Omodaka, a creative project adopting a self-described “trial and error process of mutational fusion of music and motion graphics,” has a new video for chiptune disco track “Kyoteizinc,” which features the captivating computer-tweaked dance of Masako Yasumoto. (Watch it.)
The video is directed by Hiroshi Kizu. Omodaka is on Tokyo-based independent label Far East Recording.
Kintaro (a.k.a. “Golden Boy”), a popular child folk hero embodying strength and bravery, appears in statues, storybooks, anime, manga, noh, kabuki and candy. He was also the subject of numerous Edo-period woodblock prints.
Various legends say that Kintaro was raised by a Yamamba ogress in the mountains, where he learned to communicate with animals. In this Kuniyoshi print, Kintaro wears a dragon haramaki and referees a sumo match between a rabbit and a monkey, while an eerie blue demon and tengu look on.
Kintaro Referees Sumo Bout Between Rabbit & Monkey (Kuniyoshi, ca. 1830)
As a youngster, Kintaro developed superhuman strength that enabled him to crush boulders, fight monsters and demons, uproot trees, and defeat bears at sumo. In this Yoshitsuya print, Kintaro demonstrates his unparalleled fighting skills by overpowering a giant python. His trademark axe is pictured at the bottom.
Model Warrior of Japan: Kintaro (Yoshitsuya, 1856)
The next series of prints, also by Yoshitsuya, show Kintaro with monsters and animals at various times of the year.
Kintaro at New Year’s, Throwing Beans to Dispel Demons (Yoshitsuya, ca. 1840)
Kintaro in the Third Month, Refereeing Sumo between Rooster & Crow Tengu (Yoshitsuya, ca. 1840)
Kintaro in the Fifth Month, Riding a Carp (Yoshitsuya, ca. 1840)
Kintaro in the Ninth Month, Riding a Bull (Yoshitsuya, ca. 1840)
Kintaro appears to be based on a real person named Sakata no Kintoki, a powerful Heian-period (794 to 1185 AD) warrior whose legendary status has grown with time. This Kuniyoshi print shows the young warrior wrestling a giant carp under a waterfall.
Kintaro Struggles with Giant Carp (Kuniyoshi, ca. 1835)
Kintaro is closely associated with Children’s Day (May 5), when parents of young boys typically display Kintaro dolls — usually riding a large carp — in the hope that their kids grow up to be brave and strong.
[More: Kintaro (Wikipedia)]
The Kaibo Zonshinzu anatomy scrolls, painted in 1819 by Kyoto-area physician Yasukazu Minagaki (1784-1825), consist of beautifully realistic, if not gruesome, depictions of scientific human dissection.
Unlike European anatomical drawings of the time, which tended to depict the corpse as a living thing devoid of pain (and often in some sort of Greek pose), these realistic illustrations show blood and other fluids leaking from subjects with ghastly facial expressions.
The fact that the bodies used in scientific autopsies in Edo-period Japan generally belonged to heinous criminals executed by decapitation adds to the grisly nature of the illustrations.
According to the Keio University Library (where these documents are currently stored), the two scrolls contain 83 illustrations based on Minagaki’s observations of over 40 bodies. They are regarded as the best collection of early 19th-century anatomical drawings by a Japanese hand.
The first scroll includes a handwritten compliment by Philip von Siebold, the German physician credited with being the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan, who was reportedly impressed by the quality of the drawings when he observed them in 1826.
Siebold’s note, in Dutch, reads: “This anatomical research has been carried out with great diligence and should therefore achieve great recognition.”
In 2003, Japan’s Ministry of Culture designated Kaibo Zonshinzu an important cultural property, saying that the scrolls, which were produced as a result of actual observation and based on Dutch scholarship, demonstrate the level of knowledge that medical science reached in the Edo period.
[Link: Kaibo Zonshinzu via Ectoplasmosis >> Morbid Anatomy >> Bibliodyssey]
Kage-e (”shadow pictures”) — a popular form of Edo-period woodblock print — were appreciated by children and adults and commonly used as party gags. These pictures consist of two parts: a “shadow” image and a “real” image. The shadow image, which typically bears the shape of a common, easily identifiable object, is viewed first. The real image, viewed second, reveals the surprising true identity of the shadow.
Here’s a nice example by ukiyoe master Kuniyoshi (ca. 1852). It shows what appear to be the silhouettes of goldfish…
But look again…
It’s a flying tanuki crushing a hunter under the weight of its mammoth testicles.
Here are a few more kage-e by Hiroshige (ca. 1842). The shadows cast on shoji doors belong to men in interesting poses.
Pine tree
Uguisu (Japanese bush warbler) on a plum branch
Salt-dried fish
Kettle
Hawk
Stone lantern
Goose on a rock
[Related: Joge-e: Two-way pictures]
Food hackers at Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box cut and arrange ordinary bento lunch box ingredients to recreate famous album covers.
Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire: Egg, paprika, nori (seaweed sheet), kamaboko (fish sausage), carrot, potato, ham, black sesame, rice
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland: Nori, paprika (red & orange), egg, rice
Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album: Potato, umeboshi (pickled plum), fish/vegetable flakes, nori, kamaboko, rice
KISS - Destroyer: Egg, nori, ume (Japanese plum), kamaboko, rice
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King: Mentaiko (cod roe), kamaboko, ham, nori, rice
Weezer - Green Album: Cabbage, nori, ham, kamaboko, paprika, rice
The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground: Nori, egg, rice
Public Enemy - Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age: Nori, kamaboko, umeboshi, rice
See more than 25 pages of these bentos at Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box (use the “Next” link at the bottom of each page to scroll through the site).
[Via: Zaeega]
Surreal artist Naoto Hattori’s huge monster painting collection includes a smattering of Mona Lisa mutants. Visit his gallery for more madness.
Maternity, Bombing
Fabrication, Watcher
[Link: Naoto Hattori]
Denki Groove’s video for “Mononoke Dance” is yet another masterpiece by manga artist Masakazu Amahisa. Using stick-puppet animation, the video tells the story of a couple who crash their car on a dark forest road and encounter a Konaki-jiji (monster baby with the face of an old man) that leads them deep into the woods to a wild party for yokai, or traditional Japanese monsters. (Watch it.)
Guests at the party include Hitodama (fireballs), Kyonshi (Chinese vampire), Onyudo (shapeshifting monk), Jizo (guardian deity of children), Noppera-bo (faceless ghost), Rokurokubi (long-necked monster), Kappa (water imp), Hoichi the Earless, someone who dances like Yoshio Kojima, and many others.
Incidentally, the song “Mononoke Dance” is used as the opening theme for the “Hakaba Kitaro” anime series now airing on Fuji TV (the video here is completely unrelated to the TV show).
Osamu Tezuka’s “Galaxy Boy Troop,” a 92-episode children’s space opera that aired on NHK from 1963 to 1965, featured a unique blend of animation (Mushi Production) and puppetry (Takeda Puppet Troupe). The series also aired in France, where it was known as “Le Commando De La Voie Lactee” (lit. “Commando Of The Milky Way”). The original Japanese masters and films are believed to have been lost or destroyed, and the few known surviving fragments are from French sources. (Watch a clip.)
In this story, aliens on the dark side of the moon have begun bombing Earth, and the crew of heroes — led by Commander Rop & Mister 6 (his intelligent computerized transport vehicle) — go to the moon to find and destroy their lunar base. The musical score is by renowned electronic music composer Isao Tomita.
In Rin Nadeshico’s computer graphic illustrations, Mt. Fuji looms in the distance as high school girls lounge around with various oversized creatures.
Lots more at Rin Nadeshico’s website.
Joge-e, or “two-way pictures,” are a type of woodblock print that can be viewed either rightside-up or upside-down. Large numbers of these playful prints were produced for mass consumption in the 19th century, and they commonly featured bizarre faces of deities, monsters or historical figures (including some from China). Only a few examples of original joge-e survive today. Here are a few.
This print by Kuniyoshi (c. 1852) depicts Hotei (Laughing Buddha) and Shoki (a character from the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms“). When viewed upside-down, Hotei becomes Asahina (a character from a popular novel of the time) and Shoki becomes Zhang Fei.
This woodblock print was published by Ezakiya Tatsuzo (c. 1842). Left to right, top to bottom (upside-down image described in parentheses): 1. Small tengu (Gedo, an evil person), 2. King Zhou, Shang Dynasty (Guan Yu), 3. Wind god (Thunder), 4. Nyudo (Pair of frogs), 5. Tengu looking up (Tengu looking down), 6. Tofu Kozo (Mitsume Kozo), 7. Onamuchi-no-mikoto, Shinto god of nation-building, farming, business and medicine (Iruka-no-omi), 8. Cao Cao (Shoki, Zhang Fei), 9. Mikenja (Ghost of Mirin).
This print by Kuniyoshi (c. 1852) shows a Daruma and Tokusakari (a character from a famous Noh play). Viewed upside-down, the Daruma becomes a Gedo (an evil person) and Tokusakari becomes Ikyu (a character from the famous play “Sukeroku”).
Created by Yoshitora, 1861. Left column (top to bottom): 1. Fukusuke, god of merchant prosperity (Frog), 2. Evil man (Ebisu, god of fishermen and good luck), 3. Fukurokuju, god of wisdom and longevity (Tanuki, racoon dog with giant scrotum). Center: 4. Ikyu (Foreigner) , 5. Okame (Dekusuke), 6. Gedo, an evil person (Asahina). Right: 7. Hotei, Laughing Buddha (Yakko), 8. Earth god (Mountain god).
Created by Yoshitora, 1862. Left column (top to bottom): 1. Tadafumi (Gedo, an evil person), 2. Hunter (Frog), 3. Small tengu (Big tengu), 4. Bad guy (Bad guy). Center: 5. Two-horned demon (One-horned demon), 6. Kasane, possessed female character in famous Kabuki play (Ugly man), 7. Daruma (Daruma). Right: 8. Foreigner (Ainu), 9. Nio guardian (A-un guardian).
[Images from: Edo no Asobi-e, Tokyo Shoseki, 1988 (out of print)]
