Kumihimo (くみひも / 組紐)

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The word ‘kumihimo‘ literally means ‘gathering of threads’, and it is the word for the traditional Japanese craft of braiding, and also the braided cords themselves. Many different fibres can be used to create a kumihimo braid, although silk is the traditional choice. According to the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, “The number of component strands runs from four to several hundred, with each strand consisting of from twenty to more than two-hundred fine silk threads. Kumihimo is traditionally used as trim for amulet cases, ritual banners, priestly vestments, wrappings for sword hilts, and in armor as lacing, trim, shoulder straps, and belts. Today, well-dressed women use it in the form of the obidome, a decorative as well as functional band worn on obi.”  (Kodansha Ltd, First Edition, 1983)

In the image below you can see some strings tied over the obi (the thick fabric band wrapped around the woman’s middle), and an ornament decorated with flowers. The ornament is a kind of obidome, and the narrow braided belt is an obijime. Obijime are made using the kumihimo technique.

There are many different ways of braiding in the kumihimo style. Sometimes the braids will be flat, other times they will be round. Traditionally, leaded wooden bobbins are used in the making of kumihimo. Various devices are used: marudai (circular-top stool) (below), kakudai (square-top stool with overhead device), takadai (sit-in interlace loom), or ayatakedai (warp interlink loom).

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Nowadays, a firm but flexible plastic disk with notches is used.

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According to Hand made News, “It is becoming more and more common to see Kumihimo braids in jewellery creations. They make fabulous necklaces to hang ornate pendants off, as they are durable and can be customised however the creator wants, and can therefore be matched to the pendant, without distracting too much from the pendant.” Here’s an example of a bracelet:

(Image Source)

If you’re interested in trying out a bit of kumihimo, why not check out Japan Crafts’ Kumihimo Japanese Braiding Kit which is only £12.

Kumihimo (くみひも) ends with も (mo), so next week I will be looking for a noun beginning with “mo”. If you have any suggestions, please leave them below! And, don’t forget, no words ending in ん!  (^_^)v

☆★☆ SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT☆★☆

Haikugirl’s Japan will be down for maintenance all day on Saturday 28th January. I’ll be back by Sunday with a whole new fresh and clean look, so please make sure to stop by! よろしくおねがいします！

Stereotypes and clichés are what they are, and they exist for a reason. Japan is bright and colourful, and does produce amazing technology and more Hello Kitty merchandise than you can shake a folding fan at. When people visit Japan for the first time, they often experience some kind of culture shock because, to the general tourist, Japan does seem to have a culture which is vastly different to that of the West.

I don’t have any problems with the stereotypes and clichés, but I do hope that people will open their eyes a little more and try to see beyond them. Today, the British media had two stories about Japan. In the Guardian, a piece by Charlie Brooker entitled “Green Kit Kats, toilets that lift the seat themselves, helpful strangers – Japan feels like another planet“:

And in the Evening Standard a piece by Emma McCarthy called “Tokyo is trending: the rise of J-Pop“:

Both articles, to my mind, did very little to depict Japan as anything other than strange and quirky. Brooker describes a visit to Japan as “akin to recovering from a serious head injury” and talks about Japan as “another planet” where the Kit Kats are green (ah, but has he seen the blue ones?) and going to the toilet is “like defecating into a robot’s mouth“.

McCarthy, on the other hand, is a little more positive but focusses mainly on the “new” J-Pop craze and how Japanese street style has “trickled into high fashion circles” with the likes of Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry leading the way (um… Gwen Stefani and Lady Gaga, anyone?).

The up-coming J-culture event, Hyper Japan, was mentioned in the Evening Standard article (although sadly without dates or website links – 24th-26th Feb, more info here). Personally, I think it’s wonderful that this event is happening and that people can learn more about how strange and quirky Japan is, or how mad the music and fashion are. But I hope that the people who attend Hyper Japan also take the time to sample some exquisite sushi at the Sushi Awards 2012, check out some classic artwork at the Japanese Gallery stall, or talk to some tour operators (like Inside Japan Tours) about what visiting Japan is really like. Last year there were even chances to experience martial arts, calligraphy and the tea ceremony.

I realise that, actually, martial arts, calligraphy and tea ceremony are as much stereotypes of Japan as Hello Kitty, but what I’m saying is that I hope people realise there is more than modern pop culture in Japan, and that actually it’s a country with an interesting history and a vast culture which includes not only the bright, colourful trends of today, but also the bright, colourful trends of the past (just look at kimonos – not exactly dull, are they?).

Charlie Brooker says he’s in Japan “to write some travel pieces for [the Guardian], which will appear later in the year“. Let’s hope he stops watching the TV, gets out of his hotel room, and experiences some of the other side of what Japan has to offer.

Now I live in London I have a lot more sushi options, but it’s still nice to be able to pick up a bit of supermarket sushi for dinner occasionally. Last night I was feeling a little Japan-homesick so I decided to give Waitrose sushi a try. Waitrose is a better class of supermarket than Tesco, so I had high hopes when I bought this “Taiko Sushi Natsu Set” (reduced from £7.00 to £2.99 – bargain).

Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed! The sushi was fresh, soft (unlike Tesco’s hard sushi that’s been in the fridge too long) and, most importantly, tasty. I think the main difference is that Waitrose seems to use raw fish which, in my mind, makes it real sushi.

Waitrose sushi is still not as good as proper Japanese sushi, but it’s certainly the best supermarket sushi I’ve found in the UK yet. It’s a little more expensive that Tesco’s offering, but worth it for the quality.

Waitrose also sells an unusual product called “Taiko Wrap Sushi”:

This wrap had a sort of wafer-thin omelette outside, and was basically a big California roll inside. It was quite nice, but not as nice as the regular sushi Waitrose sells.

I’m really happy to find that so many places now sell sushi in the UK. I just hope that Tesco and co up their game a bit and improve the quality of the food they sell to match the standard of the sushi I found in Waitrose.

Shikoku (しこく / 四国)

(Wikipedia)

Japan is made up of four main islands, and Shikoku is the smallest of these (you can see its location on the map above – the dark island towards the south of Japan). Although I have travelled quite a bit around Japan, unfortunately I haven’t yet made it to Shikoku.

From what I’ve read online and in travel guides, Shikoku looks like a beautiful place full of ancient traditions. According to my copy of Lonely Planet Japan, “For more than a millennium, o-henro (pilgrims) have walked clockwise around Shikoku in the footsteps of the great Buddhist saint Kobo Daishi (774-835), who achieved enlightenment on the island of his birth.“

© Ehime Prefecture/©JNTO

Now, the “88 Sacred Temples of Shikoku” (a 1400km journey) is Japan’s most well-known pilgrimage route and oldest tourist trail.

Inside Japan Tours run tours to rural Shikoku and say, “Wherever you are on Shikoku you are never far from one of the 88 temples of Japan’s well loved pilgrimage route.  In honour of Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism, it takes two months to complete the 1,400km journey on foot. While you might not have that much time available, it’s certainly worth visiting a temple or two and looking out for the white clad pilgrims in their pointy straw hats.”

(Inside Japan Tours)

One place in Shikoku that I’ve had my eye on visiting for a long time is Naoshima (直島). Naoshima is a small island just off the main island of Shikoku (in the Seto Inland Sea, but still technically part of Shikoku), and it’s famous for being the “art island”. Inside Japan Tours say, “Hailed as one of the ‘seven places in the world you should see next’ by Conde Nast Traveller, Naoshima is a unique destination within Japan, with an international, original approach unlike anywhere else in the country. As part of the art route throughout the Inland Sea, a visit to the island takes you just a couple of hours from the main tourist route, but a long way from the ubiquitous crowds, high rises, shops and stereotypes found elsewhere.” With contemporary art galleries and museums, as well as outdoor exhibits, Naoshima is the place for art lovers in Japan.

(ChopsticksNY)

Shikoku is probably not the place to go if you’re looking for bright city lights and modern technology, but if you’re after traditions and beautiful scenery, Shikoku should be high on your list. Once only accessible by ferry, Shikoku is now connected to Honshu (Japan’s main island) by three bridge systems. Most people travel to Shikoku either by train from Okayama or highway bus from Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. It’s also possible to travel there by air.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Japan today and reading about Shikoku tonight has made me really want to plan a trip. I would love to take a few months off just to travel, and visit each of the main islands of Japan. I’ve seen a lot of Honshu, but have barely scraped the surface elsewhere.

For more information about Shikoku, take a look at this Shikoku tourism website. Japan-Guide also has some useful information.

Shikoku (しこく) ends with く (ku), so next week I will be looking for a noun beginning with “ku”. If you have any suggestions, please leave them below! And, don’t forget, no words ending in ん!  (^_^)v

Top 5 things I love about Winter in Japan

1. Nabe

Nabe (なべ)  is probably the number one winter dish in Japan. Usually translated as “hot-pot”, nabe can consist of just about anything you want to throw in the pot. Nabe is often eaten as a family meal or by small groups of people. It’s common to sit around a table or kotatsu (see below) and share the cooking, which is done on a small portable stove. When the food is ready, everyone helps themselves. To use up the broth at the end, rice is sometimes added. I really enjoyed eating nabe with friends, as it creates a very relaxed atmosphere, and the food is warm and comforting.

2. Kotatsu

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A kotatsu (炬燵) is a low heated table, covered by a heavy blanket, with a table top on top. Although this item of furniture dates back to the 14th century, it’s still a very common household item. Houses in Japan don’t often have radiators, so this is a good way to keep warm on those chilly winter nights. Families or groups of friends can sit around the kotatsu while watching TV, chatting, or sharing their dinner. As with the nabe I mentioned above, the kotatsu can create a very cozy, comfortable atmosphere. If I ever design my dream home, it will certainly feature a kotatsu!

3. Yutanpo

A yutanpo (湯たんぽ) is basically a Japanese hot water bottle. However, I can honestly say that my yutanpo was one of the best gifts I ever received in Japan, and I would be lost without it. Why is a yutanpo any better than an English hot water bottle? Well, you can fill it with boiling water directly from the kettle, and it stays warm for ages! Even if you sleep for ten hours, you won’t wake up next to a limp, cold rubber bottle. This hard plastic hot water bottle just seems to retain the heat for hours. In fact, even after 24 hours the bottle is still not cold to the touch. Some people are put off by the hard case, but you can get soft, squashy covers for them, and I have never slept badly with a yutanpo in my bed.

4. Hot drinks in vending machines

Look at the picture above. See how the drinks in the top two rows have blue labels beneath them, and the ones in the bottom row have red labels? That’s because the ones in the bottom row are hot. Yes, vending machines in Japan sell hot cans and bottles of coffee, milk tea, green tea, and other drinks throughout the winter months. It came as a huge surprise to me the first time I discovered this, and I thought it was one of the best things ever! Imagine being a tourist in Japan in winter, not having much money, and really wanting something warm to drink (and hold). For around ￥150 you can find just what you need! I’ll admit, the drinks don’t quite match up to Starbucks, but they do hit the spot.

5. Oshogatsu (New Year)

One of my all-time favourite things about winter in Japan is Oshogatsu (お正月), or New Year. New Year in Japan is the biggest festival, and it’s thought of as a time to clean up and prepare for the coming year. Lots of work goes into the preparation for December 31st: houses are cleaned, food is bought and prepared, shrines are decorated, and much more. Then, on New Year’s Eve, families typically gather at home or go to shrines and temples together. In a complete contrast to the way we usually celebrate New Year in England, New Year in Japan is about families and about starting the year with prayers and wishes (not hangovers and regrets). People tend to visit their local shrine on the first few days of January for hatsumode (初詣), which is when they get rid of their old good luck charms, buy new ones, and make wishes for the year. Shrines get very crowded at this time of year, but it’s still something worth experiencing if you visit Japan. There is usually a festival atmosphere, with street stalls selling food. As with all Japanese festivals, food plays a major part in New Year celebrations. The photo above is of osechi (お節料理), which is prepared before New Year so that cooking doesn’t have to be done over the New Year period. In a way, it’s like British people eating up their Christmas leftovers, except the food is freshly prepared and packaged beautifully. Some families make their own osechi, but many people buy expensive pre-prepared boxes from department stores and supermarkets.

If you’re considering visiting Japan in the winter, I’d recommend it as much as any other time of year. Of course, where you go and when you go will make a big difference to your experience in Japan, but even if you don’t like snow and cold temperatures, there will be a part of Japan that is suitable for you. For more information, why not visit the JNTO website.

Don’t forget to check out the other J-Festa entries this month and, if you also have a blog about Japan, why not join in!

Heike Ghost, 2007, gelatine silver print © Akiko Takizawa

As I gaze at the photographs behind the glass, I feel a sense of loss, a deep sadness, and a hint of mystery. I don’t pretend to be able to understand or interpret the work of Akiko Takizawa, a Japanese artist based in London, but I can say with truth that her work affects me.

Takizawa’s current exhibition, Over the Parched Field, showcases a selection of her photographs since 2006, including new work made especially for the exhibition. Her latest series of photographs were taken in a volcanic mountain area, Osorezan in Aomori, where people go to talk to their deceased family members through a medium. Aomori is in the Tohoku area (affected last March by the earthquake and tsunami disaster) where local people live in a traditional close-knit society to survive in the severe natural environment. Takizawa grew up in a culture with a blurred border between life and death. Since she was young, she felt as if she was observing the world through the eyes of a third person. This sense of detachment to her surroundings adds an intriguing factor to the choice of the motifs in her works.

Takizawa says “I feel that my camera acts as an aerial – to detect signals carrying urgent messages”. Some of her images capture the traditional and rapidly disappearing Japanese attitudes towards families and communities. One can see the distinctive switch to a more positive tone in the atmosphere she observes. Takizawa says that Osorezan (which means ‘Fear Mountain’) is one of the few places where her soul feels purely happy, even though the place sharpens her sense of isolation and solitude.

I suppose, given how the artist feels about her subject matter, it’s no surprise that these photographs make a huge impact on the viewer. I confess, there is one photograph in the collection that I cannot even quite bring myself to look at. It’s not that it’s gruesome in any way, just that it really gets to me.

But, in my opinion, these photographs are doing exactly what they should – provoking a reaction. Tonight’s private view of the exhibition drew in an eclectic crowd, and it was quite fascinating to hear people’s reactions to the work. For the most part, the praise was flowing.

This is certainly an exhibition worth checking out, and an artist worth keeping a close eye on. I doubt this will be the last we hear of Akiko Takizawa.

Headland #1, 2007, gelatine silver print © Akiko Takizawa

Over the Parched Field by Akiko Takizawa will be at the Japan House Gallery until 1st March. The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation is open 9.30-17.00, and is free to enter. For more information, please visit their website.

For more information about the artist, please visit: akikotakizawa.com

On November 26th I went to see a production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Theatre Royal in Brighton.

This was my first time to see an opera as an adult, and I felt Madama Butterfly was the perfect choice for me. If I couldn’t enjoy that, then perhaps I couldn’t enjoy any opera.

First, the story (from Wikipedia):

Act 1
In 1904, a U.S. Naval officer, Pinkerton, rents a house on a hill in Nagasaki, Japan for him and his soon-to-be wife, Butterfly. Her real name is Cio-Cio San, (Cio-Cio, pronounced “Chocho”, is Japanese for Butterfly). She is a 15 year-old Japanese girl whom he is marrying for convenience, since he intends to leave her once he finds a proper American wife, and since Japanese divorce laws are very lax. The wedding is to take place at the house, and Butterfly is so excited to marry an American that earlier, she secretly converted from Shinto to Christianity. After the wedding ceremony, her uninvited uncle, a Bonze or Shinto priest, who has found out about her conversion, comes to the house, curses her and orders all the guests to leave, which they do while renouncing her. Pinkerton and Butterfly sing a love duet and prepare to spend their first night together.

Act 2
Three years later, Butterfly is still waiting for Pinkerton to return, as he had left shortly after their wedding. Her maid Suzuki keeps trying to convince her he is not coming back, but she will not listen to her. Goro, the marriage broker who arranged her marriage, keeps trying to marry her off again, but she won’t listen to him either. The American Consul, Sharpless, comes to the house with a letter which he has received from Pinkerton in which he is asked to break the news to Butterfly that he is coming back to Japan, but with his American wife. He begins to read it, but he cannot bring himself to finish it, because Butterfly becomes very excited to hear that Pinkerton is coming back. She reveals that she gave birth to Pinkerton’s son after he had left, but she had not told him. From the hill house, Butterfly sees Pinkerton’s ship arriving in the harbor. She and Suzuki prepare for his arrival, and then they wait. Suzuki and the child fall asleep, but Butterfly stays up all night waiting for him to arrive.

Act 3
Suzuki wakes up in the morning and Butterfly finally falls asleep. Sharpless and Pinkerton arrive at the house, along with Pinkerton’s new American wife, Kate. They have come because Kate has agreed to raise the child. But, as Pinkerton sees how Butterfly has decorated the house for his return, he realizes he has made a huge mistake. He admits that he is a coward and cannot face her, leaving Suzuki, Sharpless and Kate to break the news to Butterfly. Agreeing to give up her child if Pinkerton comes himself to see her, she then prays to statues of her ancestral gods, says goodbye to her son, and blindfolds him. She places a small American flag into his hands and goes behind a screen, cutting her throat with her father’s hara-kiri knife. She staggers back to the boy, kisses him and, as she dies, Pinkerton rushes in. He is too late.

It is an excellent story, and the set was beautiful in a classic-Japanese way. The house was centre stage, with paper sliding doors and a small garden outside. The actors wore kimonos and carried parasols.

But I couldn’t get into it.

There were a few things distracting me, which certainly didn’t help with my enjoyment. One was that from our seats we couldn’t actually see the surtitles. There were a couple of screens translating the Italian words, but even if I slouched right down in my seat I couldn’t see them because of the layout of the theatre (and we weren’t in the cheapest seats). Another annoying factor was the audience. I think, sadly, the British audience has become so unrefined that they feel the need to treat theatre trips, even one to see the opera, like a trip to the cinema. The women next to me kept chatting and giggling, and digging into their noisy Maltesers.

I’d like to say that was all, but I was also distracted by things on the stage. Perhaps this is unfair, but I found myself criticising the actresses for not being Japanese enough. They didn’t know how to move in a kimono; how to sit with the kimono tucked under themselves, and how to stand up gracefully. They weren’t convincing, and I think they let the performance down.

I can’t fault the music or the vocal performances – not that I know anything about opera, really – but I think the performance would have been more enjoyable if I could have understood what was going on. I would have liked to have got lost in the story, but I couldn’t.

Perhaps opera really isn’t my thing, but I felt convinced that if I was going to like an opera, it would have been Madama Butterfly.

Review – The Argus

Review – What’s on Stage

So, “shiritori” is written しりとり, which means that this week’s word has to begin with り (ri).

I had one topic suggestion from a fellow blogger, Alyse of Alyse Goes to Japan, but she admitted herself that the word was a no-go because it ended with ん (you can’t play a word ending in ん because no words start with ん). She suggested “rikon” (りこん), which means “divorce”. So I tried to think of other topics. A natural choice would have been Rilakkuma (りらっくま), but I’ve written about him so many times before.

In the end, I decided that this week’s word would be:

rikishi (りきし / 力士).

“Rikishi”, which literally means “strong man”, is the most common term for a professional sumo wrestler. Sometimes the word “sumotori” is also used.

When asked to name something about Japan, sumo is probably one of the words most people will come up with. Indeed, sumo is Japan’s national sport, with professional sumo dating back to the Edo period.

I still remember turning on the TV in the hostel on my first night ever in Japan (after having accidentally paid for a card which would allow me to watch sport and porn), and being delighted to find that sumo was really on TV in Japan:

(Believe me, it was much better than the porn!)

Despite the popularity of sumo and its clear attraction for tourists, sumo wrestlers themselves are often thought of simply as “fat guys”. We’ve all laughed at the image of the fat sumo wrestler as depicted in the West, and here’s a classic example:

Although I do love the ad above for its comic value, it does nothing to show the strength and skill of sumo wrestlers, focussing instead on their ample guts.

In fact, it wasn’t until I saw a rikishi for myself, that I actually stopped and appreciated them for what they are. Although I have since seen sumo live, I will never forget the first time I saw an actual sumo wrestler in the flesh. I was at a train station in Japan (I seem to remember it was Osaka, on the shinkansen platform), and suddenly it was like everything went into slow motion and the crowds parted. I could almost hear the heavy beat of a taiko drum as the man strode down the platform in his yukata. Everyone simply watched him. There was no doubt in my mind that this was a rikishi, and not just some fat guy.

I’m not actually into sports of any kind (a fact most people find quite shocking), and when I went to see sumo in Nagoya in 2008 it was actually my first ever live, professional sporting event.

I found myself very intrigued by the rituals involved in sumo, and realised that it’s more than just a sport. Sumo is an art form full of ancient traditions, in much the same was as karate and judo are (although sumo is not actually a martial art). I liked all the salt throwing (to purify the ring) and bowing, which seemed to make it about more than just two fat guys trying to knock each other out of a ring.

The wrestling itself was much more exciting to watch than I had anticipated, and I found myself getting quite into it and shouting for my favourite to win.

In a way, I think being a rikishi must be something like being a modern-day samurai. Rikishi have to lead a very strict, regimented way of life, which even includes a regulation haircut and particular clothes.There are different rankings, and of course the lower ranking rikishi are treated the worst.

Rikishi are required to live in what is known as a “stable”, making them sound like animals. Junior rikishi have to get up early to do more training than the senior rikishi, and they have to do all the chores. Sounds like hard work! On top of that, rikishi don’t usually eat breakfast, so they must be starving! (I can’t even leave the house if I haven’t had breakfast.)

In order to put on the weight required to be a sumo wrestler, rikishi usually have no breakfast and have a large lunch instead. Lunch is washed down with beer (!) and then they have a little snooze. It doesn’t sound like the healthiest of lifestyles, but these guys are really strong! Of course, with relatively unhealthy eating habits, rikishi don’t usually live as long as normal Japanese men, and often develop diabetes or high blood pressure.

Sumo is a big part of Japanese culture, and the fact that it remains so popular today just goes to show that there’s got to be something worth seeing. I would say that going to see sumo should be on any tourist’s list of “essential things to do in Japan”. No Japan photo album would be complete without at least one snap of a rikishi!

Sumo is held throughout the year in Japan, in Tokyo (January, May, September), Osaka (March), Nagoya (July) and Fukuoka (November). For more information, please visit the Nihon Sumo Kyokai Official Grand Sumo Home Page. Tickets can be booked online, in English.

☆★☆

This week’s post was about “rikishi”, which is written りきし in hiragana. Therefore, next week’s post will begin with し (shi). If you have any suggestions for a Japanese noun beginning with し (not ending in ん!) that would make a good topic for next week, leave me a comment below. If I like your suggestion, I’ll give you (and your Japan-related blog, if you have one) a mention next week. ^_^

This 2008 Japanese film by South Korean director & writer Kwak Jae-yong stars Haruka Ayase and Keisuke Koide, and is about a geeky boy’s relationship with a cyborg from the future. I won’t ruin the plot by telling you everything that happens (Wikipedia does that if you want it), but I will say that there’s nothing like a bit of time travel to really mess with your brain. I will also give one warning, which I wish my colleague had given me when I borrowed the DVD from her: there is a huge earthquake in the movie. It’s very well done, but with everything that happened in Japan last March, I do wish I had known I was about to watch a mega-quake and see Tokyo utterly destroyed.

Anyway, if you’re looking for light, quirky entertainment with good special effects and robots, this is your movie. Haruka Ayase plays a very convincing cyborg quite beautifully, and I expect she’s the object of many young men’s fantasies about future technology.

My only criticism is the UK release’s title: Cyborg She. I much prefer “My Girlfriend is a Cyborg“.

In the words of Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, “Manga, which we might translate playfully as ‘pictures run riot’ is a visually compelling medium that engages the reader in a uniquely effective manner through a combination of pictures and text.” In other words, manga is the word for Japanese comic books.

Despite my love for Japan, I’ve never been much of a manga reader. I appreciate the art form, but have always felt I would rather read “real books”. However, I’ve just found the book that may have changed my mind forever. In a mere 264 pages, I believe I could be a convert.

Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure (The British Museum Press) is a compelling, page-turning read. Even if you have never read a comic book, or think comic books are for children, I wholeheartedly recommend this book and am sure you won’t be disappointed. The artwork is stunningly detailed, and this book not only looks good, despite its minimal colour, it feels good too. The pages have a lovely, tactile, matt finish, which makes the book a pleasure to hold.

Hoshino Yukinobu, the artist and writer of Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure, first published a manga in 1975 (Iron Queen) and went on to win the prestigious Tezuka Osamu Prize for his manga Distant Morning. Hoshino’s Professor Munakata character first appeared on his own in his Case Records of Professor Munakata, which won the top prize in the manga division of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs twelfth Media Arts Festival. A unique characteristic of Hoshino’s work is the way in which he incorporates actual historical or mythological events into his stories, alongside the fiction he creates. After choosing to focus on the character of Professor Munakata (a professor of Ethnology and Folklore at the fictitious Toa Bunka University in Tokyo), his adventures were serialised in Big Comic (a popular manga magazine), and even turned into TV dramas.

Having seen the success of Hoshino’s Professor Munakata character, the British Museum contacted Hoshino and invited him to create a manga about the British Museum and its collection. Hesitant at first, Hoshino eventually agreed, visiting the museum in London twice to do research. Hoshino says, “To be honest, I had some hesitations. I did not know anything about the British Museum at that point [October 2009 when he first visited the Museum] and was sceptical whether I could really complete a full story.“

Well, I for one am glad Hoshino gave it a shot! The book, a compilation of ten Professor Munakata episodes fitted together as one story, tells the gripping tale of the mysterious theft of the Stonehenge megaliths, which is part of a plot that endangers the Museum and its collection of pieces from all over the world. As well as being an intriguing mystery, the story also shows moments of what it’s like to be a foreigner visiting England, which perhaps reflects Hoshino’s own feelings during his visits. One of my favourite panels takes place in a fish and chips restaurant (I like to think it’s the one near the British Museum, which I have been to once), and Professor Munakata says, “I now see that the saying ‘there is no delicious food in Britain’ is completely untrue.” In another such panel, Professor Munakata observes the British style of making tea, “I see… So this is the British way of doing it, is it? Squeeze the tea bag on a spoon with the string…“

Hoshino clearly spent a lot of time researching and taking in the sights of London during his two visits to the UK. All of London’s major landmarks (Westminster, St Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye and, of course, the British Museum, to name a few) are depicted beautifully and in such detail that I often felt like I was watching a live-action movie as I read the book.

On the challenges of creating Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure, Hoshino says, “I felt that I should have looked more behind the scenes at the British Museum. I took photographs but that was before I started to work on the story itself. The story happens in an unfamiliar building in a foreign country, so naturally there were many things I did not know – that was a challenge. Also, for example, what type of helmet or cap do the police wear in London? What kind of uniforms do they use in special situations? I searched the Internet for information when I was at a loss. I checked things like the sound of sirens on police cars and how they drive through London during an emergency.“

Hoshino’s research sounds intense, and one might think that, when creating a comic book, it doesn’t really matter what sound a police car makes in London. However, it does. A characteristic of manga is that they are often full of sounds, usually shown in katakana. Although the text in Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure has been fully translated into English, the decision was made to keep the sounds in their original Japanese (they are part of the art work). A full list of sounds, indexed by page, can be found at the back of the book, including the ファンファンファン (fan fan fan) of the police sirens and the バババ (bababa) of the helicopters.

The edition of Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure on sale in the UK is a translation of the original Japanese, but the Japanese format has been kept; the book is read from back to front, right to left. It took me a moment to get the hang of reading a book in this way, but I soon got used to it and found it very easy to adjust. As well as the useful katakana list of Japanese sound effects, the book also includes a forward by the British Museum’s Director, Neil MacGregor, an introduction and interview with Hoshino by Research Director at the Sainsbury Institute, Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere (who worked with Hoshino throughout the creation of the book, and is widely believed to be the inspiration for the character Chris), and an essay entitled From Ukiyo-e to Manga: Japan’s Mischief-making Print Culture, by Timothy Clark, head of the Japanese section in the Department of Asia at the British Museum.

The book, Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure (ISBN 978-0-7141-2465-0), by Hoshino Yukinobu is available from the British Museum shop in London and their online bookstore for £14.99, which is a bit of a bargain, I think. In Japan, the book is published by Shogakukan, who also publish Big Comic.

The exhibition, Manga at the British Museum - Drawings by Hoshino Yukinobu, is on until April 8th (in room 91) and is free to enter.

For more information about the British Museum, please visit their website: britishmuseum.org.