Todoroki Kawaii

Since Studio Ghibli's "From Up On Poppy Hill" will be released in a few days,  I thought it would be good to finally get around to soapboxing my impression of the film. "From Up on Poppy Hill" (known as Kokuriko Zaka Kara here in Japan)  is an absolutely brilliant film.    It was directed by Hayao Miyazaki's son, Goro and based on a 1980's manga series.   Without giving too much away, it tells a nostalgic (well, nostalgic for Japanese people anyway) story about a group of ambitious high school students in the rapidly developing Showa Period of Japan,  post-World War II.   This 1960's period in Japan had a resurgence of development industry-wise as well as an accelerating "We Can Do It" spirit amongst Japan's youth. These kids would be the ones who eventually would be the leaders of Japan's economic boom period.   This was one of the better animated films I have seen in a long time.  Not so much for technical reasons but for it's...

THE QUESTION of what qualifications do artists and entertainers have to use their high visibility to comment on worldly affairs has been long debated.   However that is the very essence of what defines an artist isn't it? An artist might be an entertainer, but an entertainer is not an artist. More and more, serious issues are given more attention and gravity when an entertainer postures on issues of social importance. An artist has an responsibility to express him- or herself with sincerity and truth. Though artists are given to idiosyncrasies, to be an artist is an honor and a responsibility.   When one speaks, it should be with done with a degree of forethought and eloquence.   August 28th, 1963,  the date of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , six noteworthy artists met in a studio immediately after attending the march and witnessing "I Have A Dream" speech of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's (SCLC) leader, Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. :...

"An artist is a one-man theater.  He or she conceives the plot, writes the script,  stages, directs,  and acts out the roles.  In my career, I have covered an enormous range of subject matter and hope to never be confined to just one.  But to the community of art critics there is something unsettling about about a person who won't be indelibly stamped with a narrow label. "   - Robert McGinnis  (The Last Rose of Summer)   ROBERT MCGINNIS is not just an illustrator but an artist who deserves to be a household name just as Norman Rockwell or even Andrew Wyeth. Responsible for more than 40 movie posters (such as Breakfast at Tiffany's and Barbarella) his artwork was the last (and possibly the first) driving force to make movie-goers put down money for that movie ticket. In an age of digital dependency,  illustrated movie posters are rare today.  (See previous blogs:   Bob Peak - Father of the Modern Movie Poster  )  However a...

Was the father of graffiti Japanese?   Arguable, but it's pretty much accepted that modern urban graffiti art started with the graffiti artist Taki 183.  Despite a Japanese sounding name, Taki was in fact a Greek-American youth in the late 1960's who tagged his name all over the NYC landscape, setting in motion the underground culture which has snowballed to a global level.   Near my Japan residence, the Tamagawa Bridge has it's fair share of graffiti art.  It's doubtful my neighbors have the same fascination as I do since I can remember graffiti in it's early days in 1970's New York.   Graffiti in Japan is just as expressive, urban, rebellious and rhythmic as anything on the NYC subway trains before technology destroyed subway art culture literally overnight by the late 1980's.  Despite that, graffiti art has survived and grown exponentially since then. There are tag names, graffiti characters to be sure, but the use of Japanese kanji, katakana or hiragana...

"The science of design, or of line-drawing, if you like to use this term, is the source and very essence of painting, sculpture, architecture... Sometimes... it seems to me that... all the works of the human brain and hand are either design itself or a branch of that art."  - Michelangelo  Drawing is a communication tool and indispensable skill which helps condition the mind to visualize abstract ideas, concepts, emotions, designs and paradigms.   Something to remember.

It's humbling a great to "discover" an artist who inspires you so much, but had existed for so long without your knowing.  At Tokyo's Bunkamura Museum ,   I was lucky stumble up on the works of Illya Repin (1844 -1930) a great Russian painter whose works can mentioned in the same breath as Leo Tolstoy as being one of Russia's great artistic treasures. Without a doubt a master painter in terms of his ability to capture realism.  (At a time where impressionism was becoming the new flavor of the month)  His ability to capture the spirit of people almost borders on caricature and almost has an "animated" feel to it. Subtle caricature,  dramatic staging as well as subtle social commentary, there is certainly something Norman Rockwell-ish about Repin.   There is this love of people and ability to capture the most appealing or compelling parts of people in his paintings and portraits.  Truly inspiring.  Today will be the last day Repin will be exhibited ...

   I was rummaging through my old martial arts reference books.  Many of which are related to Chinese martial arts.  One of my favorite historical references is a comprehensive collection of Bruce Lee's letters to his family, friends, martial arts and film colleagues:   Bruce Lee:  Letters of the Dragon, Correspondence, 1958 - 1973. edited by John Little.   The last letter written by Bruce Lee on the last day of his life, July 20, 1973 leaped out at me: 41, Cumberland Rd.  Kowloon, H.K. July 20, 1973. Adrian Marshall Suite 920, Century City 10100 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, Calif. 90067 U.S.A. Dear Adrian,   Will be arriving Los Angeles on Aug. 3rd, would like to sit down and hope you can leave open the weekend of Aug. 4th and 5th to discuss the followings: 1/ the deal with Hana Barbera 2/ Warner's proposition 3/ Titanas from Italy 4/ Andy's proposition from H.K. which I will explain to you when ...