Medieval Japanese hand scrolls, brought back to life on your iPad.  

Animal Giga Scroll (Animal Caricature Scroll, Scroll of Frolicking Animals) is a Japanese well-loved National Treasure, commonly called Choju Giga. Famous for its humorous depictions of various animals acting like humans, sometimes called the first Manga.

The Choju Giga consists of four separate scrolls drawn in ink on papers, and this App contains the first two scrolls supposedly drawn in the middle of the 12th century.

Scroll A, measuring 30.4cm × 11.5m (1 × 38ft), is the most famous and beloved, consisting entirely of caricatures of animals.
Scroll B, measuring 30.6cm × 12.2m (1 × 40ft), consists of depictions of various animals, both real and mythical.

Though they have no stories, and been disordered during the long-term preservation, the vivacity of the action and the sinuous elegance of the brush strokes are still outstanding.


- Swipe to view, and let the medieval animals frolic again.
- Pinch to zoom-in, and enjoy the high quality of draftsmanship.

* TEXT IN JAPANESE ONLY...