Last week, after visiting my parents' house, I stopped by an art museum in Kyoto on the way home to see an exhibition which featured the Japanese illustrator, Takashi Yanase. He is best known as a creator of Anpanman. Anpanman is a superhero among Japanese children, and when my daughter was a kid, she loved him. I used to draw the face of Anpanman and other characters' whenever she asked. Now, my two-year-old grandson is a huge fan of him as well. Anpanman has a long-running TV series and most Japanese children grow while watching it. Most stories are quite simple like Anpanman is the hero and Baikinman is the villain, but they can learn proper Japanese, basic morals, social rules, empathy and more through the show.
Since it's a summer brake for children, the museum was packed with parents and children.
The picture below shows Anpanman the superhero. His face is made with anpan (sweet roll filled with red beans paste), and every time he sees people who are in trouble, he always helps them. He sometimes gives a part of his face to save people's lives.
The next picture below shows Baikinman who is a troublemaker for Anpanman. He loves annoying Anpanman.
The picture below shows the illustrator and the author, Takashi Yanase.
I bought a catalog for myself and a picture book for my grandson. The Anpanman book series is wonderful to learn Japanese for young children.
Since photography wasn’t allowed inside the exhibition, I'd love to share some of his art from the catalog. He used to publish illustration magazines called 詩とメルヘン( shi to melhen, poems and fairly tales), and I was a big fan of the magazines. So, I was excited to see some original pieces in the exhibition. There were so many original illustrations which were used for picture books as well. I prefer his poetic, fairly tale-style paintings over his Anpanman works. Each painting makes us think its has some meaning.
This butterfly painting reminded me of my favorite Spanish artist Salvador Dalí .
I'm thinking to paint Anpanman on canvus for my grandson. I'd love to frame it when I finish. It might be a great idea.
If you are curious about Anpanman, you can click here.
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