Tag: ‘Art’

Japanese custom scooters

12 May 2008

These photographs of Japanese custom scooters come from bike shop galleries, auction sites, and Flickr. Follow the links for more images.

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Bikeshop Rodeo has killer photos of their mean machines.

Japanese custom scooter --
Suzuki Skywave

Japanese custom scooter --
Honda Forza

Japanese custom scooter --
Suzuki Skywave

Japanese custom scooter --
Honda Fusion

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Gull Craft transformed Honda Forzas into these retro-futuristic KYBELE cyber scooters, and their photo report shows how to make your own. (Via AutoblogGreen)

Japanese custom scooter --
KYBELE Cyber Scooter

Japanese custom scooter --
KYBELE Cyber Scooter

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Flickr user tokyo scooter stuff has thrown together an awesome collection of found photos of custom rides.

Japanese custom scooter --

Japanese custom scooter --
Suzuki Skywave

Japanese custom scooter --
Suzuki Skywave

Japanese custom scooter --
Yamaha Maxam 3000 Concept @ Tokyo Motor Show

Japanese custom scooter --
Yamaha Maxam @ Tokyo Motor Show

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This Yamaha Maxam is for sale on Yahoo! Auctions. With only a few hours left as of this writing, the highest bid is 400,000 yen (under $4,000).

Japanese custom scooter --
Yamaha Maxam

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From Alfa Auto:

Japanese custom scooter --
Honda Forza

Japanese custom scooter --
Yamaha Grand Majesty

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From Lotaus:

Japanese custom scooter --
Suzuki Skywave

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From M-Style:

Japanese custom scooter --
Suzuki Skywave

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The Japanese Scooters Flickr pool has lots of great photos, too. Not sure what these guys are riding, but it looks like fun.

Japanese custom scooter --
Beat (Photo by gori-jp)

More outrageous modes of transportation:

- Dekotora photo galleries
- Extreme Japanese custom vans
- Dekochari art bikes

Kyoteizinc: Chiptune disco video

08 May 2008

Omodaka: Kyoteizinc --

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 ukiyo-e prints

02 May 2008

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 --
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.

Kintaro --
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 --
Kintaro at New Year's, Throwing Beans to Dispel Demons (Yoshitsuya, ca. 1840)

Kintaro --
Kintaro in the Third Month, Refereeing Sumo between Rooster & Crow Tengu (Yoshitsuya, ca. 1840)

Kintaro --
Kintaro in the Fifth Month, Riding a Carp (Yoshitsuya, ca. 1840)

Kintaro --
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 --
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)]

Kaibo Zonshinzu anatomy scrolls (1819)

25 Apr 2008

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.

Kaibou zonshinzu --

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.

Kaibou sonshinzu --

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.

Kaibo sonshinzu --

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.

Kaibosonshinzu --

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.

Kaibozonshinzu --

Siebold's note, in Dutch, reads: "This anatomical research has been carried out with great diligence and should therefore achieve great recognition."

Kaibouzonshinzu --

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.

Kaibousonshinzu --

[Link: Kaibo Zonshinzu via Ectoplasmosis >> Morbid Anatomy >> Bibliodyssey]

Kage-e: Shadow pictures

18 Apr 2008

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...

Kage-e shadow picture --

But look again...

Kage-e shadow picture --

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.

Kage-e shadow picture --
Pine tree

Kage-e shadow picture --
Uguisu (Japanese bush warbler) on a plum branch

Kage-e shadow picture --
Salt-dried fish

Kage-e shadow picture --
Kettle

Kage-e shadow picture --
Hawk

Kage-e shadow picture --
Stone lantern

Kage-e shadow picture --
Goose on a rock

[Related: Joge-e: Two-way pictures]

Bento lunches decorated as album covers

16 Apr 2008

Food hackers at Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box cut and arrange ordinary bento lunch box ingredients to recreate famous album covers.

Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box --

Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire: Egg, paprika, nori (seaweed sheet), kamaboko (fish sausage), carrot, potato, ham, black sesame, rice

Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box --

Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland: Nori, paprika (red & orange), egg, rice

Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box --

Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album: Potato, umeboshi (pickled plum), fish/vegetable flakes, nori, kamaboko, rice

Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box --

KISS - Destroyer: Egg, nori, ume (Japanese plum), kamaboko, rice

Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box --

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King: Mentaiko (cod roe), kamaboko, ham, nori, rice

Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box --

Weezer - Green Album: Cabbage, nori, ham, kamaboko, paprika, rice

Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box --

The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground: Nori, egg, rice

Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box --

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]

Mona Lisa mutants & alien art by Naoto Hattori

16 Apr 2008

Surreal artist Naoto Hattori's huge monster painting collection includes a smattering of Mona Lisa mutants. Visit his gallery for more madness.

Maternity, by Naoto Hattori -- Bombing, by Naoto Hattori --
Maternity, Bombing

Fabrication, by Naoto Hattori -- Watcher, by Naoto Hattori --
Fabrication, Watcher

[Link: Naoto Hattori]

Video: Mononoke Dance

14 Apr 2008

Mononoke Dance --

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).

Galaxy Boy Troop: ’60s anime-style sci-fi puppetry

09 Apr 2008

Galaxy Boy Troop --

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.

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