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 Kitarō holds Medama Oyaji (Daddy Eyeball) in his palm. (Photo was snapped after a light rain.) | ||||
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Born March 8, 1922, Shigeru Mizuki (birth name Shigeru Mura) is best known for his drawings of yōkai (nature spirits and demons). This is especially amazing when you think he had to retrain himself to draw with his right hand (he was a lefty) after his left arm was blown off during a World War II air raid in Papua New Guinea. Besides his best-known manga GeGeGe no Kitarō, he has drawn other manga such as Akuma-kun (Devil Boy), Kappa no Sanpei (Sanpei the Kappa) (source: Amano, Manga Design, p. 488), and NonNonBā. He has received a number of awards, including Shiju Hosho Decoration (1991), Minister of Education Award (1996), Kyokujitu Sho Decoration (2003) (source: Sakaiminato Guide Book for Sight Seeing [sic]), and Best Comic (2007) for NonNonBā, the first manga to be the overall winner at France's prestigious Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême. GeGeGe no Kitarō used to be called Hakaba no Kitarō (Kitaro of the Graveyard). Kitarō was raised by the reanimated eyeball of his late father, and he grows up helping humans against evil monsters. Mizuki's stories were first drawn as kami-shibai, which before TV came along were picture card shows narrated by a storyteller who sold candy to the listeners. Later, the stories moved into rental (kashi-hon) manga, then into boys' (shōnen) comic magazines and animation (Natsuhiko Kyogaku, afterword to GeGeGe-no-Kitarō, by Shigeru Mizuki, trans. Ralph F. McCarthy, [Tokyo: Kodansha, 2002]). A live action movie opened April 28, 2007, and a second live action movie came out on July 12, 2008 (source: IMDb - Internet Movie Database). As you walk along Shigeru Mizuki Road, you might see costumed GeGeGe no Kitarō characters up and about. Take a picture with them. (Don't be shy like I was.) They also can be found at the Shigeru Mizuki Museum. The museum itself is small but fun. Photos are not allowed in the yōkai part of the museum, except in the outside courtyard garden and in a room where there are photo ops with character cutouts. One room displays Shigeru Mizuki's collection of souvenirs from his travels around the world. If I were to revisit the natural port city of Sakaiminato where Shigeru Mizuki Road is, I would stay at least one night there to better enjoy the statues and to relax in the hot springs. According to a Sakaiminato sightseeing pamphlet, there is the historical/cultural Sea and Life Museum housed in a former sake brewery not far from the Shigeru Mizuki Museum. At Shofukuji Temple near City Hall, there is a bronze statue of Shigeru Mizuki, as well as a painting titled Hell and Paradise that aroused the manga artist's interest in yōkai as a boy. Then, I would buy something made from the region's traditional indigo-blue kasuri fabric. Links last reviewed: August 7, 2009 Official Information Sakaiminato Guide for Sight Seeing [sic]. http://www.sakaiminato.net/site2/page/foreign/eng/ (in English) Sakaiminato Information Office for Tourists. Tel. 0859-47-0121. Shigeru Mizuki official Web site. http://www.mizukipro.com/ (in Japanese only) Shigeru Mizuki Museum. http://www.sakaiminato.net/mizuki (in Japanese only) Shigeru Mizuki Road yōkai list. http://www.sakaiminato.net/site2/page/guide/point/miru/mizuki/youkai/ (In Japanese only; use Google Translate.) Shigeru Mizuki's Yōkai World. http://www.japro.com/mizuki/index3.html (in Japanese only) Yonago Airport general information office. Tel. 0859-45-6123. Additional Links "My Travelogue Manga of Japan (Sans Drawings)," by Kat Avila, Sequential Tart, May 2006, 30 March 2006 entry: From the train window, I see snow falling. SNOW?! … In Sakaiminato, on the west coast of Japan, there is a road dedicated to Shigeru Mizuki, the creator of the supernatural manga GeGeGe-no-Kitarō. I remember watching the anime as a child. There are 100 bronze statues of "yōkai" (nature spirits) from the manga within the city. At a related museum, which is very entertaining, a kind staff lady snaps my picture in the garden with deep pink "sakura" blossoms behind me (a weeping willow-type of cherry tree). "Demon of a cartoonist: Fallen war comrades inspire my work" by Kenji Furudate. Orig. pub. Shukan Asahi magazine, Asahi Shimbun, July 1, 2002. "Drawing on Experience" (Shigeru Mizuki interview), The Japan Times, February 6, 2005. "Enduring anime reveals Japan's ghoulish spirit: 'Gegege no Kitaro' turns 40," The Japan Times, April 17, 2008. Gegege no Kitarō anime, list of TV seasons and movies at Anime News Network. "GeGeGe no Kitaro Live-Action Sequel to Open in Summer," Anime News Network, January 7, 2008. NonNonBa manga review, The Comics Reporter, April 5, 2007. Oji-san Jake's blog "More Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan," yōkai galleries of Shigeru Mizuki Road, May 25, 2009. "Shigeru Mizuki's Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro" by Yutaka Yamada. Anthropology of Anime and Manga website, "Science Fiction and Horror Manga Classics." |
 museum flyer  museum layout on back of flyer  museum brochure & ticket  Shigeru Mizuki photo on back of brochure  yōkai sidewalk tile  sidewalk tile with Kitarō and Ittan Momen (Rollo Cloth) |
| Yonago Railway Station where you board the train to Sakaiminato | ||||
 sandwich boards featuring yōkai |
 sandwich boards featuring yōkai |
 sandwich boards featuring yōkai |
 kappa |
 kitsune (fox) |
 stairs with picture of Kitarō and Medama Oyaji (Daddy Eyeball) |
 train in the distance |
 front of train Its headlights are clones of Medama Oyaji (Daddy Eyeball). |
 rear of train |
 side of train from rear |
 ceiling of train |
 Nezumi-otoko (Ratman) on vending machine |
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 That's Ittan Momen (Rollo Cloth) flying overhead. |
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 Kitarō has a nobori (festival banner) in his hand. |
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 "Japan Goblin Yokai" (JR map title) |
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| Sakaiminato Railway Station where you get off | ||||
 entrance to station from platform |
 Shigeru Mizuki with Daddy Eyeball, Ratman, & Kitarō outside the train station. |
 Shigeru Mizuki with Ratman, Daddy Eyeball, & Kitarō outside the train station. |
 Sanpei the Kappa from Kappa no Sanpei, kappa (L), & tanuki (BR). |
 Kitarō and Medama Oyaji (Daddy Eyeball) on the mailbox |
| Shigeru Mizuki Road starting from the train station | ||||
 Tottori Tourist Guide Map The information is on a reflective surface, which reverses the sky & ground. |
 original drawing by Shigeru Mizuki |
 bakezōri (sandal spook), © 1995, on a base of black granite When sandals reach the age of 100, they become bakezōri. |
 Tōfu kozō (tofu shop boy) offers a block of tofu on a tray to passersby. To the right of him is a neckless, bodiless giant's face (ōkamuro). |
 Tsurube otoshi (fast-dropping) drop from tall trees with loud laughter to scare travelers at night. |
 negative-space sculpture |
 Mizuki Shigeru Road (in Japanese name order) The speed limit is on the left since the Japanese drive up on that side of the road. |
 rokuro-kubi (long-necked monster) |
 rokuro-kubi (long-necked monster) |
 doro-ta bō (muddy rice-field boy) "Give me back my rice fields! Give me back my rice fields!" mourns this yōkai for the land he worked so hard on when he was human. |
 Kitarō at Taisho River with Medama Oyaji (Daddy Eyeball) in his hand |
 Kitarō at Taisho River with Medama Oyaji (Daddy Eyeball) in his hand |
 Nezumi-otoko (Ratman) at Taisho River |
 Nezumi-otoko (Ratman) at Taisho River |
 ijyū helpful beast of burden |
 barbershop with Ittan Momen (Rollo Cloth) and Kitarō |
 ryū (dragon) Ryūjin is the dragon that rules the ocean. |
 Makura kaeshi (pillow return) holds a pillow in its hands. |
 bakezōri (sandal spook) |
 GeGeGe no Kitarō toy masks in store window |
