Visionaries

Rei Kawakubo

I've been reading John Water's books of essays, Role Models. It's great read and why wouldn't it be? John Waters is all kinds of wonderful. He makes super cool movies, he introduced the world to Divine, I've been told he smells good (according the girl at the register at Book Soup), and he was in one of the greatest episodes of The Simpsons ever:

Anyway, in his new book, he's got a chapter about his favorite fashion designer Rei Kawakubo. Kawakubo is a Japanese designer who founded Commes des Garcons. How does Mr. Waters describe Kawakubo's clothes?

"She specializes in clothes that are torn, crooked, permanently wrinkled, ill-fitting and expensive. What used to be called "seconds" (clothes that were on sale in bargain basements of department stores because of accidental irregularities) is now called "couture." Ms. Kawakubo is my god."

John Waters isn't Kawakubo's only fan. Tiny fashion blogger Tavi (14 years old and has already had a New Yorker profile, gee whiz, http://www.thestylerookie.com/) also raves about her.

Let's take a look at her latest collections:

Ready To Wear Fall 2011:

Fellas, don't think I forgot about you. Menswear Fall 2011:

Would you wear any of these things on the street? Probably not. But after watching every single season of Project Runway, I've learned a little something about fashion. Fashion is about ART. Arty artsy artistic art. It doesn't have to be practical.

Again, like I said in my Lolita fashion post, I think I'd like to see a world where people wore this kind of thing on a daily basis. You might ask, Rachel, why don't you do that? Well I'll tell you. I'm not a trend setter. And I'm lazy. But I'd love to gawk and marvel at people wearing this kind of thing. Someone do it. Set the trend!

Gamera vs. Gamera: A New Short Play

SCENE ONE

(The streets of Tokyo. A Gamera is breathing fire and destroying every building in sight. The citizens of Toyko watch helplessly.)

Man: Oh no! What's wrong with Gamera?

Woman: I don't know! Why has he turned against us? I thought he was our friend!

Man: Watch out! There goes the high rise!

Woman: Can't someone do anything?

(We hear a chorus of children singing "Gamera! Gamera! The Man points into the air.)

Man: Look!

(Another Gamera hovers above the skyline like a flying saucer.)

Woman: Another Gamera?

Man: Come on, let's leave!

Woman: But I want to watch!

Man: Don't you see the hordes of terrified people running the opposite direction?

(Hordes of screaming people run past the Man and Woman.)

Woman: But I wanna watch!

Man: No! Anyway, I need to look at my insurance policy. I know I'm covered for Mothra and Rodan related destruction, but Gamera vs. Gamera? I could lose everything!

(The Man and Woman exit. The flying saucer Gamera lands. He approaches the Evil Gamera who is still knocking over buildings.)

Gamera: Screech! (Stop it! You, monster, you...another Gamera?)

Evil Gamera: Screech! (That's right. Now get out of the way, I'm busy.)

Gamera: Screech! (You have to stop, you're endangering lives!)

Evil Gamera: Screech! (But I have a lot of aggression, this is the best way to get it out.

Gamera: Screech! (Stop! What's wrong?)

Evil Gamera: Screech! (Man doesn't understand Gameras' plight.)

Gamera: Screech! (But we have to help humans, they're so puny and helpless. And they're not so bad once you get to know them.)

Evil Gamera: Screech! (What are you talking about? Humans haven't done anything for us! They cause pollution! Make animals go extinct! Don't you wonder why there are only two of us?)

Gamera: Screech! (I thought I was the only one...)

Evil Gamera: Screech! (There were a lot more of us once. But then the humans-)

Gamera: Screech! (Are you sure that Gyaos or Super Monster didn't have anything to do with it?)

Evil Gamera: Screech! (No, it was the humans. Now why don't you help me stomp and kick some buildings? It's really fun!)

Gamera: Screech! (No! Stop!)

(Gamera pulls Evil Gamera away from the buildings.)

Evil Gamera: Screech! (You wanna fight? All right, I'll fight!)

(Gamera and Evil Gamera fight. This goes on for quite some time (maybe a little contact improve can be thrown in?). Finally Gamera takes the Evil Gamera by the tail and hurls him into space. The people cheer.)

Crowd: Hooray, Gamera! Thank you so much!

(Gamera weeps.)

Gamera: I'm always going to be alone!

(Gamera weeps more and more. El fin.)

Hisashi Tenmyouya

A few weeks ago, I was reading The New Yorker and found out about an art exhibit called Bye Bye Kitty!!! (http://www.byebyekittyart.org/).

There's a wide variety of work being shown, but this piece by Hisashi Tenmyouya stuck out:

Around the same time I read about the exhibit, I had started watching a series of DVDs about Japanese artists. I had only watched the films about Yayoi Kusama and Yoshitomo Nara because those were the only ones available on Netflix. After a little research, I found out that the other four films were available to rent on the internet (http://www.newpeopleartistseries.com/) for $2.99. Because I'm an obsessive completest, I got to work watching the rest. Guess who had his own movie? Hisashi Tenmyouya.

I found out from the documentary that our friend Hisashi isn't just doing traditional stuff. Have a look!

This painting was commissioned for the 2006 World Cup. The gold background appears often in his work.

What happens when you take some Mortal Kombat/Street Fighter (were they that different? I'm not a guy so I don't know) and fuse it with traditional Japanese style?

KO.

What about traditional Japanese art mixed with graffiti (which is now very legitimate and even in museums right now as you read this! http://www.moca.org/museum/exhibitiondetail.php?id=443)?

What about if you take a little of this (skip to 2:45 to see the shit get real):

+ classical Japanese art=

The thing I really liked about the documentary was watching Tenmyouya's artistic process. Tenmyouya originally started out doing commercial artwork for record companies (ala Sonny Malone in Xanadu). He applies the same work ethic while working on his fine art. Tenmyouya works up to 15 hours a day on a painting, but he is worried that his neighbors, who don't know he's an artist, will think he's a bum because he never leaves his apartment.

Balls

I just watched a little Studio Ghibli movie by the name of Pom Poko. It's the story of tanuki (raccoon dogs) who want to protect their forest home from human development. We see many Japanese cultural touches throughout the film-
Oh look! There's a kamishibai! The old raccoon dog is telling a story, how charming. I wonder what's going to happen next-

And those, those would be balls. Genuine animated raccoon dog testicles. They're actually prominent throughout the whole film, although Disney's English dub (starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brain from Pinky and the Brain, and Bender from Futurama) tries to white wash the presence of said balls by calling them pouches.

But guess what happened when I turned on the subtitles?

The proof, ladies and gentlemen. Oh Disney, stop trying to censor yourself. Just own it.

You see, tanuki are a big part of Japanese folklore and stories or their big ol' balls are centuries old. Not only are tanuki testicles known for their size, but for their magic. Yes, tanuki possess magic balls.

These magical testicles are highly functional. Here the tanuki use them as parachutes:

Later they use them to fight evil, evil man:

It appears that using testicles to beat up humans has been going on for a long time. Look at ye olden artwork:
The testicle defense also appears to be effective against giant catfish who cause earthquakes:

But that's pretty basic stuff. Do you want to see some real testicle magic? Here it goes:

Did I mention Pom Poko was made for children?

The box says it's rated PG for "Violence, Scary Images, and Thematic Elements"Really? Really?
Could that be a boat?
I must say, one pair of tanuki testicles makes for a pretty impressive boat and party paraphernalia.

Oh you wild and crazy tanuki! Let's party! Again, did I mention this was a children's movie? For children?

Maybe I'm just old fashioned or that American puritanicalness has really gotten to me, but... it's not the sort of thing you'd see in Toy Story 3.

Otaku and Lolitas

I recently watched two films that clued me in to two Japanese subcultures I wasn't too knowledgeable about: otakus and Lolitas.

Train Man: Densha Otoko (2005) tells the story of a young man only known as Train Man (his screen name) who wants to ask out a young woman he met on the train, but is too nervous to do so. Why doesn't Train Man have any confidence? Because he is an otaku.

What's an otaku you ask? An otaku is a type of Japanese super nerd. His (otakus are typically male) interests will most likely include computers, anime, comic books, video games, etc. Otaku have a mecca of sorts in Akihabara, a shopping area in Tokyo where otaku wares can be bought.

Otakus (should there be an s? I'm not really sure about the plural form here) are likely to have questionable fashion sense as you can see:

(Don't feel too bad for Train Man. He gets advice from his message board friends and ends up looking pretty snazzy by the end of the film).

What about subcultures for the ladies? Well, you can always become a Lolita.

Momoko in a frilly Lolita dress.

So if you haven't seen Kamikaze Girls (2004) yet, you need to. Firstly, you should see this movie because it's like a super cracked out version of Amelie (man oh man, that cinematography). Secondly, you have to love a movie where the ability to embroider is a major plot point. Thirdly, you'll see a lot of Lolita fashion.

Because isn't Lolita fashion pretty fabulous? I could never pull it off, but I've got to give credit to these girls who are kawaii crazy. It takes a lot of dedication to live a Lolita lifestyle. The hair, the clothes, the accessories (including parasols!), it's a lot to work with.

Like otakus, followers of Lolita fashion also have a shopping mecca: Daikanyama. There they can go to such stores as Baby, The Stars Shine Bright (no, they didn't just make up that store for the movie). A sample of their products:

http://www.babyssb.co.jp/shopping/baby/onepiece.html

If you'd like to see this fabulous Lolita fashion in person, you can visit the Baby, The Stars Shine Bright store in San Francisco.

I really wish I'd see people be a little more adventuresome with their fashion this side of the Pacific. People here are pretty boring with their day to day wear. I feel like the people most likely to wear Lolita fashion only do so in the safety of convention or a faire (that's right, a faire with an e). The only American counterpart I can really think of is my beloved Austin Scarlett. He, like Momoko, is way too fashionable for the 21st century:

Studio Ghibli Part 2!

Part 2! Let's do this.

So Pom Poko is being skipped for now because I'm talking about it in its own post. It's all kinds of crazy, it deserves that. Moving on-

Whisper of the Heart (1995)

The only film directed by Miyzaki and Takahata's protege Yoshifumi Kondo before he died of a brain aneurysm at 47.

This is a very lovely film about a young girl named Shizuku who wants to be a writer and her relationship with a boy who wants to be a violin maker.

The movie gets extra bonus points for featuring John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads," including the ONJ (Olivia Newton John to you non-Xanadu fans out there) cover heard at the beginning of the film.

Break it down, Shizuku:

Princess Mononoke (1997)

So I watched this movie back in junior high and remember being kinda traumatized. Mostly because there's this human to human/mother bird feeding her baby bird regurgitation scene. I honestly couldn't remember that much about the film, but man, did that regurgitation part stick.

What about watching it all these years later? Still traumatizing. The regurgitation part didn't even get to me so much this time (probably because I was expecting it). But there are definitely decapitations and lopping off of limbs happening that I didn't remember. Yes, it's brilliant, but I like my Studio Ghibli films with a bit more whimsy.

My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)

At the beginning of the trailer, you'll see Mrs. Yamada wearing a tsunokakushi (see wedding post). You'll also see the family sitting under a kotatsu! Hooray, learning about culture!

So this is a movie of little vignettes about a quirky Japanese family. Two hours of vignettes. I mean, it's cute at the beginning, but boy, this movie drags on and on. But seriously, if you want to see a cartoonified depiction of modern Japanese life, this is the way to go.

Spirited Away (2001)

Amazing. A masterpiece. I love the magic, the spirits, the spectacle, everything about this movie is perfect.

The Cat Returns (2002)

Directed by Hiroyuki Morita, this is a sort of sequel to Whisper of the Heart, but not really. This movie features an enchanted cat statue named the Baron (who also appeared in Whisper of the Heart) who comes to the rescue of a girl named Haru who is kidnapped and brought to the Cat Kingdom.

It's a pretty freaking weird movie. You probably won't trust cats after you watch this.

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

In love with the magic in this movie. I loved the spectacle. Magic scarecrows, talking fires, wicked witches, what more could you want. It's amazing to compare the magic in this film to the magic of Miyazki's movies from the 1980s. He really takes it to another level here.

I also love the main theme. I've been trying to learn it on my accordion, but I've been pretty unsuccessful, probably because I suck at music.

Ponyo (2008)

Miyazaki's latest. Adorable and sweet. And it's based on The Little Mermaid, a story from my Danish people. Although there isn't any of Miyazki's trademark flying sequences, he's able to use the same techniques for the underwater scenes and when Ponyo is running on the waves.

Note: So I didn't get to watch Tales from Earthsea (2006, directed by Miyazaki's son Goro). But after an unenthusiastic review from my friend (he couldn't even finish it), I decided to wait to watch that one.