Before WWII Japan was famous for its silk production. Nawadays, however, you seldom see people raising silkworms in rural areas. In the late 1960s, Mikijiro Murata in Morioka, Iwate prefecture, came up with the idea of creating toy animals from silkworm cocoons. This turned out to be a long-lasting popular folkcraft.
I bought these three animals at a souvenir shop in Morioka station. These are three of twelve kinds, (from left to right) monkey, wild bore, and dragon, representing the twelve signs of the Chinese/Japanese zodiac. Aren't they cute?
I bought these three animals at a souvenir shop in Morioka station. These are three of twelve kinds, (from left to right) monkey, wild bore, and dragon, representing the twelve signs of the Chinese/Japanese zodiac. Aren't they cute?
3 comments:
Dear Mr. Taniguchi,
Reverence. Thank you very much.
My name's Petrúcio and I live in Recife, capital of Pernambuco State, in Brazil.
I'm glad to be a Seicho-No-Ie member since 1983.
A dream of mine is coming true, because I can write to you, right now...!
I have a big question: When all books writen by Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi will be translated into english, spanish or portuguese? I can hardly wait to read all of them!!
Sincerely yours,
Petrúcio
Petrúcio,
Thanks for your comment.
I understand your urge to read all of his books. But I am afraid that "all" would not be translated. There were many books of his published before WWII and right after the war which no longer available even to us Japanese.
Dear Mr. Taniguchi,
tonight, we are going to have our weekly meeting at Seicho-No-Ie Center in Recife, Brazil.
I would like you to send a message, via e-mail, to the members of our group.
I'll be very happy to read outloud your message, that will encourage us to work harder to SNI.
Sincerely,
Petrúcio
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