Ol' Blighty!

There are a few Yokai from the British Isles besides the Irish. Here are a few from England. One of the most famous European Yokai has to be the 狼男 (Okami-otoko, literally "changing man").

Thanks to Henry Hull (Werewolf of London), Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolf Man) and David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London), and Scooby-Doo (Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf), werewolves have often been portrayed as sympathetic creatures. I must say I like the Yokai version a lot.

ケルピー (Kelpies) are shape-changers that hang around the Lochs and pools of Scotland.

I don't know much about the one below though he does turn up in a Nintendo game somewhere.

Next up are コーモラン (Comoran: see this link about Jack the Giant-killer) and ゴブリン (Goblins, which don't need much explanation.

ドラキュラ伯爵 (Dracula, I've added his formal title of Count) doesn't need much introduction so I won't bother.

I found this guy for a buck a few days ago. I'm not sure what series he's from though he should fit in well with the above entry.

I wasn't aware that Pucks were a collective creature, I only knew of the one from A Midsummer's Night Dream. パック do look dashing in their formal headgear.

Finally, we have ブラウニー (Brownies) who also hail from Scotland. My sister was once a Brownie, that explains a lot.

It appears that this with this entry, I have once again duplicated myself. 8 years ago, I also wrote about the Yokai of The UK only in greater detail. Alas, all the pictures of the Yokai were weirdly askew, this time they're all right-side up. 

A quick treat for you is this tiny cheesecake KitKat.

This entry was supposed to have been written last night but real life got in the way and I've had a busy day today. Hopefully I'll have another entry in a few hours but first I'm going to sit back and watch new animated The Addams Family. 

Much Ado About Nada!

Back in the late 80's/early 90's, I joined the Bramalea Little Theatre Group and had a bit part as a Klansman in one play, another comic role in another completely unmemorable play and the role of Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing (imho, I was even better than Brian Blessed!)

A few of my pals came out to see me at one of the performances and I recall that in one of the duels, my opponent tripped me and I landed on my back on a staircase...I didn't break the proverbial leg, but almost snapped my spine! The show went on...

Prior to the show Ed presented me with this:














What do you expect from an English Major??

Cry, 'Havoc!', and Let Slip the Dogs of War.

Did you know that there was a time when dogs were more revered than people in Japan?

徳川 綱吉 (Tokugawa Tsunayoshi , 1646-1709) was the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. Some of his laws, which prohibited the harming of dogs and ordered the establishment of dog kennels, earned him the nickname of "dog shogun" or 犬公方 (Inu-Kubo.) In the 1690s and 1700s, Tsunayoshi, who (like me) was born in the Year of the Dog, thought he should take several measures concerning dogs. Edicts which told the populace to protect dogs were released every day and one could be executed for wounding a dog.




On the other hand, prior to him in the Edo period (1603-1868,) dogs were bred as fighters, including this massive mastiff known as the 土佐犬 (Tosa-inu) or sumo dog. Originally bred to hunt wild boar, the Tosa is today considered a loyal and affectionate pet that can be a guard or guide. Japan is one of the few areas in the world where it is still legal to pit dogs against one another, though this is more like a wrestling match than blood-fest. Winning sumo-dogs can raise up the ranks to the master level of Yokozuna (be sure to click that link to see a real picture of the dog, not the Kittified version.)

There are several other breeds of dogs in Japan, the most famous of which is probably the 秋田犬 (Akita-Ken.) Shibuya's most popular meeting place is the Hachiko statue, honouring the truly loyal Akita who faithfully (in my opinion, stubbornly stupid) awaited his master every day, even 10 years after the professor's death.

This manga/anime called 銀牙　流れ星銀 or Ginga Nagareboshi Gin looks intriguing. Amongst several non-Japanese breeds, it features Akita (the titular Gin as well as Riki, Fuji, Shiro) and Tosa (Musashi & half-breed Benizakura.) While I'm hunting for my Oz stuff, I may try to find it as well.)

Here is the opening...



Buddy Nori, who made his Echophonyk DJ debut last night, owns a few wiener dogs. He occasionally dresses them up in cute doggie-cosplay outfits, but if he ever dressed them up like these Samurai Dogs, he would have my utmost respect!

ps. Today's title comes from line 270, scene 1, Act III of the play "Julius Caesar"...famously uttered by Christopher Plummer as General Chang in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country".

Come Not Between The Dragon and His Wrath. (King Lear, Act 1 Scene1.)

The great director, 黒澤 明 (Akira Kurosawa) made 乱 (Ran=War/Chaos) in 1985. I'm not sure where I picked up this book, but it includes the original screenplay and storyboards of the Academy Award-winning film. I won't go into great detail here, you can always check out this essay or the Wiki entry. Most people know that it is based on Shakespeare's King Lear though I have yet to read it in that form (but you can if you click the link.)






So let's take a pictorial trip through Akira Kurosawa's illustrations for Ran! (Check out this cool figure of Kurosawa that I got in a Seven Samurai set.)










"The Samurai in the lead, old but tough, draws his bow, aiming a the prey. His long white hair and beard billow in the wind; his hawkish eyes shine in his sun-tanned face--the magnificent vision of a great warrior who has survived hundreds of battles. This is the Great Lord, Hidetora Ichimonji." (Tatsuya Nakadai)





Nobohiro Fujimaki played by Hitoshi Ueki.













Seiji Ayabe played by Jun Tazaki.













父と子 (chichi to kodomo or Father & Sons.)










姫路かえで or Princess Kaede. I must say the actress, Mieko Harada, looks better than this drawing.












Kyoami is played by "Peter", a famous celebrity cross-dresser who goes by the stage name of 池畑 慎之介, Ikehata Shinnosuke.












One heck of an archer.











One heck of a pincushion.











Is this a dagger I see before me? (Oops, sorry wrong play.) Check out Kurosawa's version of the Scottish play, Throne of Blood. (蜘蛛巣城 or Kumonosu Jo which is literally "Spiderweb Castle".)






No, he's not a zombie, but he is 'armless.











Hidetoro has gone Kuru. At this point Lord Ichimonji has gone a bit mad.












"Hidetora staggering over the fild scattered with autumn flowers in the moonlight, as if running from something fearful."








Saburo Naotora (Daisuke Ryu) and Seiji Ayabe (Jun Tazaki.)









"On top of the steep stone wall, Tsurumaru is at a loss. The evening glow is no in its final stages. The last light of day will soon fade, and darkness will reign over the realm."










"Against the background of the last glow of evening, the small figure of Tsurumaru is standing alone on the lofty stone wall in the remains of the castle.
Wretchedness!"





If you're interesting in your own copy, try this Amazon link.

Finally, here's a few minutes of the movie for your YouTubing pleasure.

The Play's the Thing.

It's so nice to report some good news for a change. Ayako Yoshimi has created a way to brush up your Shakespeare by merging the Bard's quotes with a karuta game. I last spoke of Karuta wrt Kamen Rider but this definitely looks more educational.

For more detail (in Japanese) check out
シェイクスピアカルタ and here if you'd like to order some directly from Amazon.jp.



Sneak preview...I have a special Shakespeare blog coming this weekend!