\
A scene from the "Hungry Ghosts Scroll" (Gaki soshi) dating from the late 12th century. Hungry ghosts were understood to exist on the same plane that human beings and animals exist on, but were thought to be invisible to ordinary human beings. Since this is a Buddhist scroll, the only people who can actually see hungry ghosts are high-level Buddhist priests and ascetics. This picture is a segment of larger scene depicting a dinner party in which the guests happily gorge themselves on delicious food and wine, not realizing that they have hungry ghosts climbing all over them trying to get something to eat. (See below for an close-up.)