www.shutterstock.com
日本
D E S I V E R – 6 1 0 2 –
We still know very little aubout Japan, but due to a growing fan base for Japanese culture, many people attending annual J-conventions (us inclueded), a huge international game, anime, and manga community, and the evolving acceptance for cosplayers in Western media, the visibility of Japanese pop culture is improving. German convention-goers have flooded AnimagiC for the last few years and new trends have emerged. Yet the „old“ stuff still plays an important role in modern Japanese art. Ancient scrolls or paintings are being tweeted, shared, or even turned into animated films to find a new and over-excited audience in the West. For these obvious reasons, we decided to give our #0 e-zine issue a light workover in 2016. Basically the texts and contents have remained the same, though some mistakes have been set right and links have been updated. The mythological aspect is still a major topic of this magazine, as it still strongly reflects in Japanese pop culture.
Five years after our first publication, and after closely having followed many developments in the Western J-fan section, we still think that Japan has the cooler monsters: strange creatures and interesting spirits manifesting in everyday popular culture – without anyone ever considering them out of place.
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Let them entertain you!
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You might like to learn a little about the origin and influence of the mythical creatures that you encounter in mangas, game quests, or anime storylines, so we added a few pages in the back of the issue to pick up trends and new developments. You will find them in the Out & About section, starting on page 84.
Andrea Härtlein
When this magazine issue first appeared in 2011, Japan sadly had become a major topic in Western media: On March 11, 2011 Fukushima all of a sudden turned into THE place everybody was talking about, and the “Great Kanto Earthquake” section in this magazine appeared in a very different light. Since that day, 5 years have passed.
contents
Editorial suprsenta i.co m
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japan the mystical place
the story of ogami itto: Don’t sass me I’m on the road to hell Lone Wolf & Cub tells a strong epic samurai story and is renouned for its combination of detailed historical accuracy, masterful artwork and nostalgic recollection of the bushido codex. Definitely worth taking a closer look.
7 WInd, forest, fire, Mountain Takeda Shingen Swift as the Wind, silent as a Forest, fierce as Fire and immovable as a Mountain. Takeda Shingen’s motto applied to his policies as well as his military strategy.
16 wieldng the samurai sword Made of a mixture of high and low Japanese carbon steel, the katana combines the best arrtibutes of both materials. The result is a sharp and malleable instrument: basically unbreakable.
22 bushido The way of the warrior A true samurai should act without hesitation to fulfill his duties – without regard for success or failure.
24 the great kanto earthquake how to shift a buddah On September 1, 1923 the Great Kanto Earthquake devastated the Yokohama area and Tokyo within minutes. It killed about 142,000 people and moved the 93-ton Great Buddah Statue at Kamakura about two feet.
32 Nagasaki before & after the bombing By Fastfission File: Nagasaki 1945 - Before and after.jpg. U.S. National Archives: RG 77-MDH (according to William Burr, The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II, National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 162) - File: Nagasaki 1945 - Before and after.jpg, Public Domain.
Cosplayers: AnimagiC 2015, winners of the cosplay competition www.shutterstock.com
explicit!
insert collective heritage
Portrait: maruo suehiro
Ainu culture dates back to 1200 A.D. Although almost extinct today, the Ainu – as indigenous people to Japan – have had a great influence on Japanese culture & society.
He goes as the most extreme of all mangaku: “If you don’t know Maruo Suehiro, you might not want to travel down this road.”
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Portrait: tsukioka Yoshitoshi forgotten master of ukiyo-e
shinto // the way of the gods
“Yoshitoshi described the soul of a glorious past and struggled to keep it alive.”
Shinto is based on the worship of natural forces and elements and can be seen as the indigenous spirituality of the Japanese people connecting them to their ancient past. As of today there are 119 million official practitioners of Shinto in Japan.
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explicit!
Atomic blast: A ugust 7, 1 945
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Japanese spirits & legendary creatures
Stuff that didn’t make it in due time.
From soraki gaeshi to uma-no-ashi: knock yourself out on this collection of more or less appaling creatures and spirits.
p84-following
The locked country. noone gets in or out alive Until Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy came to Japan on July 8, 1853, Seclusion Laws dominated the country’s policy towards foreign nations. Perry opened up Japan for the U.S. market: the Treaty of Peace and Amity signed by the Shogun in 1854 established formal diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan.
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Copyright Info This e-zine is a non-profit, paperless publication, published in Germany for an international audience. For a lot of our content we have been extensively researching the web, especially the English site of Wikipedia, in the year of publication (2011). Since then the internet has evolved, so you might not find the original files anymore. Most of the used material is in the public domain, 2011 has been added to photo credits, to refer to the year when the original source was public. All used images remain under the orignal license according to Wikipedia policy (please click image links to see original files). Critical images have been replaced. Apart from that, thanks to everyone who permitted the free use of press material and their individual works for this issue – Japanese artists included. All copyrights remain with the artists. Please note: We don’t take any responsibility for the design and contents of linked websites in this magazine!
IMPRINT: Publisher: Kober & Härtlein GbR - bilderundworte Forthausen 2/42929 Wermelskirchen/Germany +49 (0)2193-500491/email: info@bilderundworte.de www.bilderundworte.de Editor/Designer/VisdP: Andrea Härtlein (see address above) © 2016 - 2nd revised edition / first published in 2011
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Out and about
The Story of OGAMI ITTO
Don’t sass me !
I ’ m on the road In case you don’t know: The story of Ogami Itto is settled in the Edo period of Japan. From 1603 until 1868* the Tokugawa shogunate, established by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603, ruled from Edo Castle with a strong hand. Ieyasu himself was made shogun by the Imperial Court in Kyoto, three years after he won the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. His appointed liaison, the Kyoto Shoshidai (Shogun’s Representative in Kyoto) dealt with the emperor, court and nobility in Kyoto. The shoguns througout the ages overruled their lesser domain lords – the daimyo – supported by a fierce feudal political system (“bakuhan taisei”, meaning: “military government”). This already inclines that the shogun had all the military power in Japan, even overruling the Emperor (6), who was a mere religious or political figure without any real say. Besides, it was the shogunate that had the right to discard, annex and transform domains. A „system of alternative residence“ ensured loyalty to the shogun. It meant that each lord would have to reside alternatively in his province as well as in Edo, where he had to leave his familiy as hostages during his absence. A dogmatic insistence on loyalty to the shogun was enforced by a system of punishment – usually the oder to commit seppuku, as soon as a lord would fall under the shoguns bad grace. According to the “Lone Wolf” storyline, this happened quite frequently.
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The shogunate was only abolished during the Meiji Restoration in 1868 – that is the “restoration of imperial rule” in Japan. It was brought down by the Four Western Clans or Satchotohi.
To understand the story of Ogami Itto, I guess it helps a little to know a few things about the Tokugawa shogunate and Japanese society in general during this time. Unlike other shogunates before, the Tokugawa had established a strict class hierarchy: The daimyo (lords) were followed by the samurai (warriors), the farmers, artisans, and traders were ranking below. Daimyo in some cases were also trained as samurai, and – vice versa – a samurai was able to act as daimyo or local lord. In exchange for loyalty to the shogun – who was solely responsible for foreign relations, trade and national security – all provinces were granted a degree of sovereignty such as an independent administration, policies, and territories. Those territories were called “han”. Their number of roughly 250 fluctuated throughout the Edo period. They were ranked by the amount of “koku” each one could produce. [one “koku” was the amount of rice necessary to feed one adult male for one year.] The minimum number for a daimyo to have was 10.000 koku, the largest – apart from the shogun – was 1.000.000. The shogunate monopolized foreign affairs and trade – especially foreign trade – thereby yielding a huge profit. Under the Tokugawa shogunate Japan started to participate actively in foreign trade with the Portuguese, Dutch, English and sometimes Spanish until Seclusion Laws (6) were introduced in 1635. From then on only inbound ships from China, Korea, and the Netherlands were allowed.
photographics by space5
to hell ... The shogun had a large administrative force which would be quite overkill to describe in detail. Let’s just say that a number of institutions helped maintain his power by taking care of his multiple executive affairs and legislation. The three important forces depicted in Lone Wolf are: the Tansakunin (the shogun’s spys, the Kureduwa), the Shishakunin (his assasins, in this case the Yagyu clan) and the Kaishakunin (6) (his “executioner”, Ogami Itto himself). Although I think the word “executioner” doesn’t quite capture Ogamis position. It would be better translated by “the one who assists in seppuku” – a quite honourable tasks in these times. It put him in a powerful position, acting on behalf of the shogun, executing his will and being allowed to wear the Shogun’s crest in public, – a rare privilege that ultimately attracted his enemy’s envy and eventually lead to his betrayal and downfall initiating his and his son’s “journey of revenge”.
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The story starts with the decapitation of one of the daimyo ordered to commit seppuku for reasons that are not explained further. The 3- or 4-year-old boy is too young to perform the ritual of seppuku (6) himself, so Ogami has to decapite the boy. The scene leaves the audience with a very disturbing feeling, watching him fulfill his task without even so much as blinking. Ironically this act leads directly to his decline. The followers of the killed daimyo set out to revenge their master’s death and themselves become intruments of the Yagyu clan and Retsudo in his effort to bring down Ogami Itto.
The rightgeousness of his work as Kaishakunin in general is questioned by his wife, shortly before she is mudered. It already depicts the ambiguity of his role and the bushido codex (6) that is confronted by principles of Buddhism: His wife suffers from nightmares, which she thinks, are caused by the spirits of all the people he killed as Kaishakunin, coming back to haunt the Ogami family. Due to Buddhism, the samurai, as a tragic figure, can never achieve redemption. His path – the way of the warrior – solely consists of killing, which is clearly wrong and cannot be justified for whatsoever reason. The wife’s fears serve as a kind of dark foreshadowing: In the events to follow the whole family is extinguished, leaving only his newborn son Daigoro and Ogami Itto himself. There will be a few things to say about Daigoro later on, as he develops into quite an interesting character.
: awa Shogun5s * The Tokugsu 60 –1 03 , ruled 16
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Lone Wolf rocks:
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Lone Wolf and Cub wallpapers http://www.myfreewallpapers.net
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On second or even third glance it becomes very clear, that Daigoro is in charge of his own fate right from the beginning
photographics by space5
D a ig o ro
Ogami soon figures out the betrayal and sets his course of action on revenge. He disobeys his master, the shogun, who orders him an his son to commit seppuku – which qualifies as an act of sanity in my mind – and swears to bring down the (Ura)Yagyu clan, in specific their leader Retsudo. Before taking his son with him, he lets Daigoro choose his own path. Unsurprisingly the child chooses the sword (6) and with it life at his fathers side. Or as Ogami puts it bluntly: “the road to hell”. This serves as the starting point for their journey which may also be seen as a kind of quest or even a japanese road movie. Let aside the lots and lots amounts of blood, severed limbs, heads or flying about torsoes, the essence of the story is quite simple and catching and supported by a very reduced and artful design. Ogami walks the road to hell which will finally lead to his death. Although he becomes a contract killer, he follows the bushido codex and keeps strictly to his ethics as a samurai. He nevertheless is finished with life, which makes him sort of undestroyable. His son Daigoro is the only thing left, linking him to humanity, society and the world.
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I came to the conclusion that I like the killer Ogami much better than the Kaishakunin. Put aside his fighting skills – he very rarely needs more than 10 seconds to kill his opponent in the most artful way – he also never takes on a job without asking for the reasons. If they contradict his morals or ethics, he declines. If honour or
justice is served, he takes on the job even if it means killing a person he respects most. He never steals or puts people in danger for personal gain or privilege and always keeps his word. No matter which consequences, he stays true to himself. These are the ideals he passes on to his son. As Kaishakunin he simply kills on command, which makes hin an instrument of power and thereby – evil. It’s when he starts to think and decide for himself, that he becomes human to me. The only thing that sets him off or disturbs him are his encounters with Retsudo, and ultimately Retsudo getting away unharmed.
“Daigoro” The child Daigoro plays an essential role in this story. At first glance he is just the little baby boy, put in danger, struck by fate, motherless, left with a more or less unemotional and deranged father. On second or even third glance it becomes very clear that Daigoro is in charge of his own fate right from the beginning. He chooses his path for himself an walks it without blinking (much). In the beginning Ogami tells his wife that he named his son “Daigoro” because the name means “the five ways to enlightenment” – a name that would provide the child with the ability to cope with all the obstacles life puts before him and would lead him on his path. With this in mind, the character of Daigoro ascends to a much higher level. I think he is the last spark
photographics by space5
of humanity that’s left in Ogami, as well as his conscience. Which of course can never be compared to what we perceive as a conscience from a western viewpoint. Daigoro represents the path of the warrior untainted. He has in him all the qualities of a real samurai without even having killed so much as a fly. He walks his path unimpressed by anything. He even faces the grown up warrior who, upset by his eyes – the stare of the warrior who killed hundreds and got out of it alive –, sets out to kill him. On liftig his stick, he shows that he is his fathers son, presenting the well known and feared Suio style Ogami has perefected – but only in a symbolic way.
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Even more so, Daigoro functions as his fathers connection to society, and one might say, also as his mirror. He is the one, performing social rituals, – for example when Ogami meets his clients to take on the next contract. While Ogami himself sits unmoved, Daigoro bows to greet the contractor or makes eye contact. The constitution of Daigoro mirrors Ogamis inner turmoil. That can clearly be seen in the second film, when the two, while taking a bath, are both shaken up by the sound of the mendicants bell. It is the same sound that preceded the betrayal and slaughter of the Ogami family. While Ogami himself prepares for a fight, it is one of the rare scenes where we see Daigoro tense and uneasy, mirroring his fathers thoughts. Still I wouldn’t say that he is in fear. He’s just remembering on a basic level.
Throughout all of Ogamis fights, Daigoro stays unharmed. He never so much as receives a scratch, which makes him even more mysterious than Ogami himself. He almost seems like a spirit, representing the innocent side of humanity or its spiritual ideals (of enlightenment?). In the very last scene, right after Ogami has finished off Retsudos army in the snow but again fails to kill Retsudo for good, we see the essential connection between father and son. While Ogami fights in his sons presence he is still vulnerable. In almost all of the preceding films he receives some more or less mortally dangerous wounds, from which he recovers – sometimes by the help of his son. But in this last scene the two get separated during the fight. It is in that instant that Ogami turns into the single handed killing machine, or what is often said to be the genuine one man slaughterhouse – killing everybody except Retsudo. His enemies are not even able to touch him. He has totally lost his connection to humanity. When they meet again for the final scene, Daigoro – shaken for the first time after a fight – staggers towards his father and calls out “father”! It is what he always says after Ogami is done with the killing. I sometimes wonder whether this call is what links Ogami to life and brings him back to his senses and his real purpose in life. His spiritual conncetion to his son. At least it seems so to me.
more information:
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Dark Horse Comics – The Assasins Road (Trade Paperback) ub-Vol-1-The-Assassins-Road-TPB http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/40-092/Lone-Wolf-and-C
ub Lone Wolf & C(DH) Manga Titles
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photographics by space5
sin’s Road 1. The Assas ss Barrier 2. The Gatele Tiger of the Fallen 3. The Flute arden 4. The Bell W d 5. Black Win r the Dead 6. Lanterns Fo er gon, Wind Tig 7. Cloud Dra Death 8. Chains of e Assassin 9. Echo of th hild 10. Hostage C f Hades o 11. Talisman Stones 12. Shattered e West East, Sun in th e th in n o o M 13. Demons 14. Day of the f the Grass 15. Brothers o into Winter 16. Gateway f the Fang 17. The Will o a f the Kurokuw 18. Twilight o ts ar e H In Our 19. The Moon ison Po f 20. A Taste o Death f o 21. Fragrance Earth 22. Heaven & e 23. Tears of Ic all Hands Sm se e 24. In Th Death 25. Perhaps in the Dark 26. Struggle in 27. Battle’s Eve Throne 28. The Lotus
The art of Japanese storytelling Apart from a bloodstricken vengeance story, the Lone Wolf and Cub (子連れ狼 Kozure Okami) series offers its audience great Japanese cinematic artwork and craftsmanship, a long way ahead of any samurai action movie – at least the ones I know – by a long shot. The Japanese manga (6), originally published as a sequel in a japanese magazine, weighs 8,700 pages. Created by artist Goseki Kojima and writer Kazuo Koike in 1970 it is thought to be one of the most groundbreaking works of comic book culture and according to Dark Horse Publishing the “single greatest of graphic fiction ever created”. It earned its creators numerous awards, including the Eisner an Harvey Awards and with over 1,000,000 copies sold in the U.S. is seen as Dark Horse’s “best-ever-selling manga titel”. The cinematic quality of the storytelling and artwork of the manga (sold about 8,000,000 times in Japan) is known to serve as leitmotif throughout the six films. The first duel between Ogami Itto and Yagyu Retsudo runs 178 panels an is said to be one of the longest single fight-scenes ever published in comics. Frank Miller, who did some great cover art for the first 12 volumes published in the U.S., drew most of his inspirtaion for “Ronin” from Lone Wolf & Cub and later falsely go the credit for the “invetion” of a great new cinematic style in comics. Which he – admittedly – had copied from the original Lone Wolf stories. Without – no offence – ever getting close to their reduced elegance and perfection.
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Well, once you get over the massive amount of blood and excessive display of violence, you cannot help but be fascinated
by the sigular aesthetics of the cinematic artwork. Whole panels from the manga are recreated throughout the films – for example the first fight scene in the field, shortly after Ogami announced his “rebellion”. Of course, being produced for western standards and ways of reading from left to right, the panels of the American issues would have to be countered to see the real thing come into effect (6). What also surprised me, and still does more every time I see it, s the total slowness of action as well as the almost absence of dialogue, reduced to a minimum of most necessary lines. At times it seems, the pictures are composed to be moving photographs and not film at all. There are takes which show unmoving figures, being animated only by the wind that blows softly through clothes and grass and trees. It’s just awesome and makes you catch your breath every time you see it. The fight scenes are the only scenes that really are rapid. But still each of these scenes are either interrupted or followed by a complete halt of action. A moment when both warriors stand still until one of them drops (and loses an arm). Ogami, in one final elegant movement swiftly puts away his dotunaki and resumes his path as if nothing of much significance has happened. This is the essence of cool.
The way of the warrior Lone Wolf & Cub tells a strong, epic samurai story. It depicts the violent Tokugawa era in Japan and is renouned for its combination of detailed historical accuracy, masterful artwork and nostalgic recollection of the bushido codex. Beautiful depictions of nature or historical sites in Japan go hand in hand with showing traditional activities of a classical ukiyo-e style (6).
photographics by space5
The Bushido codex fascinates many, as a concept of traditional rules of behaviour and a way of life and honour definig the Japanese warrior – the samurai. Maybe it is because we don’t really understand it as a whole. While certain aspects appeal to us, we find others completely nuts and so far away from common sense that we really can’t follow. Ogami Itto, once asked by an outcast samurai if he knew what the real way of the warrior was, after a short pause states: “The real way of the warrior is to live in the face of death”. This is the essence of the Lone Wolf and Cub. u
r, cs #1 Cove First Comi iller (U.S.) Art: Frank M r, DH #1 Cokve iller (U.S.) Art: Fran M
ows ver #whokn n) Original Co Kojima (Japa Art: Goseki
more information on this topic:
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footnote: Darren Aronofsky has been trying to get an official Hollywood version of Lone Wolf off the ground, but never really had the rights in the first place. pity.
Lone Wolf and Cub at Rapid Eye Movies http://rapideyemovies.de/filme/titel-l
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photographics by space5
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(1521 to 1573)
Takeda Shingen:
“Wind – Forest – Fire – Mountain”
Swift as the Wind, silent as a Forest, fierce as Fire and immovable as a Mountain. Takeda Shingen’s motto concerning his policies as well as his military strategy.
Takeda Harunobu Nyuudou Shingen from “One hundred generals, brave at battle, at Kawanakajina” 1843 –1847 / http://visipix.com / WIKIPEDIA 2011
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Takeda Dom(caai. n1572) The
Echigo
Uesugi Kenshin
Kozuke Kosaka Masanobu
Jinbo Nagamoto
Etchu
Sanada Nobutsuma
Naito Masatoyo
Baba Nobufusa
Musashi
Shinano Takeda Katsuyori
Hida Anegakoji
Hojo Ujhero
Koretsuna
Kiso Yoshimasa
Kai
Takeda Nobukado
Takeda Shingen
Sagami Hojo Ujeyasu
Mino Oda Nobunaga
Suruga Yamagata Masakage
Oda Nagantasu
Hojo Ujinori
Owari Mikawa Tokugawa Ieyasu (Shogun)
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Totomi Ishikawa Ienari
so: * Takeda Shingen was a powerful Japanese warlord – or daimyo – who, at the end of his life, had control not only over the province of Kai, but also of large parts of Shinano, Suruga, and western Kozuke. When he challenged the Oda-Tokugawa alliance, he lead a force of over 30,000 warriors to invade their territories in Totomi, Mikawa and Mino Provinces in 1572. He might have had the stamina to do it, but ...
Echigo
Kozuke Etchu Musashi
Shinano Hida Kai
Sagami Awa
Mino Suruga Owari Mikawa Totomi
erals Shingens 24 Gen ): (poor bastards
... he kind of bit off more than he could chew: Legend has it, that 49 year old Shingen died in his camp in Mikawa Province after the successful battle of Mikatagahara. He just had defeated a combined army of Nobunaga and Ieyasu, when his death – somewhat mysterious – followed. Well, you never know when HE comes to pick you. Some say he “succumbed to an old war wound”... or that “a sniper wounded him” or that “he died of pneumonia”. Akira Kurosawa (6) thought, the sniper was the most convincing story to make film history and gave the unknown man credit for it in his film “Kagemusha”.
* Akiyama Nobutomo * Amari Torayasu * Anayama Nobukimi * Baba Nobuharu * Hara Masatane * Hara Toratane * Ichijo Nobutatsu * Itagaki Nobukata * Kosaka Masanobu * Naito Masatoyo * Obata Masamori * Obata Toramori
* Obu Toramasa * Ohama Kagetaka * Oyamada Nobushige * Saigusa Moritomo * Sanada Nobutsuna * Sanada Yukitaka * Tada Mitsuyori * Tsuchiya Masatsugu * Takeda Nobukado * Takeda Nobushige * Yamagata Masakage * Yamamoto Kansuke
A life’s work gone to ruins: After his death Takeda’s 4th son Takeda Katsuyori became daimyo of the Takeda clan. He was keen to prove himself worthy of his father’s legacy and moved on to take over the Tokugawa forts, when Oda Nobunaga’s matchlock-armed infantry destroyed his whole cavalry in the Battle of Nagashino. Weakened by this blow Katsuyori finally was defeated by Ieyasu in the Battle of Temmokuzan.
kagemusha youtube-trailer
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Katsuyori committed seppuku, bringing about the end of the once glorious Takeda Clan.
The rather complicated story of
Takeda Nobutora
Takeda Shingen
His father who was sent to Suruga Province near the southern border of Kai after he had been put out of power.
which involves:
Takeda Shingen Takeda Yoshinobu Shingen’s son, who also plotted against him 2 years after Katanuma Nobumoto and was confined to the Tokoji, where he died two years later unter mysterious circumstances.
Former Takeda Harunobu rebelled sucessfully against his father at the age of 21. Daimyo of the PROVINCE of KAI.
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Shingen’s brother, who was killed in the 4th battle of Kawanakajima. He was supposed to become clan leader before Shingen took control.
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Katanuma Nobumoto The Tiger of Kai and Shingen’s cousin who plotted against him after the Battle of Kawanakijima and was ordered to commit seppuku.
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Takeda Nobushige
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1521 to 1573
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Shingen’s 4th son, whom he made clan-leader after Yoshinobus’ betrayal until his grandson would come off age.
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(He is the looser who made the whole Takeda clan go to hell in the end.)
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(
damming project of the Fuji River
meanwhile: st of The conque ANO IN SH n Norther st of & the conque OZUKE Western K
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o
* Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu are believed to have made a pact to share the remaining Imagawa lands between them. But Takeda Shingen turned against his ally. Even today every 1st weekend in April people celebrate in his memory at the Takeda Shingen Festival in Kofu. (6)
Brother to Yoshinobus wife, son to Imagawa Yoshimoto. Ujizane controlled the SURUGA province.
)
Peak: After a tactical pact Takeda Shingen challenged the ODA-TOKUGAWA Alliance in 1572
dead –
circumstances unknown*
seppuku – the end
[“ this wo The katana is made of Japanese steel [Tamahagane] – a combination of hard high carbon steel an tough low carbon steel, both providing their best attributes to the construction of the sword, making it sharp and malleable at the same time (and so basically unbreakable).
Some sword makers use as many as five different pieces of steel to wield a katana. First a u-shaped piece of high-carbon steel that holds a billet of low-carbon steel is hammered into a single piece.
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This block is heated and hammered for several days. After that it is folded an hammered again for about 16 times to squeeze out the impurities of the material.
e deserve w nd a ... e g en v re er h es rv oman dese
to die” ]
It receives a basic sword shape but still is only slightly curved. The final curvature is attained by quenching: the blade is coated with several layers of wet clay slurry (the mixture is unique to each sword maker). The edge of the blade is coated with a thinner layer than the sides and spine. When it is heated and quenched in water, only the blade’s edge will be hardened and the blade starts to curve due to reduced lattice strain along the spine. This creates the hamon, the distinct swerving line down the center of the blade. It manifests after the sword has been polished. Each hamon is distinct and serves as a katana forger’s signature.
The hardening process permanently alters the microstructure of steel into iron carbide. This is achieved by heating it above 800 °C and cooling it very quickly. u
Kill Bill youtube-trailer
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(●)
the way of the warrior
bushido “One should put forth
great effort
in matters of learning.
One should read books concerning military matters, and direct his attention
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exclusively to the virtues of loyalty and Having been born into the house of a warrior, one’s intentions should be to grasp the long and the short swords and to die.” [Kato]
filial piety ...
Ever since Jim Jarmusch let himself be inspired by Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s “Hagakure” and made “Ghost Dog”, the term “bushido” entered my field of perception. Forest Whitaker represents the ultimate western Samurai – if there can ever be such a thing. [It goes without saying that Robby Müller’s camerawork is state of the art.]
The Hagakure lives next to Haruki Murakami among the many books on my shelve. It contains many of the sayings of Nabeshima Naoshige (1537–1619). I often use it as a In it Kato – [a ferocious warrior of that time] – states: guide during difficult times be“If a man does not investigate into the matter of Bushido cause of its simple truth: “know your way, know yourself”. Nowadays daily, it will be difficult for him to die a brave and manly death. Thus, it is essential to engrave this business of the anyone can read it, but until the warrior into one’s mind well.” Imagine that! On top of that end of the Tokugawa era in the Kato thougt it was “shameful for any man to die without early 18th century it was kept as having risked his life in battle”. a “secret teaching”. The word “bushido”, – meaning “the way of As a result of the Pax Tokugawa the the warrior” – wasn’t even mentSamurais’ role and social status ionend as a Samurai code then. changed drastically. Samurai had to Still, Japan’s oldest book, the Kojiki (712), presents an take on other tasks: serving as early indication of samurai values. It also tells of the police force or in the Tokugawa “Japanese warriors’ use and admiration of the sword”. administration. Some roamed The Shoku Nihongi (797) first uses the Chinese term “bushi” the country masterless (武士) in connection to the “educated warrior-poet”. [as can be seen in A. Kurosawa’s “Jojimbo” (6)]. The ideals of Bushido are imminent in many of the 13th to 16th century writings of Japan. The Heike Monogatari (1371) tells the story of the “Gempei War” and describes warriors who may well habve been role models for the educated samurai of later generations.
It is a man’s world! At the beginning of the 15th century Japan entered a period of peace known to us as the “Pax Tokugawa”. At the turn of the 16th century, the bushido-handbook finally emerged.
Compared to Kato, the above mentioned “Hagakure” offers a rather “nostalgic” interpretation of bushido. It Tsunetomo states: “A samurai should act without hesitation to fulfill his duties, without regard for success or failure”. More romantic, but surely not very effective war tactics. Still, this ambivalence in the very heart of bushido is what gets me. Some of Japan’s various disastrous military ambitions or “banzaicharges” (6) in the 20th century are results of this strange philosophy – and don’t we all have it in us?
25
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a good death is
it’s own reward
high” or “ i a r u m a s of S riation.* all kindu y b d e ic t m ch va ac o *By the end of the 19th century t r p n e ly p e o t id w no 1,282,000 members of the “high s d a n w a , u n k e u samurai“ (allowed to ride a horse) Sepp , even by wom and 492,000 members of the “low “low” samurai“ (allowed to wear two
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swords but not to ride a horse) were counted, in relation to 25 million Japanese.
Bushido is born out of a concept of honour that seems still relevant in Japanese culture, even today. Although of course most people don’t go around killing themselves by tearing their guts out in the open to reinstall their honour. According to bushido, if a samurai failed to uphold his honor he could only regain it by performing seppuku – ritual suicide. It seems crazy that this would pass as “an admired deed of bravery”. But it actually was the only way for a Samurai to reinstall his damaged reputation and be uplifted to a higher spiritual level. A simple “sorry” just wouldn’t do.
You have reached ritual suicide ... Rituals have always played an essential role in Japanese tradition and society. So it is of no wonder seppuku became a highly ritualized act. It is safe to say that to perform it was extremely painful business.
First of all: Spectators were a very common phenomenon during seppuku. You couldn’t just go out and do it. After a bath and a meal the warrior would have to kneel down, his instrument on his plate in front of him. In preparation for death he would write a death poem. Then, after opening his kimono, he would plunge his [knife] or [short sword] into his abdomen, and make a left-to-right cut. Sometimes a loyal comrade or the “kaishakunin” (6) would cut off his head at the moment of agony. But if you are thinking of simple decapitation, you are dead wrong. “Kaishaku” meant
29
“the precise decapitation by means of a single cut, leaving a slight band of flesh that would attach the head to the body, so that it be hung in front as if embraced“.
You may have noticed at this point that great precision was an essential asset here. While in the beginning it was agreed in advance, when the kaishakunin was to act, later on the ritual took over – the way rituals sometimes do. As soon as the samurai reached for his blade he would lose his head. When the samurai was too old or too dangerous to use a blade, he simply used a symbolic object, like a fan, to trigger the act.
Bushido includes compassion for those of lower station, and first of all for the preservation of ones name. It is essential to conduct oneself with calmness, fairness, justice, and propriety and to be dedicated to lifelong learning. In the end it all comes down to the “constant preparation for death“. To die a good death with one’s honor intact, is the ultimate aim in a life according to bushido. But when is death a good death? When do we die honorably? Tragically, for a Japanese Samurai even seppuku would not guarantee “rewards“ in his afterlife (6). Buddhism is very specific about one thing: Killing IS bad. It is kind of tragic, but leaves us with a poetic result and common motive in Japanese art, film & literature: The soul of a noble warrior suffering in hell, wandering the earth as a lingering spirit. u
inction to religious Bushido, being in contradist itment to propriety belief, carries a deep commsake. in this world for propriety’s
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naoshige
11:58:44 am september 1
1923
magnitude
7.9
100,000 to 142,000 deaths
The 93-ton Great Buddha statue at Kamakura [over 60 km away from the epicenter]
slid f
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4 to 0 1 minut e s
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artwork space5, using shutterstock
forward almost two feet. a buddah
a ke h ow to s h i ft
k a n t o earthqu
th e g re a t
“... The earthquake struck at lunchtime. Many people were using fire to cook, so the damage and number of fatalities rose due to rapidly spreading fires in numerous locations.
The earthquake caused water mains to break, so putting out the fires took nearly two full days until late in the morning of September 3.
The fires were the biggest causes of death.�
34
High winds from a nearby typhoon off the coast of Noto Peninsula in Northern Japan enforced the fires – some developed into firestorms which swept across cities. The single greatest loss
of life occurred when approximately 38,000 people packed into an open space at the Rikugun Honjo Hifukusho in downtown Tokyo were incinerated by a firestorm-induced fire whirl.
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way nt an ge eneRe inc Pr the t bu e, fir ht ug ca e lac Pa l ria pe Im in e r ve Th re we when the earthquake struck the city, and es w lid ds lan by ay aw t ep sw or d rie bu ing be s me ho ese of Th ses re.Nebuka Ca ctu Prefe wa vil gathe na Ka rn ste we in as are al ast co ly hil of e lag in n tio sta ay lw rai the At le. domw op pe ers 0 ng 80 sse pa 0 10 er ov th wi in tra er ng sse pa ng ssi n pa a thi d wi he ast coof Izu Penin theast ed ch rea mi na tsu A . elf its e lag vil the d an co st ea the d an ds ge include about 100 people ki anma IzumiIslda sula, nin Pe so Bo na tsu of s 0 ple 0,0 57 am er Ex Ov ay. ew us ca a im osh En the on le op pe to 50 ip ted shn U.S ma bylio d bil porte nsed tra re we es ue ac ev me So s. les me ho n lio e on ed ce imated to have ex est is ge ma da e Th s. le aft tab Nihonbashi and Kanda seen from the Roof of ck on ho atiers Desol stt hoon g typ on str a e, ak qu rth ea the of e tim the d e un sis aro the At po hy u rea r Bu eathe Wled tesup Sta d ite Un the o of se ks rea oo Br inc en dd su a th wi co e ur ess pr ric he to osp gher 4 atm ou of enden vele,bean haop y ma lt fau e ak qu rth ea sed res -st dy oth rea an pe 0 ,30st ethnic minorities 99ain dag ate estim an led kil on ho typ cre ssa ma e ak qu stPo it] g uchi, [ed ninno iso po ell W d an t en tim sen n rea Ko tiAn o: als e Se aru M Metropolitan Police Department burning at quake led to rthper articles c ea the by d ate cre n sio nfu co d an nic pa e Th pa ws ne ese an s. Jap ion reg ted ec aff K the emi of tir e en sid the et, bin ca ese an Jap the d an o ky To of n tio na ila nih giarontsstsu andaya ac s, lfw onha pti eru nic lca vo to e du ds an Isl the wid Izu ost corner of the Kant Plain, alm all reds ru deou orici d an , law al rti ma red cla de y str ini M me Ho e Th rn pe ly re in possessi lar rti, cu ebbpa . dOn ity ior pr top a ity ur sec d an we d an ery ro an arbrson ng itti mm o co ky er, To n ast ba ur in d rre cu oc bs mo l uta by ns rea fa Ko as of rs r de mo ru the ted or rep rs pe pa ws ne me So 0] .[1 cl ge d ota an esn survi sab firke usric ro-st menic nupa e Th lls. we g nin iso po re we ns rea Ko the of and villages across the re rs ns rumo the rm nfi co to d me see tow , ies cit in s ck adblo 円pr50 uporro„J“ set , 15 tly en fer dif s rd wo of g nin gin be the in ona “ to „G led fai o wh ne yo An ty. nti ide nic eth of ts tes r, as ve ed eo us or M . led kil e regional diale or som atersnof beke re we ny ma t bu , ve lea to d tol ea sp ese an Jap andwe , ou ns sw wa thi ina t ou Ok ab nt me nu mo A 1] .[1 led kil re zh en W m fro ted ucthe nd co e lic po the d an my Ar ese an Jap the e, ns po ss res ro In ac bsel are know monn methe frolic on cti ote pr for in en tak re we s an rso pe po d an aremy ereTh whas. nts ide K inc re i (or we urum Ts of e lic po of ief 36 ch are e som n in rea gs Ko t lin tha ur mo ru the e ov pr dis to r ate ll-w we a the att k re un dr we ed ap esc haddistributed flyers d le my peop n Th rea Ko ich wh o int ns tio sta Ar e m. the pr, ote tons psrea k ste too butctin many cases vigilante activity only c Ko cking
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kko Ni at re we ess pr Em d an r ro pe Em e Th . ed rm ha un as y danger.[7] d an as are us no tai un mo the in t en qu fre ly lar cu rti pa t re ou we ab of s ath de the tpsfor un co ac to ted or rep are s- e pu caa,ses eaw nsnide tai un mo ing lla co a , ara aw Od of st we tur uc str tio sta tireof Sagami Bay, enast the co th wi ng alo sea the o int l hil wn the g tin hit as, to 10 meters were recorded. e are som in tes nu mi up of is am un iTs . est ula an ns d an ra ku ma Ka in h ac be a am a-h i-g Yu ng lalo d mi ille dns1.9 ate im est an g vin lea , ed oy str de re we s me ] un[8co ai.ac 00asho Ka in be Ko of rt po the as nto Ka m fro far 57 re S. dollars at contemporary values. There we f of Dai-ichi Sogo Building, Kyobashi. F. C. ing lud inc ts, tis en sci me So a. are y Ba o ky To the ase ck cre tru en de ddrge susu arm by ed ert ex s ce for ing ict nfl co al-d the t an tha on sto by ed us ca sea the m fro e ur ess an e ak oftripr qu together, the earth Al e. ak qu l tia ini the er gg 43,500 went missing.[9] , near Hibiya Park. t-ou d an ide ins th bo g din rea sp rs mo ru se fal us ro an me al nu o tot the guc tin orde ly,rep us rio va s, rie sto sed nfu co ed ofstthe rri nmo ca tio str the sea the o int g kin sin ion reg nt Ka ern as Akagi (at the north d an inl far as ing ch rea i dth of the country). r dedis or of ance ennta int ma ke ma to s ief ch e lic po l na tio sec the l of ge va ad ingthe quake, mass murre tak we ns rea Ko t tha s wa or um of th ma er aft the s. In, fueled by rumors of rebellion and mb ofYobo ion ma ha ko d t the an tha : all of r mo ru ly ad de st mo the to led ich e,upall wh t, ak ac qu ge lar a of t ec eff n ow kn lelitt a , ter wa ll s we dy gro ou te an gil Vi le. bb ru the t ids am ing liv re we o ed wh nc rs ou vo on pr nts thdKorean acce wi le op pe e us ca Be re . we ion o) eg eg ug gig (ga an n) -se -jo go , -en -go re (jo we 0éŠ reasun.chSoasme Ko ed em de s wa y erl op pr m the se, ce ine un Ch no n, rea Ko as d fie nti ide nly ke sta mi y ne stl yo mo an t 700 Chinese, ou Ab e. fat e sam the red ffe su ts, ec 2] was built 1993 in Wenzhou.[1 reKore 00 2,0 n tha e or M . ns rea Ko ct ote pr to ns tio opera the t de reg tha n ow vedshin the vigilante kilhade s llu die stu tev en rec h ug ho alt , ion co en or edcounts) is reported to have publicly ndon co haive tosak wn ac e som by ents lic wa po Ka en ev , ns tow e som In lls. we g 37 nin iso po en be d ide ha res nsked by mobs, whereas in other neighbourhoain odsts attaac ag ns ilia civ ing rnerations against it. waop dmy an ur mo ru the ing ny de Ar of ult res ceased as a
The earliest records of a people of any country are of great value. Not only to its inhabitants of the NOW, but to the wider world in general. History and myth help us to understand something about the
culture of a people.
Their ancient GODS influence the destiny of the ones who create them – and of the country in which they originate. While fresh, they are powerful enough to unite and bring together tribes – event to
create confederations.
Later on they inspire art unsurpassed. And even when their glory has faded – they are still passed on. We find them embedded in the contemporary art and literature of a modern world – a kind of “collective heritage” that influnces not only the native country – but any other culture
38
of a globalized world.
39
40
By Unknown - [1], taken from the book "Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People " ISBN: 0967342902., Public Domain.
41 “The Ainu lived in this place a hundred thousand years before the Children of the Sun came”
By Felice Beato - http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027j/beato_people/fb_album_01.html, Public Domain.
Yukar Upopo [The Ainu legends]
Ainu culture, as we known today, dates back to around 1200 A.D. As an ethnic people the Ainu were indigenous to Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin where they lived as a secluded group. After the politically motivated annexation of Hokkaido by the Japanese during the Meji Restauration, the Ainu and their culture and traditions got fully assimilated. Their land was taken from them, they were forced to learn Japanese, adopt Japanese names and ordered to cease their religious practices. Today their language is regarded as “endangered” – optimistic guesses are that fewer than 100 native speakers remain. Like the Celts, Inuit or many other indigenous poeple on this planet, the Ainu had no written language. Instead, they were “masters of narration”.
Ainu women are most famous for their mouth tattooes which were started at a young age with a small spot on the upper lip. Throught the years they gradually increased in size. Ainu lived mainly by hunting and fishing, their religion strongly based on phenomena of nature. Like Inuit people, they believed that everything in nature posesses a kamuy (6) – a spirit. The most important one being fire – the kamuy of grandmother earth – to which the Ainu prayed in times of sickness. They believed their spirits were immortal, and that in death they would be rewarded by ascending to kamui mosir [The Land of the Gods]. Although Ainu culture seems quite different from Japanese culture, their creation myths share common characteristics. There is a version in which a deity sends down a water wagtail – an Okikurumi and Turesh – to create habitable land in the watery world below. Their son – some consider him the first Ainu – gave his people all the necessary skills to survive. Because they think of themselves as hairy, many Ainu stories tell that their first ancestor was a bear. u
Japan did not formally recognise the Ainu as an indigenous group with a distinct language, religion and culture until June 6, 2008.
Ainu art
(6) site.uit.no/ainu/ainu-art-project
good luck:zan f o s n a m s li a T rin lls at Shofe cture, Daruma do re p a temple, Gunm Japan.
Domain. Public 1 - Own work, By Leongboy
ain. Public Dom
By Fg2 - Self-photographed, Public Domain.
42
: Omamobrietter n amulets o ti c r te ro p l a k n d luc anoddfo Perso a b ff o g usiness, b in rd are for wra for good driving, go health, o ol success. and scho
Wikipedia ion at English 2.5, der was Jlenc ons., CC BY-SA mm Co Original uploa to dia m en.wikipe Transferred fro plied. no changes ap
d at Sewa Jinja. Ema dedicateod en plaques The small woes or desires contain wish and le ft at a place on up en writt s. nd ou gr e rin in the sh
lled
ith one eye fi w ll o d a m ru a D A in for wishing.
43
By 三代豊国,歌川国貞(Utagawa Toyokuni III, Kunisada) - Unknown, Public Domain.
based seemed to been le op pe e th of ity al »Natural spiritu or natural elemthets.« es rc fo l ra tu na of ip on the worsh hi is the indigenous spirituality of between Kami-no-mic le. It is to establish a connection e currently Japanese peoppan and its ancient past. There ar n. The present day Jaficial practitioners of Shinto in Japain to 119 million of of Japanese people who take part Shin vast majority actice Buddhism. rituals also pr
gene of the
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When Izanagi-no-Mikoto retu after his effort to save Izanam and spawned three children: Summer, was born when he w of the sun, was born when he god of the moon, sprung from
creation:myth
WIKIPEDIA – Kobayashi Eitaku 1880-90, Public Domain.
The creation myth of Shinto is a depiction of events leading up to the creation of the Japanese Islands: Izanagi-no-Mikoto [male] and Izanami-no-Mikoto [female] were called by all the myriad gods to create a new land which was to become Japan. With a spear they stirred the water, and created an island in the great nothingness where they lived together in a palace. They had two children [islands] which turned out badly, so they cast them out. Then they then gave birth to the eight perfect islands of the Japanese archipelago. After that they gave birth to the other Kami. When Izanami-no-Mikoto dies, Izanagi-no-Mikoto goes to the underworld in oder to to revive her. His attempts to deny the laws of life and death have bad consequences.
orpheus:euridyce
Susanoo and his sister Amaterasu were not getting on too well. One day Susanoo, the Storm God, became restless and aside from many nasty things he did, he also destroyed his sister’s rice fields. Amaterasu was in fury and grief and hid inside the Ama-noIwato [the heavenly rock cave]. With her the sun vanished for a long period of time. Later she was persuaded to leave the cave and Susanoo was banished from Heaven. He descended to the province of Izumo, where he killed the
afterlife : destination All spirits go to a place called YOMI. It is an underground realm where a river separates the dead from the living.
paradise : the 8 islands of Japan The Gods created the land for the Japanese people. It is the foundation of the Japanese Empire.
alogy : Gods
urned from YOMI [the underworld], mi-no-Mikoto, he washed his face clean Susanoo, the powerful storm of washed his nose. Amaterasu, goddess washed his left eye, and Tsukuyomi, m the washing of his right eye.
As the Japanese islands were created by the gods, they are considered to be paradise. Shinto links this creation with the Japanese people: “Shinto is the fundamental connection between the power and beauty of creation and the Japanese people. It is the manifestation of a path to understanding the institution of divine power.”
Sado Oki
dragon – the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi (6). From the dragon’s tail he took the sword Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi [the Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven]. On his return he gave it to Amaterasu as a reconciliation gift.
Yamato Tsushima Iki
Iyo Awaji Tsukushi
purification:
rites
Purification rites are a vital part of Shinto. Performed on a regular basis, they have been adapted to modern life. New buildings in Japan are frequently blessed by a Shinto priest [kannushi], many Japanese cars are blessed as part of the assembly process and sometimes Japanese businesses outside Japan have had purifying ceremonies with occasionally an annual visitation by a priest.
45 Public Domain.
By 三神器.jpg: Unclemcderivative work: PawełMM (talk) - 三神器.jpg, Public Domain.
Legends has it, she bequeathed it to her descendant Ninigi along with the Yata no Kagami mirror and Yasakani no Magatama jewel or orb. The sacred sword, mirror and jewel became the three Imperial Regalia of Japan.
rine, at Itsukushima Sh Offerings of sake Ja , efecture pan. Miyajima, Hiroshima Pr
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*
kami:
the spiritual essence of all
orpheus:euridyce Izanagi-no-Mikoto is born of the “seven divine generations” in Japanese mythology and Shinto. His name in the Kojiki is “zanagi-no-mikoto”. It means: “male-who-invites”.
Together with Izanami-no-Mikoto he is responsible for the creation of many islands, deities and forefathers of Japan. When his wife died in childbirth, Izanami tried to retrieve her from the underworld. But when he looked at her prematurely, he found Izanami’s body, decomposing and full of worms, being watched over by the eight thunder deities of Yomi. She feels ashamded and rather angry and sends the armies of the undereworld to kill him. When they fail she cries out: “For your having done this, I will kill one thousand people of your land each day.” He replied, “If you do that, I will each day create one thousand five hundred people.”
www.bsu.edu/classes/magrath/205f00/lovestor.html
It was during the cleansing rite after his return, when Susanoo, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi were created.
Every action has its consequences. Evil deeds create Subsequently, being killed without being able to set will turn a person into a powerful kami that seeks rev Kami are spirits, essences or deieties existing in the relam of the sacred, including all mythical creatures. They are associated with all kinds of existing forms. There is no separation between Kami and people. They all exist within the same world and share its “interrelated complexity”. Kami can be people or human-like creatures, animals or natural and abstract forces like mountains, rivers, lightning, wind, waves, trees, rocks. Some natural places are considered to have an unusually sacred spirit about them. As dwellings of the Kami they are sacred places of worship and must be treated with utmost respect. In modern Shinto kami are considered anthropomorphic spirits, with nobility and authority. Amaterasu, the Sun goddess, is a notable kami. So are Hachiman – the god of war, Sarutahiko Okami – kami of earth, Tsukuyomi – the moon god, Susanoo-no-mikoto – the sea and storms god, Inari Okami – god of foxes, Kotoamatsukami – the primary kami trinity, Izanagi-no-Mikoto – the first man, Izanami-no-Mikoto – the first woman, and Omoikane – the deity of wisdom. The ancient animistic religion sees kami as the divine forces of nature in general. Traditionally, a kami possesses two souls: “nigi-mitama” – the gentle soul and “ara-mitama” the assertive one. This would explain the different behaviours of a deity and nature’s sudden changes. Every meteorological events like snowfall, rain, typhoons, floods, lightning or volcanoes have their own kami.
Fg2/Own work assumedassumed (based on copyright claims), Public Domain.
Work smart, not hard – a play in one act
susanoo:
slaying the 8-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi
things
e impurity. them right venge.
“Who are ye and why do ye grieve lament thus?" “I am an Earthly Deity, and my name is Ashi-nadzuchi. My wife’s name is Te-nadzuchi. This girl is our daughter, and her name is Kushinada-hime. The reason of our weeping is that formerly we had eight children, daughters. But they have been devoured year after year by an eight-forked serpent and now the time approaches for this girl to be devoured. There is no means of escape for her, and therefore do we grieve.” “If that is so, wilt thou give me thy daughter?” “I will comply with thy behest and give her to thee.”
WIKIPEDIA 2011 /Toyohara Chikanobu (1838 –1912), woodblock print, Meiji period;
Therefore Susanoo on the spot changes Kushinada-hime into a many-toothed close-comb which he sticks in the august knot of his hair. He makes Ashi-nadzuchi and Te-nadzuchi to brew eight-fold sake. They have to make eight cupboards, and set in each of them a tub filled with sake. Then he awaits the arrival of the serpent. The serpent appeares. It has an eight-forked head and an eight-forked tail. Its eyes are red, like the winter-cherry; and on its back firs and cypresses are growing. As it crawls it extends over a space of eight hills and eight valleys. But when it finds the sake, each head drinks up one tub. It becomes drunk and falls asleep. Then Susanoo draws his ten-span sword and chops the serpent into small pieces. When he comes to the tail, the edge of his sword is slightly notched. Therefor he splits open the tail and examines it. In the inside there is a sword. This is the sword which is called Kusa-nagi no tsurugi. (adaption of tr. Aston 1896:1:52–53)
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spirits *
japanese
and legendary creatures a vast number of legendary creatures and spirits, sacred objects and places inhabited by
spirits are vivid in modern Japanese
popular culture and have influenced artists
throughout time.
kasa obake
[a paper umbrella monster]
nyoijizai
[a skeletal spitit ith very stretchw able arms]
soraki gaesh
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i [the sound of tr down when thees being cut ey are not]
aimuzyi
[a green cactus rather a lot of with muscles]
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bakeneko
[a shapeshifting cat]
A bakeneko will haunt any household it is kept in, creating ghostly fireballs, menacing sleepers, walking on its hind legs, changing its shape into that of a human, and even devouring its own mistress in order to shapeshift and take on human form. When killed, its body may be as much as five feet in length. It poses a danger if allowed into a room with a fresh corpse: A cat is supposed to be capable of reanimating a body by jumping over it. Any cat that reaches the age of thirteen years or one kan (3.75 kilograms) in weight or is allowed to keep a long tail can become a bakeneko. It has the ability to eat anything in its way, but mostly prefers poison. It is rare to see people with a bakeneko, though some have been seen.
ittan-momen
[a clothlike m onster w h smoth people byhic itself arouenrs d the face] wrapping
[a beast which ishtmares] to devour nig peared in Japanese anime It recently has ap inese originates in Ch and manga andits an as early Jap o int y wa nd fou folklore. It d. as the Muromachi perio
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Find more cool mosters at: macabre kids book art by ishihara http://pinktentacle.com/2010/07/macabre-kids-book-art-by-gojin-ishihara
doji
[a white winged spirit – this one has lost a wing]
vinylpulse.com
This spirit with white wings would seem like an angel, as in European mythology. Actually this one is the first doji we have ever seen and, well, we don’t think so. Just because he has white wings does not mean he is an angel. Unfortunately there is not much to tell about this spirit, because no one seems to be interested in him. But on July 14, 2010 Mutant Vinyl Hardcore released Doji San (07.15) wearing a monster mask and having NO WINGS at all. We will just leave this one to your imagination.
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(6) Vinyl Pulse http://www.vinylpulse.com
. Domain Public
u bak le ab
sheisne igami
an [the Jape reap r]
51
i ce, gan ike hebea ring a human fa
[crabs its of thought to be spir warriors]
amefubroyikozo
[a little in] playing in the ra
ikiri kam utting
c [a hairit spir ]
saran kesamrysatenrioups a white ch is believed [a
ture, whi fluffy creack n d lu wheea ture-like to bring goo cr he T . of re ca taken multipliy to y e abilit entity haspth io per attent dn.s the value when givenrealro understan No one n-ly aran. ] as p ra of the kesa
(6) Random Curiosity http://randomc.net/2007/11/07/mokke-06
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jorogumo
[a spider woman]
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amazake-babaa
[an old woman who asks for sweet sake an brings disease] Amazake-babaa comes to the doors of houses late at night, asking for sweet sake [amazake]. To lure people out, she uses the voice of a child. But anyone who answers the door, will fall ill – either instantly or soon after the encounter. The best method to keep her away is to place a cedar leaf in in the front doorway of your house. [Amazake-babaa was also known as the god of chickenpox.]
a ger ] mhaupejsihn ifting bad
[a s
juvbamopirke trkeeo– orhtrereeelasprgireit –
w [a in areasan blood havseor growing m u h f o ts amoun illed, i.e. battle fieinldg been spon sites. After havd they executi up so much bloo ppear sucked demons. They a and s, turn into n other tree sturdier hthean cut, but healave bleed w. They may also h ers. ] quickly or purifying pow healing
mokumokuren
[a swarm of eyes appearing on a paper sliding door in an old building]
com entai. suprs
These are spirits that live in torn Japanese paper sliding walls. If a sliding wall has many holes, eyes can sometimes be seen on it. They can make you blind if you look at them long enough. The only way to remove the spirit is to patch up the holes. Mokumokuren is said to be an invention of Toriyama Sekien, an 18th century scholar and ukiyo-e artist of Japanese folklore. He is most famous for his attempt to catalogue all species of mischievous creatures and spirits of Japanese mythology.
Mokumokuren in episodes 1,5–6, 12, 39 and 53 of the 1970 Japanese “Super Sentai Series” was Nurikabe’s brother. He had the ability to release countless beams from his many eyes to confuse and disorient his opponents. He was destroyed by Invincible Shogun’s flaming sword. Episode 12 featured a replica of him.
Crazy stuff: Super Sentai youtube-trailer
(●)
koso[adkimeo-nno o-te 54
with hands]
WIKIPED IA, 2011
nando-baba
[an old-woman sp irit hiding under the floor in ab andoned storeroo ms]
ami saronukeg y spirit
g] [a wickedwm feated by a do which as de
enenra
[a monster made of smoke]
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ryu
EDIA WIKIP
[Japanese Dragon]
-maen, tef-anbo lind m
hands] is h ost o n o s e y [ the ghw ith his e
azukiarai
A ghostly phenomenon in which, usually near a river, a mysterious noise that sounds like azuki beans being washed or ground is heard. Sometimes the spirit sings “azuki togo ka, hito totte kuo ka? shoki shoki.” (“Will I grind my azuki beans, or will I get a person to eat? shoki shoki.“). Anyone who approaches the sound will fall into the water.
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E WIK hon H IPE yaku DIA , 20 monog 11 atar i, ca . 18 41
[a spirit making the so of azuki beans beingund washed]
ukrei ](6) kyujakpaenets se vampi [a
nekomusume
[a cat in the form of a girl – a specific transfo of the folkloric Bakenermation ko]
taka onna
[a female spirit – stretching itself two storeys] Women changing into taka onna are usually known for their jealousy. Taka onna are walking around, looking into the rooms of people and are NOT popular with men! Once the wife of a woodworker in Wakayama prefecture became a taka onna: After their marriage they had a child and the husband hired and managed 30 servants. When the child turned 5 it disappeared. The servants began to die one by one until there were less than half left. A mediator came to the house and asked what had happened. When the husband answered “nothing special”, he urged caution. When his wife found out, she became very scary and asked what the mediator had wanted. The husband answered: “He just asked what happened and then left.” But she scared him, so he lied, saying he had a fever and went to bed. His wife entered the room and while he pretended to be asleep, he looked at her appearance. Her behaviour struck him as rather strange: She changed into an oni, took off her clothes, went outside and jumped into a well from which she emerged a few minutes later followed by a sound of loud thunder. Her bottom half was still in the well. As taka onna she was able to control the length of her body’s parts. So he made a run for the hills. That is how he saved his life.
o akraedtehak nd om a tree] fr [a
g
danglin
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jinmenju
WIKIPEDIA, 2011 Ehon Hyaku monogatari, ca. 1841
[a mysterious tree with human faced fruits, appearing to be human heads. The faces smile and laugh even as they fall from the tree.]
basan
[a large fire-breathing chicken monster] Basan is a fowl-like bird illustrated in the Ehon Hyaku Monogatari (“Picture Book of a Hundred Stories”) published ca. 1841. It contains images by Takehara Shunsen. This supernatural bestiary of ghosts, monsters, and spirits has had a profound influence on subsequent yokai imagery in Japan. The basan as described in this book resembles a large chicken which breathes fox-fire from its mouth, creating eerie ghost-flames. It lurks in the mountains of Iyo Province (which is now known as Ehime Prefecture), resembling an oversized barnyard fowl. As a night creature it hides in bamboo groves during the day. It wanders into villages at night, making a strange rustling “basabasa” noise. But when people peek out of their houses, they find nothing there. It is not known to cause any injury to humans.
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59
the killing of
Jishin Namazu npoku ku-dkfroa sen[aphuo g that man-face e
souls of th guides the ed to newly deceas the graveyard]
sunsmeallkdoog-sorucart-liike creature [a
n’s legs
that rubs against a perso at night]
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jishin namazu
[a giant catfish causing earthquakes]
Jishin namazu symbolizes the wild, destructive potential of nature. A major earthquake would be seen as a world-rectifying event. Earthquakes, as destructive as they are, provide a strong impetus for a society to regain its social and financial health. They would literally shake things up, getting the stagnating, hoarded goods and wealth back into circulation, especially into the hands of ordinary people: One year after Perry’s fleet visited Japan in 1854, a powerful earthquake – the Ansei Earthquake – struck Edo and its surrounding areas. It produced a flood of namazu-related imagery. Many residents linked the two events, associating them with a heavenly-sent shakeup of a society that had become corrupt and imbalanced in many ways. The first arrival of Perry’s ships in Edo Bay in 1853 (6) took the general population by surprise. His 1854 return visit caused a real frenzy. Many residents of Edo had never seen a steam ship before. Being black, just like the Namazu, the connection between the invasion and the earthquake to follow seemed obvious. The sight of the boats caused a strong emotional impact and much confusion: Prices for goods rose, people sought to hide their household valuables and Samurai rushed to acquire weapons. When the earthquake finally struck Edo and its surrounding area it had an estimated Richter magnitude of 6.9 – 7.1. Continuing aftershocks followed for the next five days. It killed around 10,000 people in the greater Edo area and even more people got injured. Fires raged for days. For many residents of Edo, the earthquake finalized the world rectification process initiated by Perry’s arrival.
momonjii
WIKIPEDIA, 2011
[an old-man w at every forkaiinting for you the road]
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(6) i h c ro -o o -n ta a m a y eight-headed [legendary
serpent]
hikiu-llkinog zo sode le spirit p
[an invisibves] on slee
betobeto-san
[an invisible spirit following people at night, making the sound of footsteps] Betobeto-san lives in the Naraken prefecture in Kinki, but this also found throughout the whole of Japan. If you have ever walked at night, feeling someone walk behind you and hearing strange footsteps, only to find nothing when turning around, you sure have encountered the yokai known as Betobeto-san. It is scary, but if you just stop at the side of the road and say, “Betobeto-san, saki e okoshi” (Betobeto-san, please go on ahead), the footsteps will vanish as the Betobeto-san passes and you can walk on in peace. Whatever happens to those who don’t recite the charm remains unknown and therefor untold.
o nderless lump nuepd suppeeratuprap an l d ge ]
[an animeatcaying human flesh of d
amidst face and features height and has a in lf -ha d-a -an t a metre , usually Nuppeppo is abou ers about aimlessly ssive loner, it wand pa A n. near deserted ski ar, of ye ds the fol ards the end of the tow ed ott are sp en oft ns and citites. There at midnight. It is ts of villages, tow ee str pty of s em ell d an sm s t . It is harmless bu graveyards, temple y wanders alone stl mo it e t th bu of s, the flesh reports of group s those who eat l films nal youth await arances in severa pe ap rotting flesh. Eter de K again!!!). It ma pears YA d ap d an ! an s AK tie (Y six nuppeppo y from the late a i monsters trilog ys ka pa yo it c ssi ere cla Th n. the such as amasa Youtoude ur M o or Ob e m lik do s pleasant ran in several Wii game but thoroughly un “fairly inoffensive ppeppo lives Nu surprise visit as a the ature resembling cre a i am Ok In encounter”. t ship. Gazu the ide a sunken ghos m ins fro , 11 a 20 am DIA,
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WIKIPE ko, illustrated by Toriy Hyakki Ya 12 –1788) Sekien, 17
An akaname as depicted in the Sekien's 18th first volume of century Gazu Toriyama Hyakki Yakō .[1] Public Do main.
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akaname
[a spirit who ks the untidliycb athroom]
tsukumogami (6) [an inanimate object that comes to life after 100 years]
satori
[an ape-like creature with the ability to read minds] also a Japanese Zen Buddhist term for “enlightenment” referring to a flash of sudden awareness.
yatagatargaarassuu
crow Ya [the three-legged was sent from heaven of Amaterasu u. represents Emperor Jimm inithu as a guide forne man affairs] n the divi interventio
uma-no-ashi
[a horses leg dangling from a tree and kicking passersby]
Uma-no-ashi usually hides within a tree, waiting for someone to walk by. When people pass, the leg pops out and kicks them. After that it immediately hides back in the tree. The word ambush springs to mind. Some Uma-no-ashi are so evil that they’ll kick until you are dead. There is a strange lack of information on this one, so we had to dig very deep to find ANYTHING about a horses leg AT ALL. But voilà: Did you know that Ryunosuke Akutagawa (6) wrote a short story called “Horse Legs” in 1925 – two years before he commited suicide? In this kind of Kafkaesque story a man gets resurrected but as a downside has to live with two horse legs instead of his old legs because those were rotten up to the hips. The main story tells about his effort to hide his legs from anyone, especially his wife, which – we imagine – is kind of hard work. There is a very interesting translation of this story by Jay Rubin on the web.
(6) Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Horses Leg
3 http://becomingatapatia.blogspot.com/2010/01/horse-legs_28.html
yo y to display ungterawiik th the abilit
[a mirror monsnders in its surface. ungaikyo are ue assorted wo larly old or antiqs g from particush demons that sprin ow the previou to ve the power mirrors. they ha ks into life of anyone who loo them.]
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an yo-s yaging gh throu
[a demon rid on a headless horse] the night
60 –1849 Hokusai, 17 Katsushika 11 20 , WIKIPEDIA
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kappa
[a watermonster with a love for cucumbers]
sagari
[a horse head dangling from a tree] This apparition is common in the Fukuoka and Kumamoto prefectures on the island of Kyushu. A grisly disembodied horse head dangles in the branches of a nettle tree, held either by its mane or a single humanoid arm. It is said to be the ghost of a horse that has died beneath a tree, and is now bound to it. Its baleful whinnies are terrifying, and those who see it sometimes fall ill. But kindhearted humans have the power to release these spirits, although not all Sagari are interested in passing on. They prefer the comfort of their tree to whatever awaits them in afterlife. Still they are not known to attack people.
nikusuthiat appears
[a monster g woman and as a youn e flesh off sucks all of th ] of its victim’s body
n of all kinds a great collectio sters from mon of supernatural you have met e m Japan. So w! here, some are ne
(6)
http://www.pinktentacle.com
pire
a lame vam WHO needs is e! if they got th on
The locked country.
NOONE GETS
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WIKIPEDIA, Japanese Print of Commodore Perry’s Visit, 1854. By Unknown - English Wikipedia, uploaded on 11 June 2005 by en:User:PHG, Public Domain.
IN OR OUT
alive 67
The Black Ships
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As their numbers of Catholic converts inceased, fears arose that Japan would soon become one of their the many colonized countries.
Sakoku can be literally translated as “locked country”, or “chained country”. In short it means: “No foreigner could enter nor could any Japanese leave the country on penalty of death.” With that in mind, Sakoku was – more or less – a very effective tool for the upper class to completely regulate trade and foreign relations. The only Europeans allowed in were the Dutch who operated a trading post at Dejima in Nagasaki. Beside them, China and Korea were allowed trade, as well as the Ainu people and the Ryukyu Kingdom. All partners were strictly assigned to certain prefectures as well as to the shogun in Edo. The only passage into Japan was through certain “gateways”. Limited outgoing trade with Korea and the Ryukyu Kingdom mostly took place outside of Japan, in especially built extratrerritorial trading towns. From there Japanese goods also reached China. To maintain regular contact with the outside world in terms of trade, some Japanese would have to travel to and from these posts. At Nagasaki, for example, this contact was upheld on an island called Dejima which was separated from the city by a small strait. Foreigners could not enter Japan, nor could Japanese enter Dejima without special permission.
Although the Japanese were very picky with their partners, trade effectively prospered during seclusion. Another common theory states that the shogunate imposed sakoku policy in order to secure its own stability by removing colonial and religious influences of primarily Spain and Portugal. The Spanish and Portuguese were viewed conspicuously as they were settling in the New World.
The fact that 40,000 – mostly Christians – peasants rose against the shogunate during the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638) fueled these fears. Missionaries were accused of having instigated the uprise and were expelled from the country. As a result, religion was banned in Japan on penalty of death. Between 1633 and 1639 Tokugawa Iemitsu released a number of edicts, laying the groundstones for Sakoku. New laws restricted all contact with the outside world. Dutch traders were allowed to continue commerce, but all missionary activities were banned by order of law.
As a result of this policy, the Christian percentage of the Japanese population, even today, is only 1% – far below that of any other East Asian countries: China counts 5%, Vietnam 7%, South Korea 29.2% and the Philippines over 90%! As a positive effect, sakoku secured Japan a new place in the East Asian hierarchy. Tributary relations with China ceased and Japanese mineral resources – such as silver and copper – were protected before being sold out. Knowledge of Western technology could still be obtained from Dutch texts. During the 18th and 19th centuries expanding Western powers like America, Russia and France frequently tried to build up relations with Japan, but were all rejected. Until “Captain America” finally succeeded – what a surprise. But even the U.S. had to make several attempts, starting in 1791, when two American ships commanded by John Kendrick stopped on Kii Oshima island and stayed there for 11 days. Kendrick was the first known American to have visited Japan. He even planted an American flag and claimed the island of Kii Oshima. Yet, official accounts of his visit to Japan are nonexistent. Well, he may just as well have been on the moon ...
By Mathe w Brady (1 823–1896 ).
Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry
When the Dutch finally became engaged in conflict against Britain during the Napoleonic Wars (1797–1809), they commissioned several American ships to trade under their flag in Nagasaki. One of them – Eliza of New York, commanded by US Captain William Robert Stewart – received permission to enter Nagasaki with a cargo of Dutch trade goods in 1797. But on its return in 1803 the crew was rejected at Dejima. As he felt that Japan was being harassed by Americans, Russians, Frenchmen and the British on a regular basis, Takahashi Kageyasu proposed to issue Ikokusen uchiharairei, the “No second thought” law in 1825. From then on Japanese coastal authorities were allowed to arrest or even to kill any foreigner coming ashore. This seemed to have a much greater effect on everyone, except – ... well. guess who: Right! Believe it or not, but in 1830 the American Nathaniel Savory landed on the Japanese island of Chichijima to form the first American colony there. As the island was not inhabited, the Japanese probably didn’t take much notice of this bold action. Yet, it happened again: In 1837 the American businessman Charles W. King tried to open trade by returning three shipwrecked Japanese sailors to Japan on his merchant ship – which was fired upon several times. A welcome that made him sail back unsuccessfully.
n - Library ofin. By UnknowPu c Doma Congress, bli
Well, to cut a long story short: between 1845 and 1853 several largely unsuccessful attempts followed until one fine day on July 8, 1853, the American Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy showed
Commander Anan, Perry and Captain Henry Adams reading President Fillmore’s letter to the Emperor of Japan.
up with four warships and made his intention quite clear. He even reinforced his request it with the help of his ships’ Paixhans guns: Open to trade with the West, or we’ll nuke the site from orbit. His ships left a great impression and became known as the kurofune, the Black Ships. Perry returned for the the Convention of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854 and forced the Shogun to sign the “Treaty of Peace and Amity”. Thereby he established formal diplomatic relations between Japan and the U.S.
Sakoku ended – but it was still illegal for the Japanese to leave the country until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The new era opened wide trading possibilities for other Western countries and within five years Japan had signed treaties with many of them. Japanese intellectuals called this gunboat diplomacy and regarded the contracts as unequal. Fears of western imperialism and its desire to incorporate Japan remained until turn of the century. u
69
Portrait
Maruo Suehiro se Meet Maruo Suehiro, a Japane and or, rat ust ill , ist art manga 6 painter born January 28, 195 in Nagasaki.
70
In a 1988 book entitled Bloody h Ukiyo-e he showed his work wit awa Han hi uic fellow artist Kaz dalongside the traditional woo (6) i osh hit Yos of block prints and Yoshiku.
d At the age of 15 Maruo droppe and l hoo hsc hig out of senior moved to Tokyo to work for a he bookbinder. Some time later n sio mis sub ga man st fir his made his to Shonen Jump followed by ist official debut as a manga art In 0. 198 in in Ribon no Kishi 1982, his first stand-alone su anthology, Barairo no Kaibut got r) ste Mon d (Rose Colore published. He frequently con nd rou erg und the to ed tribut manga magazine Garo.
His book Shojo Tsubaki (Mr. Arashi’s Amazing Freak Show) has been published by Blast Books and adapted into an ani by i” dor “Mi led mated film cal ly Hiroshi Harada. It was recent by nce Fra in DVD on released Cinemalta (including English subtitles). e Many of Maruos characters com s rcu “ci off as a kind of orfreaks”. Human oddities, def ure fig s ect def th bir mities and as s, rie sto his in ly prominent s. ion rat ust ill his in as well
The list of Maruo’s manga published in Japan is quite a long. In the US, South-Americ ys sta tly mos he and Europe neglected, due to censorship. German publisher Reproduct he released “Warau Kyuketsuki/T y, man Ger Laughing Vampire” in labeling it as “disturbing”. His NIGHTMARISH work depicts the graphic sex and violence of in Era wa Sho the of rs early yea the o Japan. It mostly falls int Japanese category of “erotic grotesque” or “ero-guro“. It is also referred to as contem of set sub (a porary muzan-e wn Japanese ukiyo-e, widely kno ce. len vio of y pla for its dis
His most recent work is an adaption of the story “The Strange Tale of Panorama Island” by Edogawa Rampo. It got published by Last Gasp in spring 2010.
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Suehiro Maruo
official website
ojigoku.com
ru http://www.ma
Have you ever met
a laughing vampire? Reprodukt
lachende-vampir
rodukt/graphicnovels/der-
m/p 3 http://www.reprodukt.co
Last Gasp
r/Suehiro+Maruo
tho 3 https://lastgasp.com/au
Cinemalta
&collection=5
ddprod.asp?productid=13
m/boutique/a 3 http://www.cinemalta.co
Maruo Suehiro/www.maruojigoku.com
! t i c i l p ex
71 Maruo Suehiro sometimes makes cameo appearances in his own stories and rarely appears without his trademark sunglasses.
ng stuff by Warau Kyuketsuki and other dirsturbi
Maruo Suehiro
Maruo Suehiro/280 Pages Softcover, Published by Akitasyoten, Japan, 2004;
Maruo Suehiro/233 Pages Softcover, Published by Akitasyoten, Japan, 2000;
“If you don’t know Maruo Suehiro, you might not want to travel down this road. His manga are simply HORRIFIC yet beautiful. Arguably the most extreme of all mangaku, his work is simply breathtaking. He has only had a few manga released in English (Mr. Arashi’s Amazing Freak Show, Ultra-Gash Inferno), but they are all out of print. He is primarily known in the states for illustrating many of John Zorn’s releases.”
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Maruo Suehiro/www.maruojigoku.com
73
Kyuketsuki are common in manga. The term is often used as the Japanese word for vampires in general. Rooted in older folklore, the modern belief in vampires spread throughout Asia with tales of ghoulish entities from the mainland, to vampiric beings from the islands of Southeast Asia. There are no native legends about vampires in Japan, except perhaps the gaki. They have appeared in Japanese Cinema since the late 1950s but basically originate in Western folklore.
Š Maruo Suehiro
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Š Maruo Suehiro
75
Portrait
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and greatest master of ukiyo-e-style and Yoshitoshi is widely recognized as the last ts the last years of feudal Japan and the Japanese woodblock printing. His work depic Meiji Restoration. first years of modern Japan following the adopting Western mass reproduction Despite the fact that many Japanes artists were Yoshitoshi worked on in the old fashion. methods like photography and lithography, he pushed the traditional Japanese woodLargely unimpressed by modern techniques died with him in 1892. block print to a new height, before it effectively violence and depict death most graphically. Many of his prints of the 1860s show crude just as much as the lawlessness and violence The death of his father in 1863 inspired him g audience for his sketches and as a result of his country at war. He soon found a willin artists. It seems redundant to mention that began to move up in Edo’s ranks of ukiyo-e st any other artist of his imaginative prints made him stand out again
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his time. “Twenty-eight famous murders with Between 1866 and 1868 Yoshitoshi created images that show killings in very verse” (6) – a collection of extremely disturbing at of the Shogun’s army at Ueno – graphic detail. In 1868 he witnessed the defe ed “Yositoshi’s selection of one a result of the Meji Restauration – and creat hundred warriors”. Arts exhibited Yoshitoshi’s work at the In 1992 and 1993 the Society for Japanese um of Art in Düsseldorf and Philadelphia Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Muse anniversary of his death. In cooperation with Museum of Art, commemorating the 100th showing a general selection of his work the Van Gogh Museum a catalogue emerged, as late as 1890. [ISBN: 90-70216-04-3] period has had an impact on writers It is said that Yoshitoshi’s work of the “bloody” artists including Tadanori Yokoo, Masami such as Jun’ichir Tanizaki (1886–1965) and Suehiro. (6) Although he is mainly known Teraoka or the previously mentioned Maruo a small portion of his work which is filled for his “bloody” prints, they merely represent with variety, subtlety and great insight.
The last Master o f U k iy o -e (6) http://www.yoshitoshi.net
WIKIPEDIA, 2011
! t i c i l p ex 77
“Yoshitoshi described the soul of a glorious past an struggled to keep it alive.” from beauty & violence Japanese Prints by Yoshitoshi
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
(1839–1892)
“Eimei nijuhasshuku” series: “28 Famous Murders with Verse” (1833-1904)
www.yoshitoshi.net
Naosuke Gombei ripping off a face
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Inga Kozo Rokunosuke wiping his sword
www.yoshitoshi.net
1839-1892
beauty & violence by Yoshitoshi
79
you’ll find a great collection of ll the prints: http://www.yoshitoshi.net
(6)
s of he was about 27. It contains illustration en wh , eer car ’s shi hito Yos in ly ear te The series dates from qui well-known from kabuki and noh plays. ally usu d, oun kgr bac l ica tor his a h wit events
www.yoshitoshi.net
The prostitute Ohyaku and a seated ghost
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1839-1892
The murder of Kasamori Osen
www.yoshitoshi.net
beauty & violence by Yoshitoshi
81
By Nagasakibomb.jpg: The picture was taken by Charles Levy from one of the B-29 Superfortresses used in the attack. Atomic_cloud_over_Hiroshima.jpg: Personel aboard Necessary Evilderivative work: Binksternet (talk) - Nagasakibomb.jpg Atomic_cloud_over_Hiroshima.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, no changes applied.
“Pictures taken from one of the B-29 Superfortresses used in the attack on Hiroshima. Smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima while smoke from the burst of the first atomic bomb had spread over 10,000 feet on the target at the base of the rising column. Six planes of the 509th Composite Group participated in this mission; one to carry the bomb Enola Gay, one to take scientific measurements of the blast The Great Artiste, the third to take photographs Necessary Evil. The others flew approximately an hour ahead to act as weather scouts, AUG 6, 1945.“ The primary target was Hiroshima, secondary was Kokura, and tertiary Nagasaki.
AUG 6, 1945 – Hiroshima
Little Boy
This was the first photograph of the Little Boy bomb casing to ever be released by the U.S. government (it was declassified in 1960);
Both: WIKIPEDIA, 2011
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AUG 3, 1945 – Nagasaki
Fat Man
By U.S. Navy Public Affairs Resources Website http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/images/historical/hiroshima.jpg, Public Domain.
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Bad weather would disqualify a target as the scientists insisted on a visual delivery.
Hiroshima aftermath. Shortly after August 6, 1945, 8:15 a.m. – the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. //1945
1st weekend april
© Junko Mizuno
By User: Luvlimysh - English Wikipedia, Public Domain.
The Takeda Shingen Festival takes place on the first weekend of April in Kofu. Usually a famous Japanese TV actor plays the part of Takeda Shingen. Several parades to and from the Takeda Shrine & Kofu Castle are acted out theatrically. Most re-enactors practice throughout the year for this one weekend.
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Kawaii noir
© Artwork: Junko Mizuno for kidrobot
or “kimo kawaii” is Japanese slang for something that is both cute or pretty and weird or even grotesque. A commonly used term is “Kawaii Noir (Gothic Kawaii)”. The style is mostly represented by the art of Junko Mizuno (May 27,1973) who’s drawings mix childish sweetness and cuteness with blood and terror. She describes her own style as “a mixture of all the styles I’ve loved and everything I’ve experienced in my life,” and watches Sushi webcam for inspiration. Some of Junko Misuno’s comic books are published in the US by Last Gasp and Viz Comics. She designs t-shirts, calendars, postcards, and other collectibles or merchandise and has participated in the Angoulême International Comics Festival. Another term for her art is “superflat”. It is derived from the idea that the modern world of Japan has no art that is purely Japanese or even “high” art anymore. Almost everything in Japan is interconnected with westernized concepts. “So Superflat takes the concepts of high art and low art (...) and combines everything into one big unruly package. It takes things that consumer culture has made small and adorable, and mutates them into something terrifying. It takes the macabre and makes it cute.
© Artwork: Junko Mizuno published at Last Gasp
© Artwork: Junko Mizuno for HASBRO
3 http://mylittlepony.hasbro.com/en-us [search for “Junko Mizuno”]
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© mondo
© mondo
Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561/WIKIPEDIA, 2011
explicit
happytreefriends.com
Hear today, gone tomorrow ...
3 http://www.happytreefriends.com
By Krangykrang - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, no changes applied
works by Junko Mizuno: Little Fluffy Gigolo PELU
Pure Trance
$17.95 172 pages ISBN-10: 0867197005 ISBN-13: 9780867197006 Publisher: Last Gasp
$19.98 192 pages ISBN-10: 0867196300 ISBN-13: 9780867196306 Publisher: Last Gasp
by Junko Mizuno
“Little Fluffy Gigolo PELU is a comic tale of a cute extraterrestrial creature that comes to Earth determined to find himself true happiness in the form of a human bride. His search takes him from the surface of his fantastic alien planet to an off-kilter modern Japan where he meets aspiring singers, sassy girls, paint-sniffing bad boys, and bodyswitching students of a mysterious high school. Artist Junko Mizuno unleashes her unique graphic storytelling sensibilities on a tale that is frequently adorable, sometimes grotesque, and surprisingly moving. Please note: This item is not really erotica, but it does contain a fair amount of nudity.”
by Junko Mizuno
“Pure Trance breaks every stereotype of girls’ manga. In this dreamy science fiction fantasy, Junko Mizuno illustrates a story full of catfights, alien safari adventures, evil experiments, and a girl who dreams of becoming a pop idol signer. Adults only – no sex, but lots of nudity.”
3 http://www.mizuno-junko.com
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Gundam//mecha
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“Mechs” or Japanese “Mecha” is basically a synonym for “crazy Japanese robot stuff”. Mechs are mixtures of tanks and robots appearing in anime (most famous: Evagelion) and science fiction, representing “a broad genre of walking vehicles ... usually controlled by a pilot”. Gundam is a metaseries of anime which started on April 7, 1979 as a serial TV show called “Mobile Suit Gundam”. It features mechas called “Mobile Suits”. 3 http://www.gundam-the-origin.net/en
;-)
TOKYO
kabuki
http://pinktentacle.com
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Bodily functions personified as popular kabuki actors – Artist unknown, late 19th century
Webcams are the latest thing in Japan. You can zoom in on cooks at suhi restaurants, watch airports, public places, zoo animal, or take a peek from the heights of Tokyo Tower.
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3 http://www.webcamhopper.com/japan
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Kabuki is a highly stylized classical Japanese dance drama, meaning “the art of singing & dancing”. KABUKU could be translated as “to earn” or “to be out of the ordniary”. From 1603 –1629 kabuki was performed by women who later were banned from the theater, their roles being taken over by men dressed and made up as women.
Japanese webcams
Momiji - get lucky
“Momiji are message dolls. Turn them upside down and inside every one there’s a tiny folded card for your own secret message. Spread the love.” buy them at 3 http://lovemomiji.com/shop/EUROWEB
so crazy japanese Toys
racterosur e chan th w o n k the , ifpyled “Get tobook. And g tram u’ll is in th is ever bein rim p yo town giant evil sh call ...” by a just who to know
This book is one of the many very cool things to stumble upon while googling Japan. It is full of strange and wonderful monsters and Japanese toys of live action TV shows from the 1950s to today. You could buy it on amazon: 3 http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Japanese-Toys-Jimbo-Matison/dp/0811835294
Quote: “I’m so happy to see a book that has a whole chapter dedicated to female heroines (and villains)! The chapter is called Rockin’ Chicks. I never knew such great female characters existed. chroniclebooks
.com
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Only in Japan.”
“When hu ge giant sp oceandw id rs or saurs visitelling mutant dein th e e a on des uc r hell-beotion, theth nt always tr stop in Jap y seem to an first.”
Guitar Wolf 3
Seiji of Guitar Wolf, performing at the Exit/In in Nashville, Tennessee.
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By Ryan Kaldari - Photographed by uploader, Public Domain.
! adults only
Wild Zero
THE B-movie of all times featuring flesh-eating zombies, exploding heads, UFOs, transgendered love, and rock & roll and starring Japanese punk band Guitar Wolf. The film opens during a Guitar Wolf concert leading to Guitar Wolf making Ace – “the band’s biggest fan” – his blood brother. (See for yourself why that is!) He gives Ace a whistle to sound during times of trouble, which are already on their way. A relatively harmless gas station robbery soon turns into an apocalyptic happening, when a legion of zombies is out to get - everyone. As it usually goes in zombie movies, you’ll never know what hit you, nor where it came from – better not ask. Wild Zero, Japan, 2000, 98 Minutes, FSK 18; Director: Tetsuro Takeuchi; Script: Satoshi Takagi; Producer: Kaichiro Furata, Katsuaki Takemoto, Music: Guitar Wolf, Camera: Motoko Kobayashi, Cut: Tomoe Kubuta Cast: *Guitar Wolf: himself; * Drum Wolf: himself; Bass Wolf: himself; *Masashi Endo: Ace;
The drinking game: The DVD suggests a Wild Zero drinking game, in which, via the subtitle track, a beer mug appears in the top-right corner every time: * Someone drinks * Someone combs their hair * Fire shoots out of anything * Anyone says Rock n Roll * Something explodes * A zombie’s head pops. The number of drinks by the end of the film is around 100. guitar wolf official website 3 http://www.guitarwolf.net
BANZAI !!! Source: Youtube.com
During the Pacific War Americans were confronted with their Japanese attackers screaming “BANZAI” whilst attacking them. This habit dates back to the Hitobe Ages, when it was used to intimidate the enemy in a front attack. It is also called “Gyorusai”, meaning “suicide attack”. Many Japanese soldiers died during banzai charges, like the one against American forces on May 29, 1943 during the Battle of Attu. On the left you can see a lighter and typically Japanese apporach to the topic: The Banzai Squirrel Fishing Contest.
sumo
mostly known for his first short story “Rashomon”, published in 1915. It was the first of 150 to come. He suffered from deteriorating physical and mental health early in his life. Haunted by visual hallucinations, he made his first suicide attempt in 1927. He didn’t succeed the, but took an overdose of Veronal on July 24, 1927 and died aged 35. His dying words in his will claimed he felt a “vague uneasiness”. Besides other stories his final works include Kappa (1927), a satire based on a creature from Japanese folklore.
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Tsukumogami Tsukumogami are a type of Japanese spirits. They originate from items or artifacts that have reached their 100th birthday and thus become alive and aware. Any object of this age, from sword to toy, can become a tsukumogami. Their appearance depends on their former state of being. They sometimes play pranks on the unsuspecting bystander and have a great capacity for anger, banding togehter to take revenge on people who threw them away thoughtlessly. The “Hari Kuyou” is a ceremony performed to appease them.
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Ryunosuke Akutagawa was born in the Kyobashi district of Tokyo March 1, 1892. He is
WIKIPEDIA, 2011
Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Japan’s national sport has its origins in the ancient past. The first recorded sumo match dates back to 23 B. C. Prior to each match the competitors clap hands, stomp their feet, and throw salt in the ring. Throwing and grappling techniques are used to force the other man to the ground; the first man to touch the ground with a part of the body other than the bottom or the feet, or touches the ground outside the ring with any part of the body, loses.
Modern objects cannot become tsukumogami. They rarely reach the age of 100 years and also the spirits are repelled by electricity.
Sanjuro
Produced by Toho Studio in 1962.
We admire his work a great deal and would have given him at least 60 extra pages if it hadn’t been for a very grave lack of time.
Souce: WIKIPEDIA © Toho Studios, Japan, 1962
is a 1962 blackand-white samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa. In this sequel to Yojimbo (1961), Toshiro Mifune again plays the leading part. This film originally is an adaptation of the Shugoro Yamamoto novel Hibi Heian.
Takayoshi Mizuki &
Theater and motion pictures had a vast influence on Akiras education at a very early stage of his life. Also his older brother Heigo, in the aftermath of the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, took Akira to view the devastation and forbade him to look away from the human corpses and animal carcasses. Instead he encouraged Akira “to face his fears by confronting them directly.” The singular aesthetics of Kurosawas films may be seen as a result of this episode. As a director he used to confront his audience with all kinds of unpleasant truths...
Akira Kurosawa
Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was born on March 23, 1910 in Oimachi in the Omori district of Tokyo.
Ultramonster Art
Takayoshi Mizuki was born in Oita Japan. He is known as a creative illustrator for publishing and advertising industries and the original designer of GIGAN (giant) Japanese Ultra Monsters between 1965 and 1972.
© Takayoshi Mizuki
You’ll find a collection of his work here 3 http://pinktentacle.com/2010/04/ultra-monster-art-by-takayoshi-mizuki
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International Manga Contest
Manga Contests 2016
Character Design Award
CON FUN
More Contests Germany 2016
© Fotos: Andrea Härtlein, 2013-2015
Animagic
J-fans and manga lovers started meeting in Germany as early as 1999. Back then, the first anime and manga convention “AnimagiC” took place at Koblenz, and fans and cosplayers flooding the event must have presented a strange picture to the eye of the casual passerby. Since then 17 years have passed and for many fans, AnimagiC ist still THE event to attend in the summer. Having moved to Bonn at a later date, the con attracts around 15,000 16,000 visitors each year, receiving more and more attention and coverage from taditional media (though some journalists still have a hard time explaining “cosplay”). The screening of latest anime TV-shows, presentations of J-games, manga workshops and in and outdoor J-pop & rock gigs await. And of course, visitors are also keen to meet eye-to-eye with their favourite Japanese mangaka, film producers, popstars and directors.
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International Manga Competitions like the annual Shonen Jump + International Contest offer new talents a great chance to get noticed and have their works published. In many European countries manga contests have become widely popular. German mangakas, can enter their works at a number of events.
© AnimagiC Press, respectice film studios;
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Anime Film festival Animagic See your favourite anime film before anyone else does. If you love to be on top of what’s to hit the anime fanscene, AnimagiC film festival is a great place to start in Germany. And believe it or not: German J-fans are actually wildly happy to see their favourite films in the original language. Many screenings come with subtitles and if they’re in English, noone really bothers. At AnimagiC it also goes as good behaviour to address Japanese guests in Japanese (althoug they themselves love to try their German on the fans, who go crazy when they hear it). By the way: AnimagiC’s editors taste in films is excellent. We have seen cult animes next to latest high tech 3-d-animation films, live-action movies, OVAs and rare gems produced by Studio Ghibli and other artistically high profile film studios. The Wind Rises, Blue Exorcist – The Movie, Evangelion, The Garden of Words, Appleseed, – just to name a few. AnimagiC 2016
one piece Burning Blood
Crazy J-Game · 1-on-1 PvP
Same goes for gamplay, of course. Created for Bandai Namco by Spike Chunsoft, One Piece: Burning Blood comes as a fast-pacing 1-on-1 fighting video game with 40 famous playable characters to choose for your teams. With a release set for June 2016, Burning Blood will be the first One Piece video game released on an Xbox console. But of course the strawhats will also invade PlayStation 4, Vita, and Windows. The game features an advanced battle system allowing players to perform stronger attacks in very fast and up to 9 vs 9 battles, with a major focus on fighting and devil fruit abilities. If you’re a fan of the anime’s artstyle and cast – you surely will Love Burning Blood.
One Piece Burning Blood Game Demo 3 https://youtu.be/7CEMCEookkI
Designer Toys that Rock When it comes to designer toys, Japanese rock. But even though they have an abundance of creatures at home for inspiration, they are not shy to mix ideas with Western art and pop culture.
Masa-shi / Bad Attic
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Tokyo-based artist Masa-shi founded his designer toy label Bad Attic in summer 2015. As a toy designer and illustrator he is heavily influenced by 80s and 90s gross-out toys. Trading cards such as Madballs and Garbage Pail Kids have inspired his first toy, “a modern, grosser version of a monster ball toy with a little Japanese flavour” named Two Face Todd. It turned out a janus-like ball toy with one face paying homage to 80s horror balls and the other trending towards “yokai” – supernatural monsters and spirits that are most famous in Japanese folklore. The yokais’ character ranges from malevolent to the mischievous, but occasionally they bring good fortune to those who encounter them. They also have a spiritual supernatural power, usually “shapeshifting”. Two Face Todd was released September, 11 and of course he is a little shapeshifter, too – given his ability to turn into an 80s trading-card-alien. What’s special about Todd is that each limited toy has been crafted in sofubi (soft vinyl) in a local Japanese workshop by experienced sofubi technicians, and is handpainted by the artist himself. Besides referring to the material used, sofubi also indicates a special design style and refers to certain finishing techniques and underlying principles that are applied to the creation of each piece. At a close look, multiple layers of paint make sofubi toys appear exceptionally detailed.
Namco Bandai Games Press
Namco Bandai
Games Press
These guys might just be the craziest characters in anime and game history. It’s true: To watch One Piece, you will most definitely need a certain kind of mindset. If you lack the right attitude, you’re gonna have a veeeeery hard time following up with Luffy, Chopper, Sanchi & Co.
Attack on
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Hajime Isayama / Wit Studio/Press
Hajime Isayama / Wit Studio/Press
Titan / Season 2
Screenshots from the Anime / Wit Studio
Shingeki no Kyojin turned out the unexpected newcomer and overnight success of 2013. Three years later the anime sequel is about to be made. When Hajime Isayama (born August 29, 1986) created Attack on Titan, he probably never imagined the sucess it might bring him in such a comparatively short period of time. Supposedly 52.5 million copies of the manga had been in circulation in July 2015 – and the 2013 anime series proved a smashing overnight hit. Hajime Isayama had been submitting his works to contests since his high school days and matriculated in the manga design programme of the arts department at Kyushu Designer Gakuin afterwards. In 2006 he applied for Kodansha’s Magazine Grand Prix, submitting a one-shot of Shingeki no Kyojin for which he received the “Fine Work” award. Three years later, Attack on Titan was to be serialized in the monthly Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, and won a number of awards. Today we have a life-action movie, a novel, and of course gameplay next to the classic manga and anime (produced by Wit Studio and airing on MBS from April 7, 2013 to September 29, 2013 with 25 action-packed and gripping episodes). With Attack on Titan Season 2 in development, director Tetsuro Araki and Hajime Isayama have started to discuss possible plotlines this March, triggering massive speculation and fuelling the fans’ anticipation for the return of their favourite anti-titan warriors to the screen.
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