14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Kagawa: Figurine of Satirized Man Becomes Hit Among Young People; Researchers Hope to Boost Artists' Profile
ZENTSUJI, Kagawa — A figurine depicting a character from a 20th century satirical cartoon burning a banknote to light up the darkness has become a hit, especially among young people.
The cartoon, 'Narikin Eiga Jidai' (Nouveau riche era), was drawn by Kunibo Wada (1899-1992), an artist born in Kagawa Prefecture. The Kyuman Museum of Art in Zentsuji, which conducts research on Kunibo's work, hopes the figurine will raise the artist's profile.
One of Kunibo's best-known cartoons portrays society in the 1910-20s, when the nouveau riche appeared and amassed a fortune during and after World War I. The cartoon has even appeared in Japanese history the cartoon, a female employee of a high-end Japanese restaurant is anxiously searching its dark entrance for a customer's shoes while the customer, an elderly man, stands nearby burning a ¥100 banknote. He is smiling broadly and saying, 'How's this? It's brighter now, right?' At that time, ¥100 would have been worth over a hundred thousand yen today.
In recent years, the cartoon caught the eye of Daiki Yoshimoto, who runs a figurine production company in Kobe. He reproduced the character. When he put the figurines on the market in July 2022 for ¥5,000, orders flooded in. 'He has a charming face and seemed ideal for a figurine,' Yoshimoto said.
The Kyuman museum also sells other products featuring the character, including a clear plastic folder and postcards.
'More young people are visiting the museum thanks to the figurines,' said Miki Nishitani, a curator at the museum. 'I hope it will lead to more people knowing about Kunibo.'
