The Namazu, also called the Onamazu, is a creature in Japanese mythology and folktales. The Namazu is a gigantic catfish said to cause earthquakes and tremors. They rose to new fame and popularity after the Ansei great earthquakes that happened near Edo in 1855. Catfish woodblock prints became their own popular genre. They were usually unsigned. The Tokugawa Shogunate censored and destroyed the prints. Only a handful survive to this day.

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Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: 1855, art, arts, asia, asian, benkei, block, catfish, daimyojin, earthquake, fish, folktale, japan, japanese, myth, mythology, namazu, namazu-, onamazu, religion, samurai, shinto, shintoism, shintoist, ukiyo-, warrior, wood, woodblock, yonaoshi