Amazing Japan

For the past couple of months I've been researching Japanese folktales for a comic book series called "Fables for Japan"- the proceeds of which go to victims of the earthquake and tsunami. This week Mike and I are under a mad deadline to finish up our contribution.

 

It's definitely been a fascinating experience learning about their beautiful country and incredibly rich cultural heritage. Many of their folktales have much to do with samurai warriors and ghosts, but some are just strange stories of shape shifting animals called yōkai (usually it's a fox or raccoon). 

However one thing you learn very quickly when researching Japan is that it is the capital of weird.

 

In fact a google search on "weird Japan" will keep you stuck at your computer laughing for hours.

Anyway, the country has normalized for travel and there are many beautiful areas to go see that aren't glowing at all.  Some of these things would definitely be worth seeing in person!!

In other news, my last post on the chalking festival in Little Italy was quite popular.  If you'd like to read more about it check out my article on the event that I wrote for the Examiner!

Gesso Italiano Festival-Drawing in The Sun