Japanese’s Protective Amulet on Tanzaku Shikishi

In Fang of the Abyss – Amulet, Kotaro Yamada reinterprets the idea of the Japanese protective amulet through the image of a fantastical deep-sea creature. Elongated across the narrow surface of a tanzaku shikishi, the fish appears at once watchful, strange, and talismanic. Rather than illustrating a traditional amulet directly, the work draws on the broader symbolic language of protection, warding off harm, and confronting unseen forces.

A contemporary amulet image by Kotaro Yamada

The notion of mamori, or protective amulet, remains deeply rooted in Japanese visual and spiritual culture. In this work, Kotaro Yamada approaches that idea through contemporary drawing rather than devotional object-making. His imagined creature becomes a symbolic guardian: fierce in its teeth and skeletal structure, yet calm in its suspended presence.

This tension gives the image its force. The fish is not simply fantastic. It functions as a protective sign, an invented being whose role is to hold danger at a distance while embodying it at the same time.

Tanzaku shikishi and the vertical Japanese tradition

The work is executed on tanzaku shikishi, a long and narrow Japanese art board traditionally associated with poetry, calligraphy, and concentrated formats of visual expression. This support plays an essential role in the composition. Its elongated proportions allow the creature to unfold like an inscription, a charm, or a ritual phrase extended across space.

The gold border of the tanzaku shikishi reinforces this sense of containment and presence. Rather than serving as a neutral support, it gives the work the formal clarity of an object meant to be held, displayed, or contemplated with attention.

Fountain pen dots, bold ink, and a luminous eye

Kotaro Yamada combines delicate pointillist drawing with bold black contrasts. Much of the fish’s body emerges from dense accumulations of fountain pen dots, while darker felt-pen passages define its spine, fins, and internal rhythm. This interplay between fine texture and strong silhouette gives the creature a striking visual tension.

At the center of the image, the eye introduces a distinct note of color. Rendered in colored ballpoint pen, it becomes the focal point of the composition, suggesting alertness, inner energy, and protective force. The eye does not simply animate the fish; it concentrates the symbolic charge of the whole work.

The meaning of the characters 魔除

Flanking the creature are the sumi-ink characters 「魔」 and 「除」. Together, they evoke the idea of warding off evil or dispelling harmful forces. Their presence anchors the work’s symbolic field and makes explicit what the image already suggests: this is a drawing shaped by the logic of protection.

Rather than treating these characters as decoration, Kotaro Yamada uses them as an active part of the composition. They frame the creature and transform the tanzaku into something closer to a contemporary talisman, where image and language work together.

A fantastical deep-sea creature as protective symbol

One of the strengths of Fang of the Abyss – Amulet lies in its ambiguity. The creature seems drawn from the depths, combining features of a skeletal fish, an abyssal being, and an invented guardian form. It belongs neither to natural history nor to folklore in any literal sense. Its power comes from this freedom of invention.

That imaginative freedom allows Kotaro Yamada to connect traditional Japanese symbolic structures with a highly personal contemporary expression. The result is a one-of-a-kind work that feels both rooted and singular: a protective image, a fantastical drawing, and a distinctive use of Japanese tanzaku shikishi.