May

Growing Radishes and Creativity

by Sheron Long on May 26, 2014

Radishes growing from the pages of a Japanese manga comic book, accomplished through the creative process of Koshi Kawachi (Image © Koshi Kawashi)

Radishes pop up in an icon of Japanese pop culture—manga comics.
© Koshi Kawashi

Take a Page from a Manga Comic Book

Creativity sprouts in likely places—i.e., anywhere:

In a Toronto street crack,

At the easel in a French atelier,

On a butcher-paper tablecloth in a Carmel cafe, or

Like this creative radish garden, within the pages of Japanese manga.

Planted by Tokyo artist Koshi Kawachi as part of his contemporary art series “Manga Farming,” the work places agriculture, a fundamental activity for the human race, in juxtaposition with a pastime of Japanese pop culture—manga comics.

A surprising seedbed? Perhaps. But manga—graphic novels of action and adventure, romance, sports, horror, business, and more—tell the tale of human life, the very life that is sustained by the food grown in the world.

Planting the Seeds of Creativity

Farming, even on the small scale of a vegetable garden, has more to say about creativity than you might think. Both involve a kind of “playing in the dirt.”

Bed of radish seedlings, symbolizing how ideas pop up from a creative process that involves getting your hands dirty. (Image © S847 / iStock)

Like farming, creativity flourishes when you get your hands dirty.
© S847 / iStock

I don’t know how long it took Kawachi to create his artwork, but I imagine that it started with just the seed of an idea. Like real radish seeds nourished by rich soil, the seeds of creative ideas need a nurturing environment—time to grow, freedom to poke up in any direction, timely watering.

Pouring water onto radish seedlings sprouting from the pages of Japanese manga comics. (Image © Koshi Kawachi)

To grow a good idea, water well and wait a bit.
© Koshi Kawachi

Attending to Tender Ideas

When well-tended, the radish seed takes 25 days to grow into a leafy plant and bear the crunchy radish.

Radishes ready to harvest, symbolizing how farming is like the creative process in which good ideas yield fruit. (Image © HandmadePictures / iStock)

From seed to harvest—creative ideas, unlike the radish,
may not mature in a predictable number of days.
© HandmadePictures / iStock

Creativity works on its own timetable. But the creative process is more like growing veggies than not—caring hands must thin the crop, pull weeds outright, and support the good ideas as they grow.

Tying up radish seedlings that sprout from the pages of Japanese manga comics, symbolizing the need to take care of good ideas in the creative process. (Image © Koshi Kawachi)

Help out a sprout, and a flower pops out. That’s true of creative ideas, too.
© Koshi Kawachi

One of Kawachi’s good ideas was to plant the radish seeds like bookmarks on his favorite manga pages. Oh, I see the artist’s statement—he connected the seeds as symbols of necessary sustenance to the height of fleeting entertainment.

His ideas sprouted, grew, and flowered.

Flower on a radish plant seeded into the pages of Japanese manga comics, symbolizing a critical step in both the agricultural and creative process. (Image © Koshi Kawachi)

Radishes and creative ideas have to flower before they bear fruit.
© Koshi Kawachi

Crops on Display

When radish farmers spy the first red shoulders of the fruit, they know the payoff of the harvest is near—a literal feast for their tables.

Dinner plate with face made from black olives for eyes, red radish for nose, its green leaves for eyebrows, and a lemon slice for a smile, showing the fun of creativity. (Image © Julia Saponova / Hemera)

Creativity! It’s something to smile about.
© Julia Saponova / Hemera

Artists, however, often sense the completion of their work through a visceral feeling when it is just the way they want it—a feast for the eyes.

For one exhibit in the museum at the Matsuzakaya department store in Nagoya, Kawachi assembled dozens of manga farms, arranging them in long rows like those of a field, as solitary sprouts, and in aesthetic groupings.

Four manga farms on display, showing the result of Koshi Kawachi's creative process. (Image © Koshi Kawachi)

Kawachi’s manga farms on exhibit—a feast for the eyes with manga eyes staring back
© Koshi Kawachi

He encourages others to try the idea, following the manga farmer’s simple steps:

1. Read the manga.

2. Plant the seeds on the pages you like best.

3. Bring up vegetables.

Well, it might be necessary to repot the seedlings first. Even such repotting is part of becoming more creative. Artists will often tell you how their works start in one direction, growing and coming to lovely fruition only when redirected.

And so it is that out of the pages of Japanese manga comes a new chapter in understanding the creative process. Radishes and creativity—a fertile mash-up, one with crunch!

A single radish with leaves, symbol of what the creative process has in common with farming (Image © bajinda / iStock)

Crunch!
© bajinda / iStock

Follow Koshi Kawachi on Facebook.

The Kyoto International Manga Museum has a collection of more than 50,000 manga. Stay in touch with current manga events online at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

Sheron Long Comments

Japan/The World's Art & Design

Nov

The Harmony of Hope: Tsunami Violins

by Janine Boylan on November 18, 2013

Tsunami violins illustrate cross-cultural contributions on the path to healing (Design by Muneyuki Nakazawa)

Muneyuki Nakazawa’s tsunami violins,
each with a solitary pine tree painted on its back.
Image courtesy of Classic for Japan Foundation

Healing with Cross-Cultural Contributions

If music is healing, then it follows that violins can also bring healing.

Master luthier Muneyuki Nakazawa has constructed two violins with the goal of bringing harmony and healing to a devastated Japanese community.

Moving from Disaster

After the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March of 2011, Nakazawa felt that he needed to do something for his community.

He visited the ruined shores of the city of Rikuzentakata, Japan, strewn with broken trees that had been ripped from the ground.

Nakazawa (right), with piles of wood for tsunami violins, illustrating the cross-cultural contributions on the path to healing (Image courtesy of Classic for Japan Foundation)

Nakazawa (right) at Rikuzentakata, with piles of wood broken by the tsunami.
Image courtesy of Classic for Japan Foundation

He couldn’t help but notice that a single miracle pine stood in the spot on the beach where nearly 70,000 pine trees had been rooted before the disaster.

Solitary pine tree, symbol for tsunami violins, illustrating cross-cultural contributions on the path to healing (Image by Takata Matsubara)

solitary pine tree
Image by Takata Matsubara

He had his “Oh, I see” moment: he would build violins from the splintered wood. Nakazawa worked with several local experts to choose and collect wood from the piles of rubble. Then he took the wood back to his shop where, over the next several months, he crafted the pieces into violins.

On the back of each, he painted the miracle pine, as a symbol of hope and continued life.

Muneyuki Nakazawa making tsunami violin, illustrating cross-cultural contributions on the path to healing (Image courtesy of Classic for Japan Foundation)

Muneyuki Nakazawa carves a tsunami violin.
Image courtesy of Classic for Japan Foundation

Continuing the Plan

But Nakazawa’s idea didn’t stop there.

Inspired by the Japanese tradition of folding 1,000 paper cranes to fulfill a wish, Nakazawa’s dream was to have the violins played by 1,000 people around the world. Taizo Oba worked with him to launch the project, named “The Bond Made of 1,000 Tones.”

In an interview with Yoree Koh of Wall Street Journal’s blog Japan Real Time, Nakazawa explains,

This isn’t a violin meant to play big concertos in a large concert hall. That should be left to other violins. I wanted to make a tender sounding violin that consoles people. This is a violin for the people in the disaster zones, for people who have grieved over lost loved ones and for the souls of those who died from this tragedy.

The project encourages anyone who wishes to play one of the instruments, young or old, experienced or amateur, to apply.

The Tour

Exactly one year after the devastating storm, on March 11, 2012, Israeli violinist Ivry Gitlis debuted the first violin at a benefit concert in Rikuzentakata. An audience member recorded the moment.

If the video does not display, watch it here.

Gitlis put the music he played in the violin case and handed it along to the next artist. Each person who plays is encouraged to add to the notes in the case.

Kimiko Nakazawa with tsunami violin, illustrating cross-cultural contributions on the path to healing (Image courtesy of Classic for Japan Foundation)

Kimiko Nakazawa
Image courtesy of Classic for Japan Foundation

Since then, the two violins have been featured around the world in the hands of artists from many cultures who support the effort of healing the community.

Nakazawa’s wife, renowned violinist Kimiko Nakazawa has performed with the violin.
Cairo-born violinist Atef Halim, who is French and plays regularly in Japan, has played tsunami violins in April and October of 2013. You can hear him playing a tsunami violin in a video posted October 27 on his Facebook page.
The Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan played a tsunami violin in Tokyo on July 7, 2013.
Kevin Chen of the World Civic Orchestra played one in New York City on June 9, 2013.
Juilliard graduate Erika Mitsui played a tsunami violin at the Japan Society in New York City on March 11, 2013. She was the 119th violinist to play the instrument.
The first duets of the violins were performed by Adrian Justus and his teacher, Mexico-based Japanese violinist Yuriko Kuronuma in January 2013.
French violinist Gérard Poulet played the violin in Tokyo in August 2012.

Gérard Poulet plays a tsunami violin, illustrating cross-cultural contributions on the path to healing (Image by Minoru Watanabe)

Gérard Poulet
Image by Minoru Watanabe

Moving into The Future

At the end of October, the violins were played inside the world’s first inflatable concert hall, a purple balloon-like structure called Ark Nova, in the hard-struck city of Matsushima, Japan. This partnership of violins and concert hall can travel to many of the other areas struck by the 2011 storm and help give the people a respite from the rebuilding that is still happening around them.

Nakazawa shared with The Japan Times,“The rebirth of (driftwood into) the two small violins can continue conveying what happened on March 11 beyond this generation.” He imagines that it will take years to fulfill his dream of 1,000 tones.

Violins built of broken wood, played by cross-cultural artists around the globe, are bringing a harmony of hope that is sure to continue for decades.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Janine Boylan 2 Comments

Clever Ideas/Japan/On the World Stage/The World's Music

Sep

What’s Napoleon Doing in a Japanese Rice Paddy?

by Sheron Long on September 26, 2013

Japanese rice paddy art of Napoleon on his white horse (2009), showing creative inspiration by the villagers of Inakadate (Image by Captain76)

Across the summer of 2009, this image of Napoleon emerged in a rice field in Inakadate—
a slow reveal for an emperor used to making a grand entrance!
(Image by Captain76)

He’s Growing from Creative Inspiration and Some Seeds!

In fact, Napoleon grew from several different kinds of seeds that sprouted in different colors. They became the “paint” on this giant canvas depicting the French emperor.

Origins of Tanbo Art

Known as tanbo (rice paddy) art, or tambo art, the idea originated in 1993 with Japanese villagers in Inakadate. They had a creative inspiration—grow a huge image in the rice paddy behind town hall.

The fascinating result was a depiction of Mount Iwaki. Across the next 20 years, the idea spread to other Japanese villages, and images became more complex revealing other landscapes and larger-than-life figures of the Mona Lisa, Japanese warriors, Napoleon, and characters from novels and comic strips.

Japanese rice paddy art (2007), showing creative inspiration of villagers in Inakadate

Tanbo art (Inakadate, 2007), patterned after “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa,” the famous
woodcut print by Katsushika Hokusai, drew 240,000 visitors.
(Image courtesy of Le Citron Jaune)

Taking Root in France

In southern France, the marshy lowlands of the Camargue are home to black bulls, pink flamingos, and wild white horses among a rich diversity of flora and fauna.

Wildlife in the Camargue region of southern France where the first rice paddy art in Europe has appeared (Images © Sheron Long)

Black bulls grace the ranches of the Camargue, flamingos migrate there each year inhabiting the marshes and waterways, and white horses are, well, always horsin’ around.
© Sheron Long

Amidst the wild landscape, rice paddies abound. It is here that France produces over 100,000 tons a year of white, red, and brown rice. Both Japan and France are world players in rice production.

The Camargue is also home to Le Citron Jaune, the National Centre for Street Art, which backs the creation of shows and performances in public spaces. Its director Françoise Léger, who was familiar with tanbo art, put two and two together and had the idea to create it in the rice fields of the Camargue.

Rice paddy near Arles, France (Image © Sheron Long)

The project is part of the outdoor events during Marseille-Provence 2013, celebrating this area in southern France—a crossroads since Roman times—as the European Capital of Culture for the year.

A creative idea is often born from combining two known ideas, but Léger’s creative process also involved research. In an interview (in French) with Wikibee, Le Citron Jaune explained:

Léger traveled to Japan for laboratory experiments to see if the strains of rice would grow in the Camargue climate.
She returned with four varieties of rice to use in the French canvas.
The project in the Marais (marshes) du Vigueirat, a nature preserve for the flora and fauna of the Camargue, would become the first installation of tanbo art in Europe.

The Art of the Matter

A good design comes first. Blending the Japanese tanbo art form with its French setting, artist and cartoonist Pierre Duba decided on an image suitable for the Camargue—a woman riding atop a black bull.

Design for the rice paddy art in the Camargue region of France showing creative inspiration by Pierre Duba (Image courtesy of Le Citron Jaune)

The design by Pierre Duba reflects both French and Japanese cultures.
(Image courtesy of Le Citron Jaune)

After the design came the art of the planting, directed by specialists in agriculture and landscapes from Japan—Tomohito and Nagisa Minowa and Hiroyuki Maya. For the mid-June planting, the field was divided into cells matching the design, thereby facilitating hand placement of the different strains of rice seeds.

French Rice Paddy on June 15 at the time of planting the field for the tanbo art (Image courtesy of Le Citron Jaune)

French rice paddy in the Camargue on June 15 at the time of planting the tanbo art
(Image courtesy of Le Citron Jaune)

Across the summer, the image began to emerge.

Progress of French tanbo art across the growing season, showing creative inspiration for growing rice paddy art from seeds

As the rice grows, the colors of its shoots define the image of the bull.
Photos taken (L-R) on July 8, July 15, and August 27
(Image courtesy of Le Citron Jaune)

Initially planting to use the colors of the different strains of rice, tanbo artists also consider how the rice colors will change as harvest approaches. The field on September 22 at the time of harvest looked like this:

Frech tanbo art, showing creative inspiration for growing rice paddy art from seeds

The Cultural Heart of the Matter

September 22 brought a celebration of the harvest and of the cross-cultural collaboration that had made the project possible. Families, friends, and dignitaries from France and Japan gathered to see a violinist and two dancers perform in the rice field.

Violinist playing by the French rice paddy art, and providing creative inspiration for the harvest. (Image © Sheron Long)

As the violinist Takumi Fukushima played, the dancers in fox masks emerged from the brush, frolicked, and approached the rice field.

Performance at French rice paddy art, showing creative inspiration for the harvest (Image © Sheron Long)

Shedding their masks and shoes, the two dancers, Chiharu Mamiya and Yutaka Takei, entered the muddy field to perform a riveting dance in which they portrayed life’s emotions felt by people of every culture.

Dancers moving through French rice paddy art and providing creative inspiration for the harvest. (Image © Sheron Long)

Two dancers make their way through the rice paddy art
as they portray universal human emotions felt throughout life.
© Sheron Long

After the performance, Mamiya and Takei led the attendees in a harvest ritual, thanking the sun and the rain for the bountiful rice as they circulated around the field and sang in both French and Japanese. A few lines:

Pour le soleil, For the sun, (French)

Arigato. Thank you. (Japanese)

Pour la pluie, For the rain, (French)

Arigato. Thank you. (Japanese)

And then the harvest began!

A muddy rice paddy where people step to harvest grains grown in rice paddy art (Image © Sheron Long)

Harvesting the rice grown in rice paddy art (Image © Sheron Long)

Wishing for gloves! When harvesting by hand, the first step is
to break off the spikelets that contain the grain.
© Sheron Long

Harvesting grain grown in rice paddy art (Image © Sheron Long)

At the harvest, buckets and buckets were filled, but more than grain was gathered that day.

Oh, I see—the creative inspiration of tanbo artists in Japan and the creative inspiration of artists and organizers in France bore fruit filled with the seeds of respect between cultures.

For information and inspiration about Provence and the Camargue region, contact VisitProvence.com. Also visit these sites for events and activities, environment (French only), and nature visits to the Camargue National Reserve.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Sheron Long 1 Comment

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