Ranma4699
05-22-2008, 02:41 AM
GHOST HUNT
Historic tour offers chance to meet manga legend and travel to Japan
Ever wanted to meet your favorite manga author? A few fans will get the opportunity of a lifetime this August, when Kintetsu International Travel Agency offers a package tour of the world of yokai (Japanese spirits or goblins) and the real-life inspirations of Shigeru Mizuki’s classic series GeGeGe no Kitaro, including a meeting with the venerated manga master himself.
Mizuki has been popularizing yokai since the 1960s, and his influence can be seen in the works of artists like Hayao Miyazaki and Takashi Murakami. The Kitaro series has run for almost 50 years, and spawned manga, a perpetually remade anime series, videogames, movies and more. A live-action movie starring Eiji Wentz (Brave Story) was released in April 2007, and this season saw the TV debut of Hakaba Kitaro, which is a fresh take on the classic manga.
The creator’s passion for yokai draws on his own experiences in an older Japan.
“When something strange or something mysterious happens, most of the time there are yokai involved behind the scenes,” said Mizuki.
“Fluorescent lights, street lamps and neon signs are glaring everywhere in our houses and in the streets today, leaving nowhere for the yokai to live. Once upon a time—although it was only seventy or eighty years ago—Japan had abundant darkness, where many yokai used to dwell. Even in your house, you could sense the presence of yokai in the bathroom, lavatory and closet. Some of them might have been hiding there ever since the Edo period.”
Mizuki spent two years drawing his own version of artist Hiroshige’s classic ukiyo-e woodblock art series “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road” (one of the 55, below) in his own style, featuring yokai. “For people in the Edo period, it was not easy to go on journeys,” commented Mizuki. “So they appreciated and amused themselves with the landscapes Hiroshige painted. I have no doubt that they would have loved it had they found yokai among the landscapes and people in the pictures.”
To find out more about the historic tour, which includes stops in Tokyo and Kyoto, visit www.japanforyou.com or email yokai@kintetsu.com. Fans who can’t take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime tour can view Mizuki’s woodcut prints on display at Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York until June 9.
Historic tour offers chance to meet manga legend and travel to Japan
Ever wanted to meet your favorite manga author? A few fans will get the opportunity of a lifetime this August, when Kintetsu International Travel Agency offers a package tour of the world of yokai (Japanese spirits or goblins) and the real-life inspirations of Shigeru Mizuki’s classic series GeGeGe no Kitaro, including a meeting with the venerated manga master himself.
Mizuki has been popularizing yokai since the 1960s, and his influence can be seen in the works of artists like Hayao Miyazaki and Takashi Murakami. The Kitaro series has run for almost 50 years, and spawned manga, a perpetually remade anime series, videogames, movies and more. A live-action movie starring Eiji Wentz (Brave Story) was released in April 2007, and this season saw the TV debut of Hakaba Kitaro, which is a fresh take on the classic manga.
The creator’s passion for yokai draws on his own experiences in an older Japan.
“When something strange or something mysterious happens, most of the time there are yokai involved behind the scenes,” said Mizuki.
“Fluorescent lights, street lamps and neon signs are glaring everywhere in our houses and in the streets today, leaving nowhere for the yokai to live. Once upon a time—although it was only seventy or eighty years ago—Japan had abundant darkness, where many yokai used to dwell. Even in your house, you could sense the presence of yokai in the bathroom, lavatory and closet. Some of them might have been hiding there ever since the Edo period.”
Mizuki spent two years drawing his own version of artist Hiroshige’s classic ukiyo-e woodblock art series “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road” (one of the 55, below) in his own style, featuring yokai. “For people in the Edo period, it was not easy to go on journeys,” commented Mizuki. “So they appreciated and amused themselves with the landscapes Hiroshige painted. I have no doubt that they would have loved it had they found yokai among the landscapes and people in the pictures.”
To find out more about the historic tour, which includes stops in Tokyo and Kyoto, visit www.japanforyou.com or email yokai@kintetsu.com. Fans who can’t take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime tour can view Mizuki’s woodcut prints on display at Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York until June 9.