted in sumi-e ink and light colors on paper. Signature seal.

Dimensions: Total size: 77 1/2" high x 27 3/4" wide (30 1/2" wide including rollers). Size of art: 55" high x 23 1/4" wide.

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a koi jumping up a waterfall. Symbolizing strength, perseverance and aspiration, the large koi moves against the raging water which crashes below in a torrent of waves. Painted in sumi-e ink and white gofun on paper.

Age: Edo Period (1603-1867)

Dimensions: Total size: 72 1/2" high x 24 3/4" wide (26 1/2" wide including rollers). Size of art: 50 1/4" high x 20 3/4" wide.

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a tiger. Every strand of his striped fur is painted. The tiger stands under a pine tree, facing the viewer. His mouth is open, displaying large teeth. Painted in ink and light colors on paper. With artist's seals.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: Total size: 74" high x 24 1/2" wide (76 1/2" wide including rollers). Size of art: 46" high x 18 1/4" wide.

Antique Japanese scroll painting depicting a view of lush garden flowers. Large yellow and red poinsettia and cockscomb grow beside a bamboo fence. Painted in mineral colors on silk. Signed by 祥雲 Shо̄un ("Auspicious Cloud"). A label identifies the artist as as Nonouchi Yasutarо̄ (Nonouchi is the family name), who used the artist name Shо̄un until 1932. After that he used his original given name Yasutarо̄, but this one has the Shо̄un seal, so it should be from 1932 or earlier.)...

Antique Japanese scroll painting depicting a pair of skeletons dancing beneath a poem. The poem is signed Shinyodojin. Painted in ink on paper.

Dimensions: Total size: 74 1/2" high x 14" wide (15 3/4" wide including rollers). Size of art: 50 3/4" high x 9 1/2" wide.

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a ghost leering over a painted screen. The specter's long hair falls over the image of a weeping willow, a tree often associated with ghosts and spirits. Painted in ink on silk. Signed and sealed: Chokuto-sei.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: Total size: 71 1/2" high x 20 1/2" wide (22 3/4" wide including roles). Size of art: 41 3/4" high x 15 3/4" wide

Antique Japanese scroll painting depicting a dead man being whisked away in a flaming carriage bound for hell. He is escorted by three demons brandishing weapons and pulling the cart through clouds of smoke. A section of the poem translates as "whether old or young, rich or poor [...] on the fiery carriage..." Painted and signed by the artist Kawamura Jakushi (1638-1707) with a verse possibly written by Banjisei...

Antique Japanese ema of a horse. This ema is a dedication plaque that was made as an offering in a shinto shrine. Horses are considered vehicles of the gods, so this ema was made at the highest level in order to convey an important wish as speedily as possible. Painted in mineral colors on keyaki (elm) wood.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 29 3/8" high x 43 1/4" wide x 2" deep

Antique Japanese wooden standing screen painted on both sides. One side is painted with a Kabuki actor portraying a samurai sharpening the points of an arrow on a whetstone. The image is inspired by an Edo Period woodblock print from the Kabuki drama Yanone Koro by the artist Kiyomitsu Torii II (1787-1868) entitled "Samurai Sharpening an Arrow" c. 1820. In this image, the artist has gone further to include a background with a rack of arrows behind of the main figure...

Antique Japanese large wooden single panel screen painted with a scene of flying cranes and pine trees. Painted in mineral colors on kiri (paulownia) wood and framed in hardwood with bamboo details on the lower portion.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 62 1/2" high x 74" wide x 17 3/4" deep

Antique Japanese fushima (sliding door panel). Painting with a crane and pine tree on a background of gold mist. Painted in mineral colors on a sugi (cryptomeria) wood panel and framed with black lacquered hinoki (Japanese cypress) wood.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 68 1/4" high x 36 1/4" wide x 1 1/4" deep

Antique Japanese painting in 3 panels of a group of cranes. 8 adult cranes stand with two chicks. They are painted large scale and stand out dramatically against an all gold ground. Painted in mineral colors and gold leaf on paper and mounted in 3 frames. The signature & seal both show the painter's name as 松究 Shо̄kyū.

Age: Taisho Period (early 20th century)

Dimensions: 66 3/4" high x 109" long (total all three panels together...

Japanese scroll painting of a group of scholarly skeletons. At the top of the image, three skeletons drink tea while viewing scrolls. One skeleton displays a scroll on which the artist has signed his name. Other skeletons enjoy music played on a koto while others play go, paint scrolls and make tea. Painted in sumi-e ink and light colors on paper.

Dimensions: Total size: 78 1/2" high x 26" wide (28 1/4" wide including ends). Size of art: 52" high x 20" wide

Japanese scroll painting of a ghostly woman standing in a shoji doorway. Her robes are white, the color of death and her hair falls unkept around her shoulders. Tendrils of flame appear where rays of light shine down at an angle to catch on her sleeve. Painted in mineral colors and ink on silk.
Painted by Obata Chiura (1885-1975), painter and first professor of Japanese painting at University of California, Berkeley. Born in Ibara-cho and raised in Sendai, Japan...

Japanese scroll painting of 3 skeletons celebrating Obon. One skeleton dances with a fan while two others pay a drum and a shamisen. The Obon festival happens in summer and is a time to honor the dead with music, dance, parades and other events. It is believed that ancestors' spirits return to the world of the living during Obon. Painted in ink and light colors on silk...

Japanese scroll painting of two skeletons hard at work counting money. The calligraphy verse up top appears to be influenced by the Confucian scholar, Kameda Bosai and is sealed Gakubutsu. Below, the skeletons pour over accounting ledgers next to a large scale. This painted portion of the scroll is sealed Nisekisai. Painted in sumi-e ink on paper.

Dimensions: 81 1/2" high x 30 3/4" wide (33" wide including rollers). Size of art: 53" high x 26 3/4" wide

Japanese scroll painting of skeletons, one dancing and one playing a shamisen. Strewn over the ground are skulls and a giant gourd filled with drink. The calligraphy on the top of the scroll states that even the great sage Boddhidaruma and the beautiful Onna no Komachi are Doitsu Byodo (the same as the rest of us) when their flesh is stripped away...