Here is an assortment of playful Japanese postcards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, found in a recent book by collector Hiroki Hayashi entitled "Antique Cute Post Cards in Japan" (Nippon no kawaii ehagaki).
Betty Boop (Yamaguchi Seikyokudo Co., Ltd. - c. 1930s)
Betty Boop (1937)
Betty Boop, Mickey and Minnie (1936)
Mickey (c. 1920s-40s)
Kewpie Mayonnaise ad (1932)
The anatomical features of Gamera and his foes are detailed in a set of illustrations found in one volume of the Kaijū-Kaijin Daizenshū movie monster book series published by Keibunsha in 1972.
Gamera
Gamera's features include infrared eyes with night vision, arms that can lift 50,000 tons, an organ for producing the flames he shoots from his hands, electrical spikes on his back, poison claws, sac-like organs for storing lava, coal, oil and uranium, balloon-like organs that blast jets of air out through the feet, and a tail of elastic cartilage that can deliver a powerful punch.
Guiron
Guiron's most prominent feature is his knife-shaped head, which is 100 times harder than diamond and is packed with shuriken-like stars that can be fired from a pair of openings above the eyes. The creature has 360-degree radar vision, 60 times more teeth than a piranha, lungs adapted for long-distance space travel, sac-like organs for storing energy and uranium, balloon-like organs in the legs that blast jets of liquid through the feet, webbed fins for stability in water, and magnetic suction cups on the hands.
Barugon
Barugon's features include dorsal spikes that produce a deadly rainbow ray, an organ to produce frosty liquid (-100 degree Celsius) that can be shot from his 30-meter-long weaponized tongue, a stomach that can digest diamonds (his favorite food), and radar horns atop his head.
Viras
Viras's features include a spike-shaped head capable of piercing through a meter of steel, a brain with an IQ of 2500, organs for producing a force field and controlling the minds of others, tentacles that are 10,000 times stronger than an elephant's trunk and which can emit powerful beams for space travel, and organs to break down cell tissue and control metamorphosis (for creating its human disguise).
Jiger
Jiger's features include a pair of horns that shoot missiles made of hardened saliva and one that fires a deadly "magnetium" beam, powerful suction cups covering her entire body, an organ for shooting jets of seawater at 300 kilometers per hour, a stomach that can melt iron ore, and an ovipositor tail.
[Via: Tokusatsu Figure-kan]
Here's a peek at a few of the bōsōzoku-style custom rides spotted in the parking lot at the Tokyo Auto Salon custom car show last weekend, via Flickr user brunnnno.
Poster by Masayoshi Nakajo, 1988 [+]
Behold a place where the people's needs miraculously meet the corporate agendas. Enjoy a nation of modern cultural perspectives -- "humanication," "forever freshness" and "the super next." Experience a country that does things better, or so its citizens fervently believe.
- Leonard Koren
A commercial promoting the Laforet Grand Bazar winter sale in Harajuku (January 20-24) features a mob of people with flickering LED-illuminated smiles who overrun a dramatic love scene reminiscent of a popular '90s-era TV show.
The ad -- entitled "Geee / Harajuku Love Story" -- makes use of wirelessly-controlled Mouth LED technology developed by artists Daito Manabe and Motoi Ishibashi.
+ Video
Here is a rough translation of the dialogue that takes place as the smiling mob approaches.
[Man]: We can make it work. I'll do my best.
[Woman]: Will you come to see me if I get lonely at night, no matter what?
[Man]: I will go immediately. I'll fly.
[Woman]: Will you come and pick me up if I call you from Mt. Everest?
[Man]: I'll fly there right away.
[Woman]: Will you bring me hot nabe soup if I ask for it?
[Man]: I will. I'll bring a year's worth.
[Woman]: What if I asked you to take me to the moon?
[Man]: That might be difficult...
[Woman]: That's not good enough.
[Man]: But I can make you happy.
The commercial appears to have been inspired by an earlier project by Manabe and Ishibashi entitled "Party in the Mouth," which featured a mob of women with glowing LED smiles wandering the streets of Tokyo at night.
+ Video
Here is some video from the Laforet website:
+ Video
Here are a few classic Japanese monster movie posters from Poland and the former Czechoslovakia. [Via Monster Brains]
Godzilla (Poland, 1957)
Son of Godzilla (Poland, 1974)
Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (Czechoslovakia, 1986)
War of the Gargantuas (Poland, 1975)
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (Poland, 1978)
Terror of Mechagodzilla (Poland, 1977)
Gappa the Triphibian Monster (Poland, 1973)
Gamera Super Monster (Poland, 1980)
King Kong Escapes (Poland, 1967)
Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (Poland, 1971)
The X from Outer Space (Czechoslovakia, 1968)
Godzilla vs. Gigan (Poland, 1977)
The Year of the Rabbit has come hopping around, and here to mark the occasion are some antique bunny-themed nengajō from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston collection. Happy 2011!
Rabbit, 1951 // Snow rabbit, 1927
Sumo-wrestling rabbits, 1927
Rabbit in bed, 1915
Rabbits playing musical instruments, 1927
Rising sun and rabbit, 1915 // Rabbit with pink background, 1951
Rabbits on bicycles, 1904
Rabbits, 1927
Rabbit on boat, 1927
Rabbit holding giant calligraphy brush, 1903
Rabbit, 1951 // Rabbit walking a tightrope, 1927
Rabbit and waves
Rabbit and waves, 1915
Rabbit on boat
Rabbit, 1951 // Rabbit in the moon, 1915
Rabbit and tiger, 1915
Silver rabbits in snow, 1910
Young girl holding a rabbit, 1915
Rabbit carrying vegetables, 1927
Rabbit and turtle, 1911 // Snow rabbit, 1927
Rabbit writing New Year's greeting on screen
As 2010 draws to an end, here's a look back at the year's most popular Pink Tentacle posts.
- Old-school Tokyo subway manner posters: 27 train etiquette posters from the 1970s-1980s
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- Custom scooters: Photos of 30 Japanese scooter mods
* * * * *
- Post-apocalyptic Tokyo scenery: Fantastic photo manipulations by Tokyogenso
* * * * *
- Macabre kids' book art by Gojin Ishihara: Not just for kids
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- Concept cars: A look back at 50+ years of Japanese concept car designs
* * * * *
- Japanese town logos: 50 examples of kanji-based logos for Japanese towns
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- Kaikidan Ekotoba monster scroll: Mysterious mid-19th century scroll featuring 33 legendary monsters and human oddities
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- Futuristic mega-projects: Shimizu Corporation's bold architectural plans for the world of tomorrow
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- Horror illustrations by Tatsuya Morino: The great monsters of Gothic literature get a makeover
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Selections from the Japanese urban legend series
- Ningen: Giant humanoid sea creatures of the Antarctic
- Sony timer: Rumors of a secret kill switch in Sony products
- Severed samurai head in Tokyo: A head buried in Tokyo has haunted the city for 1,000 years
- Secrets of the Tokyo underground: Rumors of a hidden city under Tokyo
- Hanako-san: Girl ghost haunts restrooms across Japan
- Human-faced dog: Encounters with mysterious canines
- Okiku doll: A haunted toy with hair that grows
- Urban legends from Meiji-period Japan: Phantom trains, bloody chocolate, and more
- Cursed commercial: Infamous Kleenex ad that sparked fear across Japan
- Human pillars: Tales of human sacrifice for large-scale construction projects
* * * * *
- Sci-fi illustrations by Shigeru Komatsuzaki: Fantastic art from the 1960s-1970s (bonus points for the comments)
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- Manga farming: Nifty gardening technique by Tokyo-based artist Koshi Kawachi
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- Paintings by Tetsuya Ishida: Surreal and provocative
Happy holidays, and thanks for reading. See you again in 2011!
Calne Ca (a.k.a. Calcium) -- a mechanically modified version of the Hatsune Miku virtual idol created by freelance 3D graphic designer Deino -- stars in a pair of music videos set in a chaotic post-human future.
+ Video for "Machine Muzik," original Hatsune Miku track composed by Saya Kanae
+ Video for "Nehanshika," original Hatsune Miku track composed by Gab
(Image via Karune-Calcium)
