Hirohiko Araki’s Bizarre Adventure

Confined at the corner of the bookstore, there’s not much in the exhibit except for a number of posters and action figures of Araki’s magnum opus “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure”. It was first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1986 making this year its 30th anniversary. It transferred to the monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump in 2005 where it is still running as the second largest manga series by the publishing company Shueish

Isamu Noguchi’s Black Sun

Most famous for the iconic Noguchi table, Isamu Noguchi also made the monumental sculpture entitled “Black Sun” in 1969. It is now located at the Volunteer Park in Seattle, Washington, particularly at the eastern edge of the park’s man-made reservoir. Carving was done in Mure, Japan from a single 30-ton block of stone quarried from a Tijuca formation in Brazil producing the polished torus-shaped sculpture measuring 9 ft in diameter and 12 tons in weight.

A Glimpse Of Frida Kahlo

La Casa Asul (Blue House) in Coyoacán was where Kahlo spent her lifetime since her birth in 1907. Frida got married to another Mexican art icon Diego Rivera and they lived in the same house from 1929 until Frida died in 1954. Diego eventually died in 1957 and the La Casa Azul has served as Museo Frida Kahlo since 1958.

When Hachiko Met Hidesaburo

The reunion statue of Dr. Hidesaburo Ueno and Hachiko was constructed last year inside the University of Tokyo to celebrate the 90th and 80th death anniversary of Dr. Ueno and Hachiko respectively. And during our meeting last Friday, I had the chance of seeing the statue. In contrast to the lone, sad presence of Hachiko in Shibuya, the reunion statue has immortalized the happy moment everytime Hachiko meets his master Hidesaburo.

Hamanaka: Town Of Monkey Punch

Hamanaka is a town located in Akkeshi District, Kushiro Subprefecture. The town is famous as it is the birthplace of Kazuhiko Kato, more famous with his pen name Monkey Punch. And if you love manga or anime, you know that he is best known for his series Lupin III. The Lupin III manga first appeared in Weekly Manga Action on August 10, 1967.

Who Is Yoko Gushiken?

Yoko Gushiken is a former Japanese professional boxer who held the WBA Light Flyweight champion title for 6 years (1976 to 1981) and defended it for 13 times. Having a professional record of 23 wins-1 loss with 15 knock-outs, he was known by his nickname “Kanmuriwashi” (Fierce Eagle).

Who Is Naka Bokunen?

Naka Bokunen is an Okinawan artist famous for his brightly coloured Okinawan landscape painting, particularly of his birthplace Izena island in the north of Okinawa. He is an expert of woodblock printing, a form of fine art with carvings in a piece of wood.

Knowing Goethe

I just knew a little about the German writer and politician Johann Wolfgang von Goethe from my literature class in high school. I have just read a part of his most relevant work, Faust. It is a retelling of a classic German legend about a dissatisfied intellectual man who made a pact with the Devil exchanging his soul with unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures.