New PICA prints: the Halloween edition!

The spooky season is well upon us. Is your home decorated in all its wickedly horrifying attire yet? Or perhaps your walls are missing that something-something? Because we have something new and frightfully delightful for you. Our ever-colourful library of prints just welcomed three new additions featuring ghosts, bats, eerie Daruma and more. So without further ado, please meet our new Halloween illustration PICA prints.

Halloween Daruma Jack-o'-Lantern Pop Art Print

Our grumpy Daruma-san has transformed into a Jack-o'-lantern, accompanied by a cauldron of bats. Why not change up your Daruma print for this spooky seasonal edition?

Wait, what is Daruma, you ask? Daruma (だるま・達磨) is a traditional Japanese doll and a symbol of perseverance and good luck. It is used to set goals by colouring one of the doll's eyes when setting a goal or making a wish and colouring the other when that goal has been achieved, or that wish came true. Interested in hearing more of what makes Daruma so special to us, head on over here.

Supernatural Halloween Ghost Pop Art Print

How about a Japanese-style supernatural Halloween ghost print? Here we have a frightfully hauntingly-cute ghost in this magical starry night, a pair of eerie onibi spirits and a flying cauldron of bats. What a fun ghostly delightful addition to any wall!

Hold on, what are these onibi you speak of, you say? Onibi (おにび・鬼火), literally translated as demon or ghost fires, are a type of atmospheric ghost lights popular in Japanese supernatural folklore. They are the spirit fireballs born from the remains of the departed. They are often believed to be vengeful spirits or spirits with unfinished business. In short, a must-have for your Halloween decor!

Spooky Halloween Bats Pop Art Print

And last but not least, the spooky cute cauldron of bats in the night sky Halloween print! Who doesn't love bats at Halloween? No, really, who? They are just so adorable! Halloween is not complete without them, as they are simply essential.

So there you have it—our Halloween collection just for you and your walls. But don't wait too long. Halloween is just around the corner.

Oh, I almost forgot! Don't want to wait for your print to arrive at your door? Well, we've got some news for you! All our Halloween prints are available as Digital Downloads, and for a limited time, they are on SALE! So, what are you waiting for? Head on over here to shop now!

New Koinobori Print! Celebrating Childhood, Spring, Strength and Perseverance

The leaves are budding. The flowers are blooming. The sweet essence of spring is finally in the air. Japan is in the middle of its sakura flower-viewing season, Hanami (花見), and soon after that is the Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク) or 黄金週間 (ougon shuukan) namesaked for the four consecutive holidays falling on the first week of May. The May 5th Children's Day falls as the last of the holidays in the Golden Week holiday chain and is perhaps the most significant one. For nothing screams the height of spring and the forthcoming week-long celebration as seeing its giant colourful carp streamers swimming in the wind against the bright turquoise sky amongst the gently billowing blush sakura petals as confetti descending from above.

And with this, we would like to introduce to you the newest edition of our colourful Pop Art PICA print collection—the Koinobori (鯉のぼり) print. The print features the brightly illustrated koinobori banners floating amongst the bright blue sky's white clouds—a quintessential image of springtime Japan. Bearing our Pop Art colour and fun pattern design, the print hits that nostalgic note of warmth, sunshine and childlike innocence.

But what is koinobori? What does it have to do with springtime or Children's Day? Is there more to it than just being a colourful banner in the sky?

Beneath its colourfully painted scales lies deep symbolism born of an ancient legend, fearless warriors and history spanning hundreds of years across the land and sea. So let's start at the top: Children's Day.

Photo by sakura_chihaya+

Children's Day: The Origin Story

Children's Day or 子供の日 (kodomo no hi) takes place on May 5th and marks the end of the Golden Week in Japan consisting of Showa Day (昭和の日, Shouwa no hi) on April 29th, Constitution Day (憲法記念日, kenpou kinenbi) on May 3rd and Greenery Day (みどりの日, midori no hi) on May 4th.

Children's Day holiday originated as Tango no Sekku (端午の節句). It is one of the five seasonal celebrations, Gosekku (五節句), that the Japanese imperial court, which was heavily influenced by the Chinese customs at the time, adapted from China during the Nara period (奈良時代, Nara jidai; 710 to 794). The Chinese origin holiday is known as Double Fifth in China or as the Dragon Boat Festival in the West. Similarly, it falls on the fifth day of the fifth month. But unlike Japan that has now adopted the Georgian calendar, the Dragon Boat Festival uses the lunar calendar. So unlike Children's Day in Japan, Double Fifth falls somewhere in June, with the actual date varying year to year.

Tai O Dragon Boat Water Parade

All of the five adapted Gosekku holidays are still celebrated to this day. Just as Tango no Sekku is now known as Children's Day, so do the other ones now go by their alternative names.

Jinjitsu no Sekku (人日の節句) that originated in China on the seventh day of the first month is now being celebrated on January 7th according to the solar calendar. In ancient China, each day of the first week of the Lunar New Year celebrations was dedicated to one animal that was forbidden to kill. The first day was dedicated to the chicken. The second to the dog. The third to the boar or pig. The fourth to the sheep, followed by the cow and the sixth to the horse. On the seventh day, known as human day, no punishments were handed to the criminals. As it got brought over to Japan, it became known as Nanakusa no Sekku (七草の節句, the feast of seven herbs) when it became customary to eat a seven-herb rice porridge (七草粥, nanakusa-gayu) to pray for health in the new year.

Then there is the March 3rd Joushi no Sekku (上巳の節句) that was adapted as Momo no Sekku (桃の節句, peach festival) also known as Hina Matsuri (雛祭り, doll festival) traditionally dedicated to girls.

It is then followed by the May 5th Tango no Sekku, Children's Day, and Shichiseki no Sekku (七夕の節句) adapted as Tanabata (七夕) or Star Festival (星祭り, hoshi matsuri) in Japan. And finally September 9th Chouyou no Sekku (重陽の節句), adapted as Kiku no Sekku (菊の節句, chrysanthemum festival) where one drinks chrysanthemum sake to wish for longevity of one's life.

稚遊五節句之内 端午 (Elegant Play of the Five Festivals, Tango) by 歌川 國芳 (Utagawa Kuniyoshi) 1840 print

二川 (Futakawa) by 歌川 貞秀 (Utagawa Sadahide) 1865 print

Now that we are familiar with the Gosekku holiday lineup let's get back to the Tango no Sekku or as it is otherwise known as Shoubu no Sekki (菖蒲の節句, iris festival) or better yet as Boys' Day.

In China, the fifth month has long been considered unlucky, but the Japanese court chose to offset its negative association by celebrating it during the Nara period. May 5th Iris Festival came from the tradition of drinking medicinal liquor with immersed iris plants and taking iris-infused baths to ward off evil and illnesses. Celebrating May 5th as Boys' Day along with its modern-day traditions became more commonplace during the Kamakura period (鎌倉時代, Kamakura jidai, 1185–1333)—a time when the samurai (侍), the warrior caste, emerged and thus established feudal Japan.

The word iris (菖蒲, shoubu) and its homonym for victory (勝負, shoubu) became interconnected with the iris flower becoming an essential emblem of the warrior class, and the Iris Festival becoming dedicated solely to celebrate boys' strength, ability and success. It became popular to decorate the home with samurai helmets, such as kabuto (兜) and koinobori.

Boy’s festival decorations in 1957 featuring iris illustrations and banners, carp and samurai dolls. Photo by born1945

During the Meiji era (明治時代, Meiji jidai, from 1868 through 1912), however, as a part of modernization on January 1st, 1873, the government adopted the Georgian calendar and on January 4th of the same year, it abolished the five seasonal lunar calendar holidays, Gosekku. In communities, however, the Gosekku celebrations continued, and in 1948 one of them, the Tango no Sekku, due to its association with the Boys' Day, was renamed as Children's Day to celebrate the health and growth of both boys and girls and was made an official national holiday. The rest of the Gosekku celebrations continue to be celebrated but are not considered to be national holidays.

prefer MOKU 木製の五月人形. New age samurai-inspired Children’s Day festival decoration.

五月人形 兜飾り 希翔 EVOLVE 兜 GOUKEN. Kabuto, samurai helmet Children’s Day festival decoration.

Children's Day Decorations

The modern decoration practice can be linked back to the samurai's Kamakura period when people began celebrating Tango no Sekku as Boys' Day. As a wish for their sons to grow up healthy and as strong as the samurai, households would display warrior dolls, samurai armour (鎧, yoroi) or samurai helmets (兜, kabuto) inside the home and hang koinobori (carp streamers) outside. While some households still display miniature samurai armour or samurai dolls today, it is koinobori decor that is most recognized and synonymous with Children's Day.

Let's take a look at the incredible world of koinobori.

Koinobori (鯉のぼり) in Japanese is a combination of two words, koi and nobori. Koi (鯉) is a carp and nobori (のぼり) is a flag, a banner or a streamer. As the name suggests, koinobori is a streamer or a windsock dressed to resemble a carp. It is often meant to be flown in high places, such as one's balcony, children's park or school grounds. It can be as small as a miniature and as large as one can imagine. The largest one, for instance, in Kazo, Saitama, where the streamers are actively produced, in 1988 reached up to 100 meters in length! These streamers adorn the landscape of Japan beginning in April through early May. The sight of the carp streamers dancing in the wind makes it seem as if they are truly swimming in the blue waters of the sky.

Photo by Yamashita Yohei

But how did the carp on the nobori banners come to be?

The first koinobori with painted carp imagery came to be during the Edo period (江戸時代, Edo jidai, 1603 to 1868). They were heavily influenced by the nobori flags used by the samurai of the Sengoku period (戦国時代, Sengoku jidai, "Warring States period," 1467 to 1615) on the battlefield. While the use of a windsock came to be related to the samurai, the carp was born out of a legend.

Buddhist temple depicting a carp and a dragon legend. Photo by Silvia Yohani

The Carp and the Legend

The Tango no Sekku originated in ancient China. And so did the legend of the carp. As the legend goes, a school of fish was swimming against the river current as it approached the waterfall, known as the dragon gate (龍門 or 竜門, ryuumon). While most fish gave up, the carp proceeded to swim up the waterfall and was brave enough to leap over it. As it leaped over the gate, it transformed into a mighty dragon. The Chinese dragon's discernable scales remind us of it being a descendent from the carp. It is a powerful benevolent creature and an auspicious symbol since ancient times. Its existence is a cultural symbol of bravery, perseverance and success.

Chinese dragon on a temple rooftop. Photo by Yu Kato

There is even a Chinese proverb "鯉魚跳龍門" (lǐyú tiào lóngmén) which translates to "The carp has leaped through the dragon's gate." It represents the ability of one to overcome obstacles and to succeed. And as they rise in the sky, the koinobori streamers embody parents' desire for their children to grow up strong and successful.

Chinese dragon in a temple in Sapporo. Photo by Alyona Polianskaia

The Koinobori Look

水道橋駿河臺 (Suidoubashi Bridge and Surugadai) by 歌川広重 (Hiroshige) 1857 print

鯉のぼり (Carp Streamer) by 武内桂舟 (Takeuchi Keishu) ca. 1900-1910s print

When the koinobori were first seen during the Edo period, they were only painted black to resemble the wild carp's colour. Over time in Meiji and then the Showa periods, colours like red and blue began to be introduced. Until recently, the "traditional" koinobori tended to use specific colours and be hung in a very particular order.

Traditional koinobori set

The standard koinobori set consisted of a large black carp (真鯉, magoi) representing the father, followed by a smaller red carp (緋鯉, higoi) representing the mother, and lastly by an even smaller blue carp representing the eldest son. Additional smaller carps in remaining colours, such as green, orange and purple, would follow to represent the younger siblings, originally sons.

prefer MOKU 木製 室内 鯉のぼり konori. 30cm indoor wooden koinobori set.

The carp family set, established during the Showa period, would be displayed by attaching each streamer to a pole in order. The first koinobori from the top would be the black 'father' carp. It would then be followed by the 'mother' carp and the 'children' down below. Above the 'father' carp, a pair of moving arrow-spoked wheels 矢車 (yaguruma), a decorative windmill, would be attached to the top of a pole. Along with it would be placed a golden round spinning vane called 回転球 (kaitenkyuu) and 吹き流し (fukinagashi) colourful windsock streamer often adorned with the family crest. All of these were meant as a form of protection from harm and against evil.

Today it would be difficult to spot a complete traditional set in an urban setting. Due to limited space and small balconies, people opt-in for a miniature indoor display set or a couple of koinobori streamers hung on the window.

The koinobori are no longer only hung vertically on the pole as they did back in the day. These days they are more often hung horizontally across. This practice is especially popular with public displays of koinobori, where tens or hundreds can be hung up in vast open spaces like fields, rivers and lakes for public events and festival celebrations.

Nowadays, the streamers also come in various sizes, including small ones for indoor use and in a large variety of colours and fun, creative patterns that have a fresh modern feel to them. They are also no longer exclusive to boys, and many families hang koinobori to honour all of their children.

New style koinobori streamers by Madame MO

So when should you see the koinobori soar in the sky?

The koinobori can be seen as early as the last week of March following the Spring (Vernal) Equinox (春分の日, shunbun no hi) national holiday, and up until the middle of May after the Children's Day celebration comes to an end. Some households choose to keep the koinobori up until June to honour the original date of the 5th day of the 5th month as per the lunar calendar.

Photo by TK12_2012

As with everything in Japan, objects on display tend to have auspicious meaning attached to them. Koinobori is no exception to this rule. People proudly hang the streamers as a wish to attract fortune and good luck to the children. The carp symbolizes strength, health and perseverance. And with koinobori, the parents wish their children to grow up strong, healthy and successful in life. The holiday is no longer exclusive to the boys in the family but has evolved to include all children regardless of gender.

SHOP KOINOBORI PRINT

With our PICA Koinobori Pop Art print, we wish to share this wonderful cultural icon with you. These colourful koinobori represent childhood, innocence, spring, warmth, celebration, strength, achievement, prosperity and growth. Hang the print on your wall to stay in touch with your inner childhood ambitions. Frame it in your kids' room as a wish for them to grow up as the magical, mighty soon-to-become-dragon earnest carp.

New Print: Celebrating our new addition to the PICA team

I know you guys haven’t heard from us much of the past year and thensome, but we do have a really good reason for it. You see, we are now officially a three-man-plus-cat team. Or to be exact, a two-man-one-baby-plus-cat team. Feel free to pick your favourite.

Almost a year ago, Boxing Day in fact, our new rollercoaster adventure began when our family team expanded and turned our lives in a new exciting direction. I had grand plans to be inspired by this new joy brought into our home and create a new line of prints, but perhaps that was a tad too ambitious. One print did happen though. It was specifically created in honour of our little one. So please welcome our newest PICA collection print “Misha”.

There are two reasons why this print is titled Misha. First, misha (миша) is a colloquial name for bear in Russian. It is a short version of the traditional Russian word for bear—medved’ (медведь). Second, it is also the name of our little girl, Mischa. Traditionally, Misha in Russian is a diminutive name for Mikhail (Michael). Seeing how this name is also given to girls outside of Russia, we decided to do just that. We loved the Russian play on words so much that I knew I had to create a print in Mischa’s honour with an illustration of an adorable bear. And so this print was born.

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View fullsize

We are so overjoyed by this new step in our lives, that we wanted to share the joy with you. To do that, this weekend we are offering the Misha print at a 20% discount on all sizes! Wouldn’t that make for a great present this season? We certainly think so!

View fullsize

View fullsize

Also, in case you didn’t already know, since all our prints are printed to order, we do offer colour customization options. So if you like any of our prints, but feel that the colours won't fit in with your decor, please contact us and I am sure we can work something out.

Festive greetings and joyful holiday shopping to everyone!

Misha Bear Prints

Shop here for the various colour combinations to suit your woodland space.

SHOP

Our Cute Take on the Lovable Well-Endowed Fluffy Prankster, Tanuki

Is that a cat? A dog? A raccoon? No. No. And not quite.

Meet Tanuki—a mischievous darling of Japanese folklore and the star of our new PICA print. Being still quite an unknown character in the West, Tanuki is often misunderstood and misrepresented as the urban trash-diving scavenger, the raccoon.

Raccoon dog. Photo by Cloudtail the Snow Leopard.

Tanuki (狸 or たぬき) is in fact a raccoon dog. Despite its name, the animal, other than some facial spotting, has nothing in common with the raccoon or a badger (another popular mistranslation). Raccoon dogs fall under the Canidae family of dogs, wolves, foxes, and coyotes. One big giveaway is the lack of the notorious black tail rings. Originally native to the far East, the species have travelled across Russia, and can now be spotted in some parts of Europe. Fun fact: unlike their canine cousins, raccoon dogs spend their winters in hibernation—snuggly cuddled up to their partners until the coming of the warmer days.

But enough about its National Geographic description. In Japan, when someone mentions Tanuki, it is not the actual raccoon dog that one conjures up in their mind. Tanuki also happens to be an adorable magical prankster who falls under a class of spirit monsters called yokai (妖怪, youkai, ghost, demon, or monster) in Japanese folklore. Referred to as bake-danuki (化け狸, supernatural tanuki), he is more of a mischievous jovial character in comparison to the more traditionally malevenous monsters of the yokai family. He can be at times frightening, but for the most part he is often portrayed as also having a good side to him, bringing good fortune and prosperity to those who form a relationship with him. He is fluffy, skillful at deception, carrying giant testicles that allow him to achieve extraordinary feats, but more on that later.

Shôrei

Tanuki is famous for his shape-shifting, illusion-casting abilities. It is said that Tanuki often disguises himself as a human in the form of a beautiful woman or at times a Buddhist monk, with the one purpose to misguide and trick the unsuspecting folk. These transformations are believed to be possible with a placement of a leaf on his head. It is also possible to catch Tanuki in disguise as he is believed to become luminous when transformed and can accidentally show his tail if he loses focus. Another tell is that in rainy weather the clothes of his illusion would remain dry. In folklore Tanuki is often discovered well after the fact, when he falls asleep and transforms back into his animal form.

Tanuki Tea Kettle by Katsushika Hokusai.

Tanuki, a skillful shapeshifter, can disguise himself into just about anything in hopes of tricking yet another victim. There are a number of tales that talk about Tanuki shape-shifting into objects for monetary gain or just plain trickery.

Tanuki is a master of illusion. He can make leaves appear as money, only to be discovered after he is long gone, as well as create illusions of unfamiliar surroundings to confuse travelling folk causing them to get lost.

Tanuki also loves good ol’ pranks that don’t involve any supernatural abilities. Some of them are drumming on his belly to draw people away from their path in the woods, or making sounds to make people think they are hearing thunder and lightning to create confusion—all in the name of mischievous fun.

Tanuki at Ensen-ji (円泉寺), Buddhist temple in Tokyo.

Tanuki statue. Photo by Alexis.

Tanuki is a popular cultural icon in traditional and modern creative works in Japan. He has been the main subject of many literary works, legends, and traditional Japanese works of art. Today you may notice a ceramic statue of Tanuki placed outside business establishments in Japan akin to maneki-neko, the lucky beckoning cat, drawing visitors to come in and spend their money. Frequently he is depicted, in a modern 20th-century take by Fujiwara Tetsuzo (藤原銕造), as a plump round-bellied animal with big eyes wearing a straw hat with a bottle of sake and a promissory note of unpaid bills (though these items can vary), sporting an engorged scrotum—most featured aspect in the traditional Tanuki artistic depictions.

Tanuki no tawamure (狸の戯、錦絵).

So among the many magical abilities of Tanuki, the most memorable one must be the expanding scrotum. It is said that Tanuki can stretch his scrotum to the size of eight tatami mats—often pictured stretching for various creative feats and tasks, and never in terms of any sexual connotation. The concept is thought to have come from Kanazawa’s metal workers, who in the olden days would use the skin of tanuki testicles to wrap gold as an aid in creating the thinnest sheet of gold possible. One needed to use the skin that could stretch, and tanuki’s scrotum skin could stretch up to the size of eight tatami mats (approx. 13 square meters). Later people would make wallets and lucky charms out of the skin as it was believed it could stretch one’s money as it did it with gold.

Tanuki storefront statues.

Another reason Tanuki gained fame with his scrotum is due to the connotation that came from phonetically similar terminology of ‘kin no tama’ (金の玉, balls of gold) and kintama (金玉) for testicles, popularly associated with prosperity and good fortune.

Our Tanuki print might not have visually depicted the money beckoning feature, but you can’t say it’s not there somewhere. Still, it is a G-rated symbol of fortune nonetheless. Or a symbol of staying young, playful and wild as we also like to think. And much like the raccoon dog waking up with the coming of spring, today we are introducing our Tanuki print as the new addition to our family of colourful wall art illustrations.

It’s a new season outside, so why not go ahead and brighten up your walls with some much needed colourful whimsical folklore magic.

Tanuki Prints

Shop here for the various colour combinations to suit your magical space.

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New Prints! Samurai Prints to Celebrate Bushido, the Way of the Warrior

Today we are revealing our new colourful pair print edition featuring our cute but fearsome samurai warriors in a brand new PICA Pop Art colour scheme. Samurai is perhaps one of the most widely known Japanese cultural icons that has encompassed history spanning the greater portion of the last millennium. The warrior class—easily recognised by their ornate armour that has inspired many creative works of our modern pop culture, including the notorious Darth Vader gear ensemble—has long been the object of fear for their outwardly look and reverence for their historically renowned code of ethics known as Bushido (武士道, bushidou).

Our samurai prints featuring the kabuto (兜) helmet, the iconic part of the peculiar yet very versatile and practical samurai armour, boast the severity and genius behind the design meets function at its core. The entire attire was designed to allow its wearer a full range of mobility while protecting and shielding the body from enemy impact at all angles. The samurai gear has long since then become an inspiration to our modern battlefield wear, where the samurai code of ethics has left a much bigger cultural mark on our understanding of the true meaning behind the word ‘chivalry’.

Japanese traditional full armor

But first, what is a samurai?
Samurai (侍), also known as 武士 (bushi, warrior; samurai), were the warrior class of the feudal Japan. Beginning in history as provincial warriors and rising to power in the 12th century as Japan’s first military dictatorship, the shogunate (将軍職, shougun-shoku), samurai dominance continued all throughout the history until the Meiji Restoration (明治維新, meiji ishin) of 1868 due to the abolition of the feudal system.

The samurai character 侍 in Japanese, meaning ‘to serve’ or ‘the one who serves’, referred to the Imperial Court guards at that time that were of noble birth and comprised the highest ranking social caste. They were a military class of well trained and well learned warriors, who believed in chivalry and lived by the guide of the unspoken code of ethics or moral principles, known as Bushido (武士道, bushidou): “the way of the warrior” or “precepts of knighthood”. At its source were the teachings and practices of Buddhism and Shintoism as well as the ethical doctrines of Confucius and Mencius. Loyalty to the sovereign, respect, self-discipline, ethics, and trust in fate are just a handful of dominant traits adhered to by the samurai warriors of the time. The Bushido code set a moral standard for the rest of the living in the feudal Japan era, guiding them by virtue of example of the samurai. This makes Bushido the core source of the moral code in the premodern Japan.

Samurai of the Chosyu clan, during the Boshin War period (1860s)

So let’s look at the moral teachings of the samurai ethics code to live by today.
The Bushido code is believed to be comprised of the eight virtues that had long become the core of ethics and chivalry in premodern Japan. Not all samurai of course would live up to follow them, but the true esteemed warrior that was celebrated and revered with utmost respect by the society of that time would become the epitome of what chivalry means to us today.
 

01 | Rectitude or Justice (義)

義 (gi) or righteousness is perhaps the strongest virtue of the Bushido code. It is the power of being able to resolve to the true course of action based on one’s reason without wavering. It is to understand that the resolved action should only be made with true purpose and at the right time. “To die when to die is right, to strike when to strike is right.” Rectitude is the foundation or the skeleton of the Bushido structure. Without rectitude the status in becoming a true samurai character can never be obtained, regardless of how much learning or talent one was able to acquire in the process.
 

02 | Courage (勇)

勇 (yuu) or heroic courage is not simply being fearless, but being fearless in doing what is right. Doing what is right in itself is to have courage. A truly brave man is calm in the midst of calamity. He is never taken by surprise. He is able to distinguish the true course of action through his sound reasoning and true righteousness without hesitation, regardless of the consequences.
 

03 | Benevolence (仁)

仁 (jin) or benevolence, compassion is one of the Bushido virtues taking its roots from the Confucian teachings. A warrior possessing the power to command or to kill should also exhibit an immense ability for compassion. To be benevolent is to be mindful of others’ suffering, and to show mercy where mercy is needed. It is to bear sympathy, magnanimity, and love for the living; making benevolence the highest attribute of the human soul.
 

04 | Politeness (礼)

礼 (rei) or politeness, respect, etiquette is at the core of the social ethics in premodern Japan, also known as courtesy that is prevalent in its society to this day. Politeness through Bushido, though, is not just an empty shell of actions that are meant to make one seem respectful or courteous. Rooted in benevolence, it should only come of the regard for the feelings of others. Thus, in Bushido politeness in itself is nurtured in compassion and is a graceful expression of sympathy.
 

05 | Sincerity and Honesty (誠)

誠 (makoto) or sincerity, honesty, integrity, without which politeness, the fourth virtue, would only be an empty shell of socially acceptable actions. The word of the samurai—武士の一言 (bushi no ichi-gon)—had so much weight at that time that it was deemed beneath one’s dignity for it to be voweded upon or put down in writing. The true samurai of the Bushido ways failing to follow up on their word would view it as derogatory to their honour. Lying in itself was not regarded as a sin, but instead as a weakness, and thus highly dishonourable.

Bushido ethics of honesty and sincerity, however, had failed in attempts to be applied in business matters. Wealth itself could not be associated in the ways of honour. Subsequently money was seen as an object of menace to manhood, and even children of high-ranking samurai were raised to show ignorance of the value of coin. Money was thus to be ignored, making the warrior free of the evils where money was root.
 

Kabuki actors dressed like samurai. Hand-coloured photograph around 1880.

06 | Honour (名誉)

名誉 (meiyo) or honour was in a way a cornerstone of the warrior’s reputation. It was believed that a true samurai would strive to attain a good name for himself by closely following the Bushido ways of the warrior. Life itself was considered worthless if honour and good name were not bestowed upon the samurai in its course. The fear of disgrace kept the samurai in check. Often the only way one could regain one’s lost honour is by the means of self-destruction that had to be carried out with utmost composure and coolness of temper.
 

07 | The Duty of Loyalty (忠義)

忠義 (chuugi) or loyalty, instilled by the Shinto doctrines, governed the principle function of the samurai; that is namely their duty to the sovereign. The duty of the samurai was to serve the Imperial Court, and put their loyalty towards their master even above that of their family. The duty of loyalty, however, is only a virtue in correlation with honour, the sixth precept. As a samurai, one just does not blindly follow one’s master. If the path before the warrior is righteously wrong, a true samurai is willing to convince his master in his wrongdoing, even at the cost of his own life.
 

08 | Self-Control (克己)

克己 (kokki) or self-control would become the main building block in the character-building of the samurai. Bushido instills the moral teachings of ethics and chivalry as the core of the samurai behavior. With having the ability to yield power and pass judgement, one must also have had to learn to keep oneself in check. A true samurai would never show his emotions on his face. The most natural affections were kept under control. Thus, for the samurai to have self-control is to be level-headed at all times, never having one’s emotion affect his judgement.
 

These are the eight virtues of the samurai as originally interpreted in the book entitled Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Nitobe Inazo, first published at the dawn of the 20th century. Aside from the eight virtues as inscribed above, others less dominant yet equally influential were wisdom (智, chi), filial piety (孝, kou), and fraternity (悌, tei). Wisdom in particular was important as it was believed that a true warrior had to be well-versed in teachings of diverse facets of moral knowledge.

Bushido was a creation of the premodern Japan. But is it still present in the context of its modern society? Some might say that some of the values have long been forgotten and moved aside for the modernization of Japan towards industrialization and capitalism. Despite all that perhaps all of us can find something endearing within these virtues, and perhaps reintroduce them into our own moral code of ethics. Samurai were the epitome of chivalry in Japan at that time. Maybe it is time to bring the way of the samurai back, as I think we could all agree that we all could use a little bit more chivalry in our daily lives today.

Click here to shop our PICA Samurai prints. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

Kingyo, Our Newest Summer Collection Print!

This year to commemorate the summer coming to an end we are pleased to announce that we have a new addition to our summer-themed print collection. This aquatic blue baby is our nod to one of the most easily recognisable summer symbols in Japan—Kingyo (金魚).

Kingyo is Japanese for goldfish, with the kanji characters 金 (kin) standing for ‘gold’ and 魚 (gyo) for ‘fish’. But there is more to it than meets the eye. The characters are taken directly from Chinese, where 金 (jīn) correspondingly means ‘gold’ and 鱼 (yú) ‘fish’. Here 鱼 (yú) is also a homophone to 余 (yú) of ‘surplus’ or ‘in excess of’, making 金魚 also carry quite an auspicious significance.

Kingyo print yukata (summer kimono) from Furifu (ふりふ)

Kingyo come in a variety of colours of white, blue, red and shimmering gold. The latter two are most synonymous with goldfish and contribute to the perception of ‘summer colours’ or 夏色 (natsu iro) in Japan. Thus, when it comes to the summer related products here, kingyo is often chosen as the main adornment on anything from yukata to windchimes, uchiwa, traditional wallets and summer toys, to name a few.

Kingyo. Photo by Chieko Uemura.

Being a member of the carp family, kingyo is a close relative to koi (鯉), yet easily distinguished by the lack of whiskers or barbels. Over time kingyo have been bred to obtain different colours and colour combinations, body shapes, and features. Wakin (和金) is one of the most prevailing kingyo kind today, closely resembling koi in its shape and red-white colouring of scales.

Despite the common misconception, kingyo or goldfish is an intelligent animal with excellent eyesight in perception of 100 million colours (one hundred times more than human) as well as learning skills that allow them to recall and distinguish between different people, and with active encouragement even master nifty tricks. With proper care goldfish is known to live for decades, which makes it for a great aquatic long-term companion for us.

Raising a goldfish to its full potential requires a suitable environment that is often mistaken for a fishbowl. In reality, a fish bowl is the worst place one can attempt to keep a goldfish in. Goldfish require lots of space to move around in, in a well-filtered, high oxygen enriched water habitat. The misconception of using fish bowls as adequate goldfish housing might have originated from China using fishbowls as temporary display vessels. Historically Chinese raised goldfish in ponds, and would only move them briefly into small fish bowls to be admired by their visitors and guests.

Kingyo in the pond. Photo by Zamboni.

Where did this golden creature come from?
Goldfish first became domesticated and selectively bred into the kind that we know and love today around 10th century China. Prior to that goldfish was raised primarily for food purposes. It wasn’t introduced to Japan until 1603 in Edo era (江戸時代, Edo jidai, between 1603 and 1868). By the end of the Edo era kingyo was available to everyone and consequently lost its previously appointed status of wealth and sophistication. It was around this time, at the turn of the 19th century, when kingyo became the lead character in the game that would since become the highlight of the summer matsuri (祭, festival) culture in Japan.

Goldfish scooping at Nezu Jinja Shikyousai. Photo by kisaxdots.

Kingyo Sukui
Kingyo Sukui (金魚すくい or 金魚掬い) is a traditional goldfish scooping game that largely became associated with the summer matsuri stalls in the Taisho period (大正時代, Taishou jidai, between 1912 and 1926). Here the participants would try to fish out kingyo from a large water basin into a bowl with nothing but a rice paper scooper. However, this is easier said than done. The paper scooper breaks easily and the fish is often too quick to catch, requiring perfect timing for successful scooping. (These days you can also often find bouncy balls replacing the fish.) If you do succeed though, you get to take that goldfish home. To this day the game remains to be popular equally with adults as with kids.

Our Kingyo print celebrates this long history of kingyo as this splashy symbol of summer in Japan. The colours featured are also known to be the ‘colours of the summer’ or as previously mentioned 夏色 (natsu iro), depicted in kanji characters at the lower left corner of the artwork. Together with the Windchime Watermelon and the Katori Buta Incense prints, it makes for a triple-print Japanese summer print collection that assures the spirit of summer will live in your home all year long.

Click here to shop our PICA Kingyo print. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

New PICA print! Just in time for Halloween!

It’s already the end of September, and that means Halloween is just around the corner. And just in time for your fall-themed spooky decoration extravaganza, we are introducing—for a limited time only—our very own Japanese-style Halloween print, featuring our favourite Daruma-san as the iconic jack-o-lantern and Maneki-Neko as one of the friendly ghosts.

This print is our way of saying that Halloween can be spooky and cute—a perfect addition to your space to help you get into the spirit of the season. So don’t miss out! After all, All Hallows' Eve is just a month away.

For the Love of Gaming + New PICA Prints!

How nostalgic. I remember this as it was yesterday. Growing up in the early 90s, Russia had just been introduced to the video gaming that the world has already known for some time. At the time, the new Dendy gaming system was the one and only we knew and loved. I remember the brightly coloured cartridges that the boys in my class were fighting for to exchange. I always wanted to get my hands on one, but my dad argued that it would ‘break our TV’. Not sure if he ever really believed that; perhaps he was worried that with the system I would be indefinitely glued to the screen. Can't say the system was cheap either. Coming out right after the Russian separation from the USSR resulting in one of the biggest price inflations in history, 39,000 rubles was not a small price to pay. So, alas, I had to live out my video gaming vicariously through my friends.

Dendy, the Russian Famicom clone. Photo by Nzeemin.

At the time I did not know that Dendy was actually a clone of a system that took Asia, and shortly after North America, by storm almost a decade earlier. One great thing of growing up in the post-Soviet Union Russia in the 90s is that I got to experience first hand all the awesome things that the bubble Japan had to offer to the world in the 80s, a time when I would be simply too young to appreciate it. Sailor Moon was imported shortly after, leaving a lasting impression of the magical Japan. This is when my love affair with Japanese language and things began to take root. This is when as a kid I've made up my mind that one day I will learn to speak Japanese just as my favourite characters on TV did. I was 9 at that time.

So to commemorate my first nostalgic touch point with video gaming, I'd like to honour and pay respect to the very system that made the Dendy console I know growing up possible—Family Computer (ファミリーコンピュータ, Famirii Konpyuuta) or Famicom (ファミコン, Famikon).

Famicom console released in 1983, Japan. Photo by Evan-Amos.

The Famicom system came to life at the height of the video game crash of 1983, or as Japanese like to call it, Atari shock (アタリショック, Atari shokku). The crash came very close to devastating the entire North American gaming industry by bankrupting companies and sending it into a massive recession. This lasted for about two years, and in 1985 the industry began to recover mainly due to the widespread success of the newly introduced Nintendo’s NES.

So how did this all come to be?
In 1983 Nintendo unveiled a brand new gaming system that not only featured brand new technology, but also innovative product design. Designed to resemble a toy, to reinforce the family aspect of the system, the Famicom sported a bright red-and-white colour scheme, two hard wired controllers stored visibly at each side of the unit, and an eject lever “just for fun”.

The reaction to the new system was astounding. Within a year Nintendo ended up selling over two and a half million units. It was at this time that Japan proved to be a small market for Nintendo as it began toying with the idea of going abroad. They first approached Atari, the American video gaming authority since the early 70s, for a collaboration. Atari rejected it citing the recent video game crash resulting in an unstable video gaming market. This did not slow Nintendo down as the company decided to take matters into their own hands and introduce the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) to the North American market.

NES, Nintendo’s North American console. Photo by Evan-Amos.

The NES system was meant to look different from its Famicom predecessor. The toy-like design was scrapped in favour of a more clean and futuristic boxy design and grey colour scheme analogous to the home entertainment systems of that time. While the controllers got a small design update, the major feature change was the replacement of the top-loading cartridge slot of the Famicom model with a front-loading chamber, placing the cartridge completely out of view.

This was 1985, and the system sales proved to be tough. The video gaming crisis was still fresh on everyone's mind and few sellers were willing to take on the system. Nintendo found a way to turn things around by offering 90 days credit and accept returns on any unsold units. As a result, by 1986 the system was a North American hit and later world market success.

Famicom games. Photo by Bryan Ochalla.

So where is Dendy in all of this?
While the video gaming industry in the 80s and later in the early 90s were taking the world by storm, Russia has been completely overlooked. No one seemed to be interested in infiltrating the Russian scarce gaming market, until one company named Steepler changed things around. Using the technology, design and the cartridge format of the 1983 Famicom system, Taiwanese manufacturer created a “new” system that became known as Dendy and introduced it with much success to the Russian market in 1992. Regardless of whether it was a clone or the real deal, it was a well beloved system growing up, a true nod to Nintendo’s technological genius almost a decade ago.
 

Say hello to our new prints!

To commemorate Nintendo’s contribution to the worldview of Japan and its culture in the 80s, we came up with two print sets, available in five colour composition choices, that are sure to make any true gamer nostalgic.

This first set of prints features the notable Famicom controller. It was this controller that I remember most vividly as it inspired the controller of the Russian popular Dendy console system.

The second set of prints is a nod to Nintendo’s NES system—the system that forever changed the North American gaming industry in the 80s. I am sure these prints will bring up a lot of warm memories to anyone growing up in the West in the 1980 something.

The controller prints feature our classic PICA Pop Art colour choice variations, plus a special edition of the classic Pop Art style print combo. Enjoy!

Click here to shop our PICA Famicom and NES controller print collection. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

Support us by voting for PICA!

Robby and I are ecstatic to announce that our print has been chosen as top 12 finalists in the Art & Illustration and Paper Goods category and the top 60 finalists of the Canada 2016 Etsy Awards!!!

Please show support by voting for us here: https://etsyawards.com/ca/Finalist-...

Vote for this print!

It’s only 1 vote per person. Voting closes on June 6th, 2016. Your support is truly appreciated!

Our Etsy shop can be found here: http://picathingswelove.etsy.com/

Maneki-Neko '16 Calendar Feature

Big thank you to Eclectic Eccentricity Jewellery for featuring our Maneki-Neko '16 Calendar in their Lucky Cat finds! It is wonderful to see that our love for the lucky cat figurines is shared amongst so many mediums.