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Manga Artists Draw Illustrations for Culture Magazine's 'Stay Home' Issue
posted on by Kim Morrissy
Manga artists Kotobuki Shiriagari (Sukiyaki Western Django, Ano Hi Kara no Manga) and Michihiro Hori (Seishun Uruhashi! Urushibu, Mimikaki Shigotonin Samuel) drew illustrations for culture magazine Discover Japan's latest issue. The theme for the issue is "time at home," referring to the need to stay indoors in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Shiriagari's piece is titled Corona Taisan (Corona Dispersion). It depicts Shiriagari's rendition of the iconic Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai's painting of Shōki, the seventh-century Chinese scholar. Shiriagari commented: "It appears people in China drew Shōki for many years out of the belief that he could disperse diseases. I think around 10 years after [Hokusai's painting] was made, it also became popular in Japan to draw him. Diseases were more pervasive back then than they are now. But people survived and here we are. Corona's nothing to get down in the dumps about. There are all sorts of things I want to do once the pandemic is over. I hope you can all take care of yourselves in anticipation of that day!"
Hori's piece is titled Amabie no Kuni (The Country of Amabie), and depicts Japanese yokai called "amabie" walking around the streets. According to legend, an amabie appeared from the sea of Kumamoto and said that if disease were to spread, the people who are shown pictures of the amabie will be cured. Hori commented: "When it occurred to me how grateful I am to be given the time to stay home, I thought that there must be amabie among the people at home. The amabie are in our hearts, and they're all helping to disperse this disease."
The magazine's cover also depicts an amabie, drawn by the artist Masao Satō.
Outside the pages of Discover Japan, amabie art has been making a splash on Japanese social media lately due to their aforementioned powers. The hashtag #アマビエチャレンジ (Amabie Challenge), which involves sharing images of art or handcraft of amabie, is still going strong after it went viral last month, proving that superstitions still have their place in modern society.
Source: Discover Japan June 2020 Issue, Comic Natalie
