Tokyo Midtown

[runner]

Runner that's interesting that you associate manga with that kind of dark, sexual subculture...that's a side of manga that I know of course exists in a major way, but I have very little experience with...

But the mainstream classics are mostly PG-13; all of which I've read:
Sazaesan and anything by Hasegawa Machiko
Doraemon and anything by Fujiko-Fujio
Atom, Black Jack and anything by Tezuka Osamu...
others like Hadashi no Gen, Nausicaa, Maison Ikkoku etc.

...and the rest of the manga, I only know over the shoulders of people in the subways, or from friends...I've never even read shojo-manga, and was actually quite shocked to discover the expressly titillating nature of some of the content meant to be read by teenage girls...hmm...

Yes Tales of Genji is beautiful...and the poetry from the Heian period...
super romantic....

although I'm not sure what kind of manga you concretely mean by "dark sexual subculture", the stuff I was talking about is things that are or were available to any kid. not those things that are super maniac and underground, which I'm not familiar with.
the names that were in my head were akatsuka fujio, nagai gou, kazuyoshi torii, shoutaro ishinomori (used in the yohji F/W 07 below), etc.

gag manga can take me to the steep cliff in an ironic way of course, but what first showed me there, before any literature, might have been devilman (from shonen magazine, not the TV anime version).

and actually I was thinking of hadashi no gen as well,
as something that has to be scolded, the PTA disapproved.
you know what happened to it.


extract from asahi (sorry for no english text for this)

過激な表現って何ですか。それって誰が決めるんですか。見せなきゃそれでいいんですか――。松江市教育委員会の要請による「はだしのゲン」の閲覧制限は解かれたが、解かれず残った疑問も多い。

「臭いものにフタ」よほど有害　―― デザイナー・ライター、高橋ヨシキさん

　「はだしのゲン」の描写は、問題があるどころかもっと残酷でも構わないと思います。おおっぴらに人を殺せる立場に置かれた時、人間はどうなるか。野蛮で残虐なことを成し得る本性を「過激だ」なんて理由で隠そうとするのは、人は排泄（はいせつ）をしないと教えるのと同じくらい、愚かしく危険です。

＜ムラ社会の論理＞　だいたい、「過激な表現は子どもを傷つける」とか言ってますけど、子どもにとって本当に有害なのはどっちなんだって話ですよ。自分の思想信条と相いれない本だから気に食わない、図書館から撤去しろとクレームをつける大人。「臭いものにはフタ」とばかりに、納得のいく説明もせずに閲覧制限を「お願い」する大人。それに唯々諾々（いいだくだく）と従う大人。そんな大人が形作る現在の日本社会のありようの方が、はるかに有害です。そういう日本的なムラ社会の論理にはじかれ、傷つけられ、生きる世界を狭められて、自ら命を絶つ子どもが大勢いるんだから。

firstview

 

[softgrey]

no, I didn't say "mini skirts". and I haven't seen that in juvenile movies. I heard of it from a japanese who had lived in kentucky for 12 years. I don't remember what the schoolgirls were said to be wearing. but I guess if it had been just sweatpants the person would not have talked about it all the way. I now see from your tone it's not a big deal to you anyway. but to the japanese there should have been something sexualized found around it, just like you saw something sexualized about nausica. this is what I was trying to say.





yes as a character design fujiko has to be depicted always with huge boobs. but it's not at all like huge boobs = sexy.
and as a kid I haven't thought wonder woman was sexualized. in my eyes she looked like a sporty strong safe teacher.
otaku is a term from the 80's. the scope of its meaning is now really broaden. for example, when you are currently into french cuisine, you can be called french otaku. in that case most of the creepy connotation is not there any more. so for that weird stuff these days you'd say akiba-kei.
but basically both terms are not used for children.

i said mini skirts because i thought of a "school girl uniform" as we had been discussing earlier...
we don't have many uniforms in schools, but there are cheerleaders in uniforms in most high schools...
that is who is usually going to hold a car wash to raise money...
they also do bake sales and sell chocolate bars, etc...
usually to make money for trips, uniforms or for the prom...
but i cannot say i have ever actually seen that myself...
only in really silly comedy films with some low brow humour...
i don't think i would think it's ok if i really saw it...
i guess i laughed because it seems more like a male fantasy than a reality...
just like so much of the stuff that is imported from japan...
ie- a love doll- or a big pillow with a life sized manga girl drawing to sleep with...
we have those pillows too- just not with a drawing...

*ps- kentucky is also where there is likely to be a child's beauty contest, so...
yeah- i guess it's different down south than it is in the north...
remember- we did have a civil war - north against south- and it's actually still how the country is mostly divided in terms of morals and values and ideals...and the way we vote for national policy, etc...
it's also the area where racism is still probably the strongest...
odd/unusual that a japanese person would be living there...
i would never live there...i've never even been to visit...
and now i want to go there even less...ugh...


however- huge boobs definitely = sexy over here...and probably in the west in general...
i know a british guy who's first love as a boy was wonder woman...
and i was definitely aware of her sexy look...
the reason i always liked her is that she was strong and heroic while also being sexy...i think that is the basis for all women superheroes in western comics...

i'm sorry- but you are losing me with all these references to various manga titles...
i will have to do some research and come back to the subject in order to respond...
i think it's amazing to have a perspective from more than one person (and more than one gender) on this topic...
melisande and runner- i love that you don't completely agree...
and maybe- in the end---that is the lesson...
people are people---> it's very hard to generalize and often doesn't work...

remember our kindergarten days or even elementary school classrooms. there are always some kids who casually, randomly or instinctively draw a penis, boobs, whatever, every time they find human figures in their schoolbooks. not every kid of course, perhaps even a minority, but we have an undeniable constant. manga is originally a dependable ally of those kids. manga is what parents don't want children to see and what children really want to see, while the universe of disney might be what parents want to make children appreciate. manga is something to be ridiculed, abased or despised. something low, indecent, wicked. aberration, obscenity and nonsense. but that which can melt what has been hardened, frozen and brittle. the "negative classicist", wilde, schiele, bataille, adorno, mishima, carol christian poell, shion sono.....in a way dangerous, but just honest.
a genuine manga should be something like that. of course it may differ in degree from the above names, but should not differ in kind.
yura yura teikoku is a band of those boys who have grown but still keep the spirit. shintaro sakamoto was a big manga fan kid who couldn't help but expressing his complicated love towards sh*t. the father of their urge and imagination is a problem child. manga is simply for the child. that's where manga's happiness lies in, since there is no need to be underpinned by PTA approval there. and that is the roots of manga, no matter how much today's manga/anime projects have been commercialized, sterilized or detoxified. if I was allowed to speak in japanese, manga is in itself yabai mono.

honestly- i don't remember seeing anyone drawing these kinds of things when i was young...
but- i recently found out that someone i know has done this, and still does it today, even though he is 50+ yrs old!

so i guess this is really universal, even though, as you say, probably a minority...
* i confess that when i heard this and another women heard it- you could see the shock on our faces, because he does this in front of his kids in the house...on every newspaper, etc...
he is gay so his partner is also male and they both just think it's funny...
i have to wonder what his little girl thinks about this though...
she's 10 and sees lingerie billboards and calls them inappropriate...so....


regarding the sh*t song...
some years ago, i knew a psychologist who told me about one of his patients who really loved sh*t...the reason he was seeing a psychologist was not because he wanted to stop loving it, but because he wanted to feel like it was OK to love it...
so- again- something that could be just human nature- regardless of nationality...

these things both sound very "male" though...
there seems to be a universal gender divide...it's interesting...

also- i have heard this term- "problem child" repeatedly now...
i'm quite curious-what is the term in japanese, please? Can you show me the romanji for it? I wonder if there is a way to translate it further...because it is such a broad term and could mean so many things...
when it is used by a japanese person, is it referring to someone who just won't follow what is expected of them?

i just saw an interview with ryuichi sakamoto who referred to himself as a "problem child"... basically because he wanted to be different and didn't want to be like everyone else...
and i've seen a number of men being interviewed using this term about themselves...it makes me think that this is a commonly used phrase...
but i don't know- perhaps it is just a coincidence?
i'm just curious because i think it shows that a number of people- men, specifically- feel some pressure to live up to certain expectations- by family and society- and don't always feel able to meet those expectations...
which is true everywhere, of course, but japan is notorious for having very high expectations and standards for their children and for themselves in general...
i wonder if this term is somehow an expression of those values...

 

[softgrey]

ok- i started with
Shotaro Ishinomori

kamen rider aka masked rider
*this was a manga and also a live action show in the early 1970's- similar to the american batman series from that time...
not in theme, but in mood...bright colours, costumes, criminals, etc...
he also did go rangers...which led to power rangers...

runner- i know some of the black and white manga illustrations you showed me are by him now...
is that from skullman or kamen rider or what?
i love those so much...but it's hard to find any more google images of them...?


i love this kamen rider cover- even though we can't see his swishy pointed scarf tip here...


i found this one image from the wild cat- which may be where those images in yohji's collection come from...but very little info seems available on this...
anyway- i kind of hate this one...
i hated it when yohji first did it on the runway and i don't really like it any better now...
but i do get it...i get why some adult "problem child" (which i guess yohji must be considered) would find it very entertaining and fun to put these things on the clothes...or even in the lining- which i think he has also done...
like a naughty little boy...

but i just think the women look weirdly distorted and misshapen...
......
agentsofguard, entervoid

 

[Melisande]

Sorry Runner, maybe I misunderstood what you meant by the very meaning-dense paragraph below, when you said manga stands for "yabai mono" (something un-toward, or that should be disapproved). I certainly know you're not referring to the weird horror stuff or p*rn*gr*ph*c stuff when i said "dark" and "sexual"-- I meant more in the subtle, "uncensored" sense that would have to be disapproved of by parents, as opposed to the disinfected world of Disney. As a child, my idea of manga was never something that was negative or "yabai mono", it actually WAS more of a disney-like, family-friendly thing for me...(except for Hadashi no Gen, but that was family-friendly too, in a weird way because my parents were the ones who actually made my sister and I read it. I can tell you, it changed my life.). That's what i found interesting that you are saying that it was "yabai mono", something to be disapproved of and avoided.Maybe I just didn't read enough manga for anyone to have to disapprove I moved straight from Doraemon to regular books and novels.

**Softie, Hadashi no Gen is a manga about the atrocities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and it gets REALLY graphic and gets into the horrible nitty-gritty of what life really is like during war. I was made to read it as a child, and I've been a staunch Gandhi-inspired pacifist ever since. What Runner is referring to is that in recent years, there has been a movement trying to remove this book from schools, saying it is too "graphic" and inappropriate, and a counter-movement accusing them of political motives and whitewashing our past or coddling our youth, even though it was considered a classic.

remember our kindergarten days or even elementary school classrooms. there are always some kids who casually, randomly or instinctively draw a penis, boobs, whatever, every time they find human figures in their schoolbooks. not every kid of course, perhaps even a minority, but we have an undeniable constant. manga is originally a dependable ally of those kids. manga is what parents don't want children to see and what children really want to see, while the universe of disney might be what parents want to make children appreciate. manga is something to be ridiculed, abased or despised. something low, indecent, wicked. aberration, obscenity and nonsense. but that which can melt what has been hardened, frozen and brittle. the "negative classicist", wilde, schiele, bataille, adorno, mishima, carol christian poell, shion sono.....in a way dangerous, but just honest.
a genuine manga should be something like that. of course it may differ in degree from the above names, but should not differ in kind.
yura yura teikoku is a band of those boys who have grown but still keep the spirit. shintaro sakamoto was a big manga fan kid who couldn't help but expressing his complicated love towards sh*t. the father of their urge and imagination is a problem child. manga is simply for the child. that's where manga's happiness lies in, since there is no need to be underpinned by PTA approval there. and that is the roots of manga, no matter how much today's manga/anime projects have been commercialized, sterilized or detoxified. if I was allowed to speak in japanese, manga is in itself yabai mono.

 

[Melisande]

Speaking of akiba-kei and anime, I read some shocking statistics today that 40 percent of Japanese men throughout their 20s are virgins, that they've never had sex, ever. (Added to that the number who have had sexual relations with "professionals" i.e. escorts, but not with "real" people, the number would be, it said, over 50%.) The article suggested this change came about due to the vast prevalence of internet p*rn, especially anime stuff, which results in a vicious cycle that provides just enough interest while depriving them of confidence in relationships. I don't know if this is the reason, but we all know the declining birth rate is no secret, and the akiba-kei who prefer virtual relationships with anime characters rather than real people, is, I think, a real issue...

 

[softgrey]

you know- i think a lot of things are just cultural...
when i first saw Inuyasha i thought it was weird that he carries that girl on his back...
to me that would be very intimate and - yes - a bit sexy...
...
for example- i would have a hard time riding a scooter or motorcycle with a man i did not know well- or even some that i do know well - because of the close full body contact...
so i did not understand why inuyasha would carry her...
but now i understand that it is customary in traditional japan to carry a child on one's back...
or anyone who cannot walk (or super run- in inuyasha's case)...
demo---(but) --- it's more like a papoose from native american culture...
not even remotely sexual...
again- this is a cultural perception...
once i figured out the origin, it was no longer strange/unusual/sexual...

i think it's probably pretty difficult for a japanese to even explain some of these things because they are just so ingrained in the culture that they seem too obvious to need explanation...
gomenasai for asking so many silly question...


ie- so much of spirited away seem like pure fantasy to my western eyes...
but with some newly acquired understanding of japanese heritage, i see how many things are fantastical interpretations of japanese culture...
down to small details like how her kimono sleeves are tied back...
it must be difficult for a native japanese to see these things through the eyes of an alien like myself...
.........

about doraemon-

Walt Disney is to begin broadcasting Japanese cartoon “Doraemon,” the first time in the iconic series’ history that it will play in English in the U.S. Some 26 English-dubbed episodes will play, five times a week, on the Disney XD satellite channel starting from an unspecified date in the summer. Target age group is elementary school children.
The series is owned by TV Asahi, Fujiko F. Fujio Production and TV Asahi subsidiary Shinei Animation. The deal was struck with TV Asahi, which handles the U.S. rights.
The show, featuring a cat-like robot sent by a boy from the future to the present day to helps his grandfather solve his daily problems, was initially launched in 1969 as a manga comic. The first TV series was launched in 1973 and has played in 35 territories, particularly in East Asia, where it has a huge following.
Unlike previous episodes, which have shown in North America in Japanese or as pirated version, the new series is being produced with the U.S. market in mind. It is expected to adhere to U.S. broadcast requirements on violence, discrimination and depiction of sexual content.

from Variety- May 2014

clearly - the US broadcast requirements are different to japan's...
though i don't know exactly how...
i think a lot of stuff on US TV is really whitewashed...
we sort of know that...
which is why americans can find some foreign stuff rather shocking...
not just japanese stuff, but all kinds of stuff from outside the US...

melisande- thanks for explaining about hadashi no gen...
all the films i have seen that are produced in japan about war are far more graphic than most of what i have seen over here...
over here- basically, it's the concentration camps and the nazis that are the subjects of war films...but- frankly, after you see so many of them, you just think to yourself "enough already, i get it, it was bad, hitler was bad, nazis were bad" but you don't really feel anything...
*crazy- right?!
partly, i think, because a lot of concentration camp survivors didn't speak about it for a long time...
so- none of it seems real- you cannot relate to it personally...

with the japanese films i've seen, whether it is about WWII or the shogun or whatever, there is a lot more personal perspective...
the lack of food and the personal struggles and challenges faced by people day to day seem much more real, somehow...
frankly- i am conscious of every last grain of rice when i cook, especially now that i have seen these films...
and seen programs about rice farmers...

i would like to read that manga...
though i am sure it would be difficult/painful...
when i saw some of these films i wished that more people would see them...
and appreciate our shared world history...
ie- grave of the fireflies

ryuichi sakamoto even said something in the interview i mentioned...
america is now his home- nyc...
but he knows that some of his tax dollars are probably paying for some wars in iraq and afghanistan...
he said- america has so many good things but he cannot understand why they run towards violence...
it's a good/big question...

my guess- probably because we have not felt the ravages of war first hand, the way some others have...
only pearl harbor and 9/11...
and both of these happened on small islands off the coast of the main land...
mainland america has no concept of what war feels like...
even the civil war is just a story or a movie in most peoples' minds...

that manga should stay and be read by everyone in the world...

peace~!

 

[softgrey]

Speaking of akiba-kei and anime, I read some shocking statistics today that 40 percent of Japanese men throughout their 20s are virgins, that they've never had sex, ever. (Added to that the number who have had sexual relations with "professionals" i.e. escorts, but not with "real" people, the number would be, it said, over 50%.) The article suggested this change came about due to the vast prevalence of internet p*rn, especially anime stuff, which results in a vicious cycle that provides just enough interest while depriving them of confidence in relationships. I don't know if this is the reason, but we all know the declining birth rate is no secret, and the akiba-kei who prefer virtual relationships with anime characters rather than real people, is, I think, a real issue...

thanks for bringing this out...
i had no idea about numbers- but i have some vague understanding about how japanese are so shy and find it so difficult to have personal relationships...
*my first reaction is- seriously- japanese men are the hottest men on the planet...
seriously- from a global perspective- they really are...
they are!...there is no contest...
so---what's there to be shy about?!?!?!

*my next reaction is- so what about the women in their 20's? are they having sex with anyone? and, if so, who?...
i know- the answer is that older men are having sex with seriously younger girls...
i know...japan is a culture obsessed with youth...
women don't get their teeth fixed and even get fake big canine teeth put in to make themselves appear younger...
but------the men still don't seem to go for them, so why not make a stand and just act their own age- with or without a man?!?
maybe the men will adapt accordingly...
or maybe not...

frankly- every one of my married friends is now divorced...
so, who needs to get married?!


not getting married is probably the best decision of my life...
right next to buying my loft...



leaving my loft would probably be harder than leaving a boyfriend...
...

analyse that!
.......

 

[softgrey]

ok-so i am now watching a program about "yokai"...

wikipedia
Yōkai (妖怪?, ghost, phantom, strange apparition) are a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is made up of the kanji for "bewitching; attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious".[1] They can also be called ayakashi (妖?), mononoke (物の怪?), or mamono (魔物?). Yōkai range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them. Often they possess animal features (such as the Kappa, which is similar to a turtle, or the Tengu which has wings), other times they can appear mostly human, some look like inanimate objects and others have no discernible shape. Yōkai usually have a spiritual supernatural power, with shapeshifting being one of the most common. Yōkai that have the ability to shapeshift are called obake.

this explains a LOT about "Spirited Away"...
...

it also explains a bit about the "creepy kawaii" aesthetic that is popular with some japanese girls...


from amazon.com

predecessors to Pokemon, Power Rangers, scary J-horror girls, and all of the strange creatures that pop up in Japanese video games.

christies.com

question:
is princess mononoke supposed to be some kind of yokai?
or be able to relate with yokai?
good lord - now i have to watch that all over again...!


i also watched some animated film where the houses themselves had spirits and were old and upset because they were going to be killed/torn down...
of course, they were yokai --- !

amazing...the more i learn, the more i have to learn...
it never ends...

 

[softgrey]

the above image is from
Anonymous (18th-19th Century)

Hyakki Yagyo (Night parade of one hundred demons)-

this seems like an amazing source of inspiration for any artist or animator...

 

[runner]

*ps- kentucky is also where there is likely to be a child's beauty contest, so...
yeah- i guess it's different down south than it is in the north...
remember- we did have a civil war - north against south- and it's actually still how the country is mostly divided in terms of morals and values and ideals...and the way we vote for national policy, etc...
it's also the area where racism is still probably the strongest...
odd/unusual that a japanese person would be living there...
i would never live there...i've never even been to visit...
and now i want to go there even less...ugh...



however- huge boobs definitely = sexy over here...and probably in the west in general...
i know a british guy who's first love as a boy was wonder woman...
and i was definitely aware of her sexy look...
the reason i always liked her is that she was strong and heroic while also being sexy...i think that is the basis for all women superheroes in western comics...



regarding the sh*t song...
some years ago, i knew a psychologist who told me about one of his patients who really loved sh*t...the reason he was seeing a psychologist was not because he wanted to stop loving it, but because he wanted to feel like it was OK to love it...
so- again- something that could be just human nature- regardless of nationality...

these things both sound very "male" though...
there seems to be a universal gender divide...it's interesting...

also- i have heard this term- "problem child" repeatedly now...
i'm quite curious-what is the term in japanese, please? Can you show me the romanji for it? I wonder if there is a way to translate it further...because it is such a broad term and could mean so many things...
when it is used by a japanese person, is it referring to someone who just won't follow what is expected of them?

i just saw an interview with ryuichi sakamoto who referred to himself as a "problem child"... basically because he wanted to be different and didn't want to be like everyone else...
and i've seen a number of men being interviewed using this term about themselves...it makes me think that this is a commonly used phrase...
but i don't know- perhaps it is just a coincidence?
i'm just curious because i think it shows that a number of people- men, specifically- feel some pressure to live up to certain expectations- by family and society- and don't always feel able to meet those expectations...
which is true everywhere, of course, but japan is notorious for having very high expectations and standards for their children and for themselves in general...
i wonder if this term is somehow an expression of those values...

it seems that the person went over to lexington somewhere from his early elementary school days in japan and came back after he graduated from the high school in the city, then entered the university in japan. many of the japanese who speak english fluently are the kids from the family who had expatriated themselves because of an overseas posting. it's not that they selected the city.
though, as far as I know, those japanese children whose mother or father is an english speaker do speak it well too.


sexy over here tends to be considered something conditioned. for example, looking like venus in spite of being madonna, what was called concordia discors. btw, yohji's latest collection was an exploration of when something gets sexy and where the sexy is actuated from, based on the hypothesis that there is nothing that is always automatically or originally sexy.


as for the yura yura song, by "his complicated love towards sh*t" I meant prankish toilet humor rather than a certain kind of hardcore scatology. there used to be a kids' favorite term unkochinchin which is literally sh*t-dick. it's a magic word, form that can correspond to some kids' viscera, content. I remember I was thinking to myself watching a hollywood film around the late 80's, how many times do these guys say sh*t or bullsh*t in one movie. anyway, undoubtedly, they seemed to really like pronouncing the word, contrary to what it is. hence a complicated fondness for sh*t. I meant something similar to that.
also amadeus is another example that I would think of, who could not help expressing that sort of stuff. and I'd associate him with the term problem child, mondai-ji (問題児) in japanese.
yes you are right, it's basically someone against those expectations. it's about taboo and transgression, or resistance and voltage.

 

[runner]

runner- i know some of the black and white manga illustrations you showed me are by him now...
is that from skullman or kamen rider or what?
i love those so much...but it's hard to find any more google images of them...?


i love this kamen rider cover- even though we can't see his swishy pointed scarf tip here...


i found this one image from the wild cat- which may be where those images in yohji's collection come from...but very little info seems available on this...
anyway- i kind of hate this one...
i hated it when yohji first did it on the runway and i don't really like it any better now...
but i do get it...i get why some adult "problem child" (which i guess yohji must be considered) would find it very entertaining and fun to put these things on the clothes...or even in the lining- which i think he has also done...
like a naughty little boy...

but i just think the women look weirdly distorted and misshapen...
......

yes I remember one was from kamen rider. probably another was from robot keiji which practically means robocop.
we can see some more here.

yes the figure in the wild cat cover is just poorly done. maybe ishinomori was trying to incorporate some Manneristic expression/deformation into his style, but did not achieve (or was not accustomed to) it at that point.


ishimomoripro
amazon

 

[runner]

Sorry Runner, maybe I misunderstood what you meant by the very meaning-dense paragraph below, when you said manga stands for "yabai mono" (something un-toward, or that should be disapproved). I certainly know you're not referring to the weird horror stuff or p*rn*gr*ph*c stuff when i said "dark" and "sexual"-- I meant more in the subtle, "uncensored" sense that would have to be disapproved of by parents, as opposed to the disinfected world of Disney. As a child, my idea of manga was never something that was negative or "yabai mono", it actually WAS more of a disney-like, family-friendly thing for me...(except for Hadashi no Gen, but that was family-friendly too, in a weird way because my parents were the ones who actually made my sister and I read it. I can tell you, it changed my life.). That's what i found interesting that you are saying that it was "yabai mono", something to be disapproved of and avoided.Maybe I just didn't read enough manga for anyone to have to disapprove I moved straight from Doraemon to regular books and novels.

the reason I used "yabai mono" is that it is one of those words that convey double meaning and that I didn't think I can translate its richness, subtlety, fineness, whatever, into english. its antinomy.
something that can be regarded negative but it also can be incredibly cool, excellent, or beautiful.
yabai - sort of namete kakaruto yakedosuru---kamoshirenai,

 

[BerlinRocks]

Since the thread's gone from shopping to learn about Japanese culture ...
Here are some recent (FRENCH speaking) radio shows about Takeshi Kitano ...

http://www.franceculture.fr/emissio...opher-avec-takeshi-kitano-34-l’ete-de-kikujir
http://www.franceculture.fr/emissio...opher-avec-takeshi-kitano-24-hana-bi-la-fulgu
http://www.franceculture.fr/emissio...opher-avec-takeshi-kitano-44-furyo-et-tabou-d
http://www.franceculture.fr/emissio...opher-avec-takeshi-kitano-14-a-scene-at-the-s

 

[Melisande]

about doraemon-

from Variety- May 2014

clearly - the US broadcast requirements are different to japan's...
though i don't know exactly how...
i think a lot of stuff on US TV is really whitewashed...
we sort of know that...
which is why americans can find some foreign stuff rather shocking...
not just japanese stuff, but all kinds of stuff from outside the US...

melisande- thanks for explaining about hadashi no gen...
all the films i have seen that are produced in japan about war are far more graphic than most of what i have seen over here...
over here- basically, it's the concentration camps and the nazis that are the subjects of war films...but- frankly, after you see so many of them, you just think to yourself "enough already, i get it, it was bad, hitler was bad, nazis were bad" but you don't really feel anything...
*crazy- right?!
partly, i think, because a lot of concentration camp survivors didn't speak about it for a long time...
so- none of it seems real- you cannot relate to it personally...

with the japanese films i've seen, whether it is about WWII or the shogun or whatever, there is a lot more personal perspective...
the lack of food and the personal struggles and challenges faced by people day to day seem much more real, somehow...
frankly- i am conscious of every last grain of rice when i cook, especially now that i have seen these films...
and seen programs about rice farmers...

i would like to read that manga...
though i am sure it would be difficult/painful...
when i saw some of these films i wished that more people would see them...
and appreciate our shared world history...
ie- grave of the fireflies

ryuichi sakamoto even said something in the interview i mentioned...
america is now his home- nyc...
but he knows that some of his tax dollars are probably paying for some wars in iraq and afghanistan...
he said- america has so many good things but he cannot understand why they run towards violence...
it's a good/big question...

my guess- probably because we have not felt the ravages of war first hand, the way some others have...
only pearl harbor and 9/11...
and both of these happened on small islands off the coast of the main land...
mainland america has no concept of what war feels like...
even the civil war is just a story or a movie in most peoples' minds...

that manga should stay and be read by everyone in the world...

peace~!

Thank you Softie, that really means a lot to us Japanese...
I think your observations re violence + the US are very astute...and I have to agree with you... the US is such a great country in so many ways...and yet...IMHO with great power comes that much more moral responsibility...

That is kind of awesome that you are aware of every last grain of rice. It's something that all Japanese are taught, but not many people talk about it.

OMG, hilarious..."Doraemon...rated R..." It's true that the boys sometimes try to peek at Shizuka-chan during her bath, but we never see anything. And it's only very occasional...

Also, your question re women in their 20's, according to the article, first of all the article didn't mention heterosexuality vs homosexuality, which is kind of strange, but assuming the survey was specifically aimed at heterosexuals, it said the remaining 80% of the girls have sex with with the remaining 50% of "assertive" men . I mentioned this to a Japanese girlfriend who just turned 30 and is a PhD student, and she didn't bat an eyelid. She was like "...er...it's kind of obvious...and not even shocking...No-one asks each other out. Even I don't have interest in sex. Nor do my friends, even the guys. They say they're too busy or it's too mendokusai (too much trouble and can't be bothered). Sports/activities clubs in universities have trouble recruiting members because no-one's interested in meeting people..." So...I had to say okay...and I couldn't tell her I think it's very very strange...

Re. Yokai...I don't think Mononoke Hime herself is a yokai (I haven't seen it in years) but yes definitely Spirited Away is all about yokai. I love love that we are so into spirits in Japan...few people are really religious, but at the same time, the vast majority of people don't even so much question the existence of a God...and we talk of gods and spirits as part of our day-to-day experiences, sensations...it's just kind of accepted as part of our cultural vocabulary. Our spiritual culture is so so so much more soft, open and flexible and natural and mystical than what we have in the West. I love that side of Japan. I find it kind of childish that people in the West feel the need to argue about things like the existence of God, etc...by definition it's not something that can be argued about...because it's not even rooted in logic, but in very personal experiences/sensations of the mystical, the sacred, in our day-to-day lives...in Japan we just sort of call that God and leave it at that, and the act of prayer is not even really religious...it's considered a natural human reaction to pray, whatever one's religious beliefs or lack thereof, and we throw around the word "pray" (inoru) everywhere, wherever we would use the word "wish" in English, even in business, etc.

Yes, maybe kimo-kawaii (creepy kawaii) has something to do with yokai. But in my vague opinion it also has to do with people becoming more cynical...it's not cool/relevant/edgy enough just to be cute and inspire affection...because people are growing too blasé to be just purely affectionate....you have to show that you're cool with the presence of cruelty and creepiness in the world...which is a similar phenomenon we see all over contemporary Japanese art......

Runner, you are right about yabai, it has all those connotations
It's not a word I use (I find it more part of the masculine lexicon...although of course it's used by younger and more boyish girls...Softie I'm sure you know in Japanese we have whole different sets of words for men, women, boys, girls) but yes, I do like the word itself. I guess a close idea (not in usage but in idea) is the expression "sick" to mean something very good...or "malade" or "terrible" in French.

Concordia discors is a good way to describe the sexual dichotomy, and a fascinating topic on its own...

BerlinRocks merci, I'm now listening to it while doing some housework, it's really good, and the whole page is great too

 

[softgrey]

well- i'm still shopping...

from zozotown...
mint designs...
such a great top and great print...
it's like luggage straps...
and the socks are fun too...sheer and knit to make any shoe look almost like a ballerina slipper...
the skirt is great on its own- but the top makes me swoon...
they actually have a bunch of great tops this season...
there's one print with all safety pins on it that is so cool...

...

 

[softgrey]

yes I remember one was from kamen rider. probably another was from robot keiji which practically means robocop.
we can see some more here.

yes the figure in the wild cat cover is just poorly done. maybe ishinomori was trying to incorporate some Manneristic expression/deformation into his style, but did not achieve (or was not accustomed to) it at that point.


ishimomoripro
amazon

thanks for the link to all those great images!
yes- it must have been robot keiji...
i really love the way that is illustrated...
that is the kind of thing i would have looked at over and over as a kid, even without understanding the words, because the imagery is just so cool...


sorry i misunderstood about the yura yura song...

and yes- i think that we like the word sh*t...
it's one of the few times that we prounounce the really hard "T" at the end of the word and almost hiss the "shhhh" at the beginning...
it feels good to do that when you are frustrated...
it really expresses the feeling behind it...

sexy over here tends to be considered something conditioned. for example, looking like venus in spite of being madonna, what was called concordia discors. btw, yohji's latest collection was an exploration of when something gets sexy and where the sexy is actuated from, based on the hypothesis that there is nothing that is always automatically or originally sexy.

this is the first time i've seen that term- concordia discors...
i agree with melisande-
we could easily have a whole discussion on that topic alone...
...
i find it fascinating...and, yes - very sexy...

from wikipedia-
discordia concors is a rhetorical device in which opposites are juxtaposed so that the contrast between them is striking.

and the hyopthesis behind this YY collection is fantastic...
so provocative...
i love it!


thanks for explaining these things runner, dear...

 

[runner]

Speaking of akiba-kei and anime, I read some shocking statistics today that 40 percent of Japanese men throughout their 20s are virgins, that they've never had sex, ever. (Added to that the number who have had sexual relations with "professionals" i.e. escorts, but not with "real" people, the number would be, it said, over 50%.) The article suggested this change came about due to the vast prevalence of internet p*rn, especially anime stuff, which results in a vicious cycle that provides just enough interest while depriving them of confidence in relationships. I don't know if this is the reason, but we all know the declining birth rate is no secret, and the akiba-kei who prefer virtual relationships with anime characters rather than real people, is, I think, a real issue...

at first I had thought the venue they gathered statistics might have been akiba and that the one who compiled it could be a condom maker promoting the consumption of their products. ( in my junior high school days, enlighteners were persuading us to have no sex until we get married, since junior high school parents were the social issue of the times. we didn't see the prevelence of the famicon yet. it was not commonplace for a family to have a video cassette recorder. in those times, it was natural that boys and girls were interested in each other. and moreover it was the golden age of the idol singers. maybe 99% of their hits were songs about renai - 恋愛. I'd say renai was even a big trend back then. it was the greatest concern of the culture industry. accordingly, fashion, cars, magazines, anything sold quite well too. looked as if restaurants, theaters, hotels had existed there for it. it was the main drive of the 80's. yuming became a queen by being a marketer. by the end of the decade life in japan got rather gorgeous, abundant. the commonest car you saw midnight in roppongi was porsche. and after many twists and turns, through rapid changes, seems like we have come to see this phase now. ) so I checked a bit anyway. considering more sex doesn't always mean higher birthrate these days, that might not have much to do with the declining birthrate.
to some of them it should be a matter of confidence, to some it should be mendokusai. but I assume there could be another element at work deep in there too, that what's happening might be something close to the posibilities l'isle-adam conceived over 100 years ago.
the 80's was fun. we enjoyed lots of new experiences and excitements. but it was also waste land of much ado. it was full of worldly-minded materialistic desires and values. I feel like there are some there, to which it's a process of recovering spirituality with the arid dry plain behing them. once it is lost, it won't revive soon. it might not be impossible to see this as the younger generation who have been paying the bill.


" after a moment's thought, lord ewald murmured under his breath:
- but to undertake the making of such a creature would be, I should think, like tempting ... god.
- that's why I haven't told you to accept! edison replied, speaking in a low voice and very simply. "

" I have come with this message: since our gods and our aspirations are no longer anything but scientific, why shouldn't our loves be so, too? "

Villiers de l'Isle-Adam / L'Ève future



" memory is liberated three times: at the advent of writing, by the discovery of printing, now with computers. who can tell what the invention of geometry owes to the first, the coming of experimental science to the second, or what will emerge from our third forgetting ? "

michel serres / les cinq sens

 

[runner]

is princess mononoke supposed to be some kind of yokai?
or be able to relate with yokai?
good lord - now i have to watch that all over again...!


i also watched some animated film where the houses themselves had spirits and were old and upset because they were going to be killed/torn down...
of course, they were yokai --- !

amazing...the more i learn, the more i have to learn...
it never ends...

I'm sure mononoke hime is a human girl raised by certain kind of mononoke. the title means sort of momonoke's daughter.

if you research the subject of the japanese supernatural you will have to write at least ten books! it is in itself a traditional genre in painting, literature, folklore, manga, etc.
as a kid in summer I read kwaidan by yakumo koizumi for its particular air conditioner effect and complicatedly liked the yokai manga story by shigeru mizuki.

mizukipro

 

[runner]

sakana clutch from sue undercover S/S 2015

fashionpress
hatena





one-piece cardboard displays at elttob tep issey miyake

fashionpress

 

[softgrey]

I'm sure mononoke hime is a human girl raised by certain kind of mononoke. the title means sort of momonoke's daughter.

if you research the subject of the japanese supernatural you will have to write at least ten books! it is in itself a traditional genre in painting, literature, folklore, manga, etc.
as a kid in summer I read kwaidan by yakumo koizumi for its particular air conditioner effect and complicatedly liked the yokai manga story by shigeru mizuki.

mizukipro

thanks for explaining about the title, runner...
i hadn't realized that the japanese supernatural was really a whole genre...
though i had been noticing it more and more...
it does help me to understand if i think of it that way...
thank you for that...

by chance- i just recorded kwaidan from the TV - on TCM (my fave channel)
i've seen it more than once, but now i will watch it with fresh eyes...