For Immediate Release:

This week The Hundreds releases two limited edition T-shirts at our flagship stores in SF and LA. We’ve teamed up with comic book creator Stan Sakai, well-known for his comic book series Usagi Yojimbo, which is currently published by Dark Horse Comics. Both shirts feature the star of Sakai’s saga, Miyamoto Usagi, a ronin samurai rabbit, who is loosely based on Miyamoto Musashi – a famous Japanese swordsman. The top back of each tee features the Bomb logo, Stan Sakai’s signature, and the Dark Horse Comics logo. To coincide with the release, Stan Sakai will be making an appearance at our LA store from 11 am to 12pm, to sign the latest issue of his monthly comic. The first 25 people to arrive will also receive a signed copy of the first full-color Usagi Yojimbo graphic novel, Yokai.

Available this Saturday at the THLA and THSF stores.

Hachidai shrine (八大神社) is right next to Shisendo, and is most famous because of it’s association with Miyamoto Musashi, one of Japan’s most famous swordsmasters. Supposedly he came here to pray before the epic battle with the Yoshioka school in which he single-handedly consigned an entire branch of the school to oblivion.  Here’s how Wikipedia tells the tale:

Musashi challenged Yoshioka Seijūrō, master of the Yoshioka School, to a duel. Seijūrō accepted, and they agreed to a duel outside Rendaiji in Rakuhoku, in the northern part of Kyoto on 8 March 1604. Musashi arrived late, greatly irritating Seijūrō. They faced off, and Musashi struck a single blow, per their agreement. This blow struck Seijūrō on the left shoulder, knocking him out, and crippling his left arm. He apparently passed on the headship of the school to his equally accomplished brother, Yoshioka Denshichirō, who promptly challenged Musashi for revenge. The duel variously took place in Kyoto outside a temple, Sanjūsangen-dō. Denshichirō wielded a staff reinforced with steel rings (or possibly with a ball-and-chain attached), while Musashi arrived late a second time. Musashi disarmed Denshichirō and defeated him. This second victory outraged the Yoshioka clan, whose head was now the 12-year old Yoshioka Matashichiro. They assembled a force of archers, musketeers and swordsmen, and challenged Musashi to a duel outside Kyoto, near Ichijoji Temple. Musashi broke his previous habit of arriving late, and came to the temple hours early. Hidden, Musashi assaulted the force, killing Matashichiro, and escaping while being attacked by dozens of his victim’s supporters. With the death of Matashichiro, this branch of the Yoshioka School was destroyed.

Because of the association with Musashi, Hachidai has — in addition to a very prominent statue of Musashi — a variety of Musashi-related paraphernalia on offer, including a special goshiun stamp that features Musashi in full attack mode with both katanas blazing.

1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
21. Never stray from the Way.

(Explanation:  KOEI’s series of “Warriors” games are flashy beat-em-up titles with RPG elements and always feature a very colorful cast of characters.  While maligned by reviewers, they have a cult-following among people who realize that Double Dragon and Final Fight weren’t exactly  Civilization IV in terms of depth either, but were still fun.  With each iteration of the game series, though, the character roster has 9-10 guys who look like they can’t wait to leap into a tent and start giving each other the business.  This is our light-hearted look at the poofiest of the poofters.)

#3.  Kojiro Sasaki

Quotes:         

“You’re tying me up? How quaint.”
“My, you’re quite strong. I’m getting goosebumps.”
“I’ll kill you in ways you never imagined.”

Weapon:     His pale, uncircumcized penis.   Wait, hold up.  Actually a no-dachi.  A big, uncircumcized no-dachi.

Known For:     Talking about wanting to “defeat” Miyamoto Musashi while everyone around rolls their eyes because they know what he really means.

What do you get when you combine a man who wears way too much makeup with a man who looks like a woman?  Nothing legal in California, that’s for sure.  But more importantly, you get Kojiro Sasaki, a frightening queen with what looks to be a fairly serious compensation problem.  You may remember this man from the last time you saw him wearing a wig and keeping women in a pit.

Kojiro captures spot number #3 on the Big Homos list with a cunning strategy combining predatory homosexual behavior with heavy use of cosmetics.  His well-documented desire to plunge every inch of his oversized blade into arch-nemesis Miyamoto Musashi is the absolute barest of euphemisms, as shown in the clip below:

Why is it that when you kill a man in war, they call you a hero…but when you kill a man out of love, they call it murder?

In actual history of course, Sasaki was a famous swordsman who met his cock against Miyamoto Musashi…shit.  Met his match.  Match.  Famously defeated in that duel by a sword carved from a boat oar, he’s a footnote in the story of Musashi, meaning his personality is not very clearly defined in whatever source material KOEI uses to shovel out the 100-character rosters in their games. 

The last thing you want to have when KOEI gets a hold of you is a non-defined personality, because KOEI will take that blank space and run with it.  Before all is said and done you might be a sub-educable retard, president of the FOX network, or, indeed, queer as a three-dollar bill.

עם חרב מעץ

ביד בלתי מנוצח

תחת השמש

Berikut ini cover dari manga Vagabond yang di karang oleh Takehiko Inoue

Dan ini yang saya gambar ulang dengan photoshop 7.0

masih kurang latihan gw.. tp segini gw rasa cukup dah..

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

oh iye, kalo mau link MF nya ada nih..

DOWNLOAD

moga2 bisa ngebantu temen dalem ngewarnain

sekedar info, ini di kutip dari wikipedia:

Vagabond

Vagabond (バガボンド Bagabondo^?) is an ongoing manga by Takehiko Inoue, portraying a fictionalized account of Miyamoto Musashi’s life, on a loose adaptation of Eiji Yoshikawa’s novel Musashi.

The manga has been serialized in Kodansha’s seinen Weekly Morning magazine since 1998 in Japan, with translations to English by VIZ Media. As of  May 28, 2009, 30 tankōbon volumes have been published in Japan, with 29 of them translated for the United States. Vagabond has, to this date, sold more than 22 million copies throughout the world.

Portrait of Hosokawa Sumimoto (1489–1520), by Kanō Motonobu (1476–1559); inscription by Keijo Shūrin (1440–1518), Japan. Muromachi period (1392–1573), 1507. Hanging scroll; ink and colors on silk. Eisei Bunko Museum, 466. © Eisei Bunko, Japan.

For more than 800 years the Samurai helped lay the foundation of Japanese culture and that legacy is explored in “Lords of the Samurai,” the Asian Art Museum’s stunning summer exhibition of over 160 rare objects from the collection of the Hosokawa family, one of Japan’s most elite warrior clans.  The exhibition, in its final three weeks (ends September 20) includes priceless armor, several breathtaking swords and other weaponry, paintings, lacquer ware, ceramics, costumes and other rare objects from Tokyo’s renowned Eisei-Bunko Museum and in the Hosokawa family’s former home, Kumamoto Castle on Kyushu island, Japan.  The objects reveal that the samurai and their daimyo (hereditary feudal) lords of pre-modern Japan were much more than just skillful military strategists and fighters; they were also artists and patrons of art and culture in its highest form.  The show is organized by the Asian Art Museum and the Eisei-Bunko Hosokawa collection, Tokyo.  This is the first time the Hosokawa’s precious collection of weaponry and artifacts have been shown in the United States and the Asian Art Museum is the sole venue for this exceptional show.  Due to the light sensitive nature of roughly 50 of the initial artworks on display, the show is now on its second rotation and new artworks have replaced those that were rotated out.   

Samurai—from loyal followers to fierce and principled elite warriors

The term “samurai” comes from the Japanese word saburau, meaning “to serve,” and was first used in A.D. 702 to describe mid-to-low-ranking court administrators and, later, armed imperial guards. Their title, mostly metaphorical, referred to their loyalty to the emperor.  By the 10th century, when provincial governors began offering heavy rewards for military service, the samurai as we know them came into being.  By the end of the 12th century, samurai became synonymous with the term “bushi” and were closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class.  The term “Samurai” held strong aristocratic overtones and brought great prestige to the samurai’s lineage—so much so that warriors would recite their ancestry on the battlefield.  The distinguished lineage of the Hosokawa clan, which can be traced back seven centuries, trumps that of the imperial family whose history extends back only a few hundred years.

Hosokawa Clan, weilding power for centuries

The Hosokawa clan descended from Emperor Seiwa (850-88) and a branch of the Minamoto clan, via the Ashikaga clan.  It wielded significant power over the course of the Muromachi (1336-1467), Sengoku (1467-1600), and Edo periods, and over the centuries moved from Shikoku, to Kinai, and then to Kyūshū.  The first generation of lord of the Hosokawa clan, Hosokawa Yūsai (1534-1610), came of age in the “envisioned age” of Seven Samurai and fought valiantly in eight major battles.  The samurai’s role in life was to follow a code of conduct called the Bushidō or “Way of the Warrior” and to follow the Way of Poetry.  Poetry was studied and used among the samurai as vehicle of exchange and cohesion.  Yūsai was the third person in history to have been taught the entire 15^th century Kokin denju tradition, an orally transmitted commentary on the first Imperial anthology of Japanese waka poetry (kokin wakashū).  As the sole possessor of this vital key to waka tradition, Yūsai was entwined with Japanese culture.   Yūsai is renowned because the emperor intervened in one of Yūsai’s long battles to save him proving that Kokin denju was more important than military victory.   The literary ethos of this great warrior-gentleman, who also mastered cultural, artistic and spiritual pursuits, has carried on through the ages.

The samurai maintained their elite status into the mid-1800s when Western influences started to take hold.  The question of how and when Japan’s modernization occurred is still debated but after Japan opened its port to foreigners in 1854, it went on to modernize its military forces and did away with many of the samurai’s special rights.  Following the abolition of the feudal class in 1871, the Hosokawa clan and its branches were made part of the Kazoku, the Meiji era’s new nobility.  They were given the hereditary title of Marquis (kōshaku); the title became obsolete in 1947.  The present head of the main family line, Morihiro Hosokawa, former Prime Minister of Japan, is a descendant of the Hosokawa of Kumamoto.

Ōyoroitype armor (replica), white cord lacing with diagonal corner accents (tsumadori), replica of a suit worn by Hosokawa Yoriari (1332–1391), Japan. Edo period, 1829 (after 14th century original). Iron, gilt bronze, metal, tooled leather, lacquer, braided silk, fur. Eisei Bunko Museum, 4082. © Eisei Bunko, Japan.

Armor—object and symbol

Lawrence Ellison, Oracle founder/mogul, who in the 1980’s liked to call himself ”the Silicon Samurai”–has been a passionate collector of Samurai antiquities, including an extensive armor collection.  He frequently remarked that he treasured Samurai armor for its beauty and strength and because “it encapsulates the fundamentals of Japanese character.  As comprehensively as any people on earth, the Japanese know that while we are predators, we are also constantly trying to capture our humanity through a code of ethics and a sense of honor. (Forbes 156, n.7 (September 25, 1995). 

The show opens with a 19^th century reproduction of the Ōyoroi armor worn by Hosokawa Yoriari, founder of the Hosokawa clan, in the battle of Kyoto in 1358.  This reproduction is basically a synthesis, containing parts that are historically accurate as well as parts that have been reinvented.   The exhibition also includes five other full sets of armor of different styles that span several eras, up until the end of the shogunate in the mid-1800’s.  Painstakingly handcrafted by leading artisans of the day, it is hard to imagine these ever being bloodied in combat.  In fact, most of the suits on display in the exhibition have not seen actual battle, nor have most of the battle trappings, but some objects, even ornately lacquered stirrups, do show moderate signs of wear.

Ōyoroi armor (big armor) is the most formal armor and was used from the late Heian period (794-1185) to the Kamakura period (1185-1333) in one-on-one mounted combat.  The suit weighed about 60 pounds and consisted of a helmet (kabuto), cuirass (dō), tassets (kusuzuri which are overlaced with lames) to protect the hips and shoulder guards (sode).  It had great aesthetic value and is called “shikisei no yoroi,” the right ceremonial armor.  Because a warrior’s armor became his funeral attire if he was defeated, a great deal of attention was paid to decorative details and ornamentation and it was very costly and time-consuming to produce.  An early 10th century legal compendium discussed in Karl Friday’s Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan indicates that the production of Ōyoroi required between 192 and 265 days, depending on the season and length of day.  Modern-day craftsmen normally require ten months to two years of full-time labor to construct Ōyoroi replicas.  It has been documented that this reproduction, begun in 1824, took five years to complete.  This stunning suit of armor, with its combination of white cord lacing with diagonal accents of multicolored lacing in the shoulder guards and tassets, was popular in Yoriari’s time for its exquisite refinement.

Swords—deadly and stunning

Ceremonial long sword (tachi) blade, signed “Moriie zō” (Made By Moriie), Japan. Kamakura period (1185–1333), 13th century. Forged and tempered steel. Eisei Bunko Museum, 1784. © Eisei Bunko, Japan.

It has been said that the samurai’s sword was his soul.  The legendary katana, or curved sword, invented a millennium ago, remains a marvel of aesthetic beauty and skillful engineering.  The katana embodies the perfect melding of form and function.  While most bladed weapons were designed to either pierce or slash, the katana’s two different types of steel gave it optimum qualities for both, making it a highly versatile weapon in battle.  Human bone-cutting qualities were tested and refined during actual executions.  Delivered with the proper single blow by a trained warrior, the very finest swords were able to slice but through as many as five human bodies at once. (“Secrets of the Samurai Sword,”  NOVA, an exceptional tv program airing in Sept., goes into the history of samurai swordmaking and visits contemporary Japanese metalworkers as they craft a sword from scratch using ancient techniques. )   The exhibition includes several highest quality examples of ceremonial long blade, long blade and short blade swords that were either used directly or collected by the Hosokawa clan as evidence of their family status.   

A supreme 13^th century ceremonial long blade, crafted by Moriie, has been designated an Important Cultural Property.  Moriie (active from 1249 to 1256) was from Hatada, which was near Osafune, the greatest sword-making center in the Bizen region.  This area is currently known as the southeast Okayama prefecture.  In addition to the superb workmanship on its surface steel and edge, this tachi sword (designed for cavalry combat) exhibits Moriie’s hallmark temper lines– irregular clove-shape (chōji midare) lines alternating with tadpole (kawazugo) lines.  The sword would have been sheathed with the blade edge pointing downward and slung from a waist belt.

Equally valuable were the sword’s guards and mountings which were often embellished lavishly, elevating them to works of art.  The sword guard balanced the blade and hilt and protected one’s hands from slipping onto the blade while using it.  The imperial sword guard mounting pictured here was made in late Edo period. 

Mounting for a ceremonial long sword (tachi) with nine planet family crests and gold fittings, Japan. Edo period (1615–1868), 19th century. Lacquered wood with sprinkled gold (makie) decoration, gilt bronze, gold, ray skin, leather. Eisei Bunko Museum, 29241. © Eisei Bunko, Japan.

Its scabbard is decorated in the makie lacquer technique, with nine-planet Hosokawa family crests in gold on a sprinkled pear skin (nashiji) background; variants of the family’s cherry blossom crest adorn the hilt.  Other works include exquisite fans, costumes, helmets, saddles and stirrups.

The Osher Gallery contains the workmanship of Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) the greatest Samurai swordsman of his day, perhaps of all time and a renowned painter.  Musashi was sword instructor to the Hosokawa family and founded the Niten Ichi-ryū School of swordsmanship “the school of the strategy of two heavens as one” that uses the long and short swords together.  In 1645, he wrote his great book Gorin no shô (A Book of Five Rings), a martial arts strategy manual, that is in the exhibition as a set of five scrolls.  The original of the book was lost but his trusted disciple made a copy and it has remained with the Hosokawa family.   During the 1980’s, Musashi’s popularity stateside soared as American businessmen, eager to penetrate the Japanese mind, consumed his Book of Five Rings.   Can adroitness with a sword carry over to brushwork?  Not to be missed are Musashi’s stunning folding set of two six-paneled folding screens “Wild Geese and Reeds” designated “Important Cultural Property.”  In the left screen, gracefully-rendered light-featured geese rest beneath a tree and in the right screen, dark-featured geese rest and feed.  Throughout the work, he achieves economy in brushwork while conveying energy and movement.  

Dog-Chasing: a sport for mounted Samurai 

Of the many antiquities in the Hosokawa family collection, dog lovers, archers and equestrians will be fascinated by a late 17th century Edo period six-panel folding screen depicting inuoumono (dog-chasing)– a samurai archery drill that originated in the Kamakura period during the reign of Emperor Gohorikawa (r. 1222-32) and evolved into a very popular spectator sport.  The dogs were not harmed: the goal was to shoot the running dogs with heavily padded arrows, a task that challenged the samurais’ skill as horsemen and archers.  The event typically took place in the center of an open riding ground where two concentric rings were formed with ropes. The warriors were divided into teams, and the teams waited outside the larger circle until the dogs were released from the smaller circle by a dog-handler.  Each archer the same number of padded arrows; skill and accuracy were judged according to the length of the chase and the location of a hit.  Closely codified rules governed the size of the field and the number of dogs and archers participating. 

Left 6 panels “Inuoumono” (Dog Chasing Event), Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, colors, and gold foil on paper, H 139.9 cm x W 351.8 cm (each), Japan; Edo period (1615-1868), Eisei-Bunko Museum, 4005.

Only when a dog passed over a rope was it a target and then, the only shots that counted were torso shots; shots to the head or limbs drew penalty points.  This screen is typical of early 17^th century folding screen compositions of the sport which emphasized mounted archers around the concentric ropes, watching or chasing a dog.  The brilliant colors and detailed action figures are set against a gold leaf background.   Today, only about a dozen of these folding-screen compositions are known to exist and most date to the 17th century.  Interestingly, as genre painting took hold, artists’ compositions of inuoumono changed somewhat, with increased emphasis on the spectators in attendance–their clothing, gestures, so forth.

 An Adopted Son becomes a Samurai

Other scrolls in the show range from albums of flower paintings to portraits of Hosokawa daimyos.  An exquisite hanging silk scroll portrait of Hosokawa Sumimoto (1489-1520) by Kano Motonobo has been designated “Important Cultural Property.”  Hosokawa Sumimoto, distant ancestor of the Hosokawa lineage was a warrior who experienced continual conflict and was engaged in war most of his life.   He was adopted into the line of Hosokawa shogunal deputies and into a family that already had an adopted son from the powerful Kujō family.  The Warring States period (late 15^th and 16^th centuries) was an extremely brutal time when warriors were consumed by ambition, suspicion and jealously and many members of distinguished warrior families turned against their own family members in a grab for power.  The two adoptees quarreled over succession to the Hosekawa line and Sumimoto’s brother was killed by one of Sumimoto’s supporters.  An attempt was made on Sumimoto’s life but he fled Kyoto to the Ōmi province and remained there until his position as head of one branch of the Hosokawa clan was secured.  His victory was short and he was unseated in 1508 and failed in subsequent attempts to regain his power.  He died disappointed and alone.   The portrait depicts him at age 19 mounted on his grand horse, wearing haramaki armor, a helmet with a horn like crest, his sword mounting is slung at his left side.  He carries his halberd blade up, a whip in his right hand and his reins in his left hand.  A short sword is tucked in his belt.  An inscription in fine calligraphy by Keijo Shūrin of the Nanzenji temple in Kyoto dates the portrait to 1507.  A portion of the inscription reads—“Hosokawa Sumimoto, a great archer and horseman, is far above other humans.  He is also versed in waka and appreciates the moon and the wind….Outside the citadel he takes bows and arrows; in meditation and reading of sacred books he protects Buddhism…”

Teabowl entitled “Otogaze,” black Raku ware, Raku Chōjirō (d. 1589), Momoyama period (1573-1615), 16th century, glazed earthenware, H. 8.2 cm x Diam. 10.8 cm (mouth), Diam. 5.0 cm (foot), Eisei-Bunko Museum, 1297.

Samurai Tea Practitioners—Ritual with Awesome Cups

It might be easy to dismiss this humble raku tea bowl, but this 16^th century object, called “Otogaze,” bears the designation “Important Cultural Object” and is attributed to Japan’s most famous potter, Raku Chōjirō, and as such bears rock-star status.  The bowl takes its poetic name from the jovial female deity Otafuku, also called Otogaze, and it’s thought that the bowl’s volumptuous shape inspired the name. In early raku wares like this, the raw clay was coated with a lead glaze and then fired in a small-scale kiln.

The Hosokawa family’s meticulous  records of art objects and tea utensils mention this bowl by name and indicate that it was beloved by Hosokawa Sansai (1563-1646).   Sansai was one of the family’s most important tea practitioners and one of seven disciples of Sen Rikyu (1522-1591), the tea master who perfected the Way of  Tea (chanoyu).  Rikyu composed a poem which is still quoted “Though many people drink tea, if you do not know the Way of Tea, tea will drink you up.”  Without any spiritual training, you think you are drinking tea but actually tea drinks you up.  The age-old tradition of chanoyu has been maintained throughout many generations of the Hosokawa family and is observed today.  Former prime minister Hosokawa Morihiro (born 1938), the eighteenth generation head of the Hosokawa family, is a celebrated tea practitioner and an acclaimed ceramist and calligrapher.  A number of his tea bowls and implements for the Japanese tea ceremony, no doubt inspired by ancient ones are included in the show. 

The show concludes with a series of works relating to Zen Buddhism whose emphasis on obtaining inner autonomy and self-awareness by learning to control the body through the mind and the mind through the body appealed to the highly-disciplined samurai warriors.

Ticket prices for the exhibition show include a $5 surcharge over regular museum admission.  A fully illustrated catalog of the exhibition published by the Asian Art Museum is available at the museum store, $30 softcover, $45 hardcover.

Akhirnya tim Digital di kantor saya punya anggota perempuan. Sejak pertama bergabung kembali di sini, saya menyadari bahwa komposisi tim yang mayoritas laki-laki (ada Mbak Titi, tapi dia saat ini sedang cuti hamil, and she’s like one of the boys too ) membuat kelakuan kami seperti jocks di locker room yang sering kita tonton di film-film remaja keluaran Hollywood. Biasalah, becandaan jorok, ketawa ngakak nggak liat-liat tempat, sulit untuk bisa serius, dan kecenderungan untuk berkelakuan ekstra maskulin.

Saya jadi teringat novel Musashi yang saya baca waktu SD dulu. Di salah satu bagiannya, diceritakan bahwa Musashi (atau Kojiro musuh bebuyutannya, lupa juga) berkunjung ke sebuah perguruan samurai yang cukup terhormat di masa itu. Saat melongok ke dalam salah satu bangsal tempat para samurai (laki-laki semua tentunya) tidur, ia melihat di salah satu dinding tergantung cermin, selendang, dan alat-alat berdandan. Saya kurang ingat juga tepatnya apa, tapi yang jelas benda-benda tersebut adalah barang-barang yang biasa digunakan kaum perempuan.

Waktu Musashi (atau Kojiro?) bertanya kepada samurai yang menemaninya, jawabnya kurang lebih seperti ini, “Tidak baik bagi sekumpulan laki-laki untuk tinggal dan berkegiatan bersama-sama dalam waktu lama, tanpa ada unsur-unsur feminin dalam lingkungan mereka.”

Intinya, para samurai itu diingatkan bahwa ada yang kasar dan ada juga yang lembut, ada yang hitam dan ada yang putih. Segala sesuatu harus seimbang.

Nah, berdasarkan semangat itulah, sejak awal saya sudah mengingatkan kepada Deden dan Nanda bahwa kalau jumlah proyek dan klien yang kami tangani semakin banyak, kami harus menambah anggota baru, yang sebaiknya perempuan. Setelah pencarian yang tak lama-lama amat, kami memutuskan untuk menarik Emie dari divisi Media Monitoring untuk mengisi posisi intern Account Executive.

Welcome Emie! Sabar-sabar ya menghadapi kelakuan social geeks yang kadang-kadang menyebalkan ini!

“Observa todo lo blanco que hay en torno tuyo, pero recuerda todo lo negro que existe”.

Lao-Tsé

“Sumi” es el artbook de Inoue Takehiko que recopila las ilustraciones dibujadas en blanco y negro de Vagabond. Lo más destacado del trabajo de Takehiko es la fluidez de sus trazos y el control del pincel y la tinta. De igual forma, la forma en que sus dibujos emiten el movimiento de los personajes dentro de sus entornos y el de la misma naturaleza; la luz dentro de la oscuridad, la oscuridad dentro de la luz en perfecto equilibrio; y el gran trabajo de composición de los escenarios. También, cabe destacar el increíble uso de la kinesia como material narrativo.

• Sumi

Como comentario aparte, Vagabond adapta de forma magistral la historia de Miyamoto Musashi, a excepción de algunos cambios en referente a la obra original de Eiji Yoshikawa. Yo les recomendaría, (si están interesados y sobretodo si tienen tiempo) leer los 5 libros que componen la historia completa -link-).

Y si están más interesados aún, pueden leer el libro que escribió Musashi:

• EL Libro de los 5 Anillos

Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami hidetsuna

Early this year, Zeus decided to plunge more heavily into the history, literature, philosophy, poetry, art, and drama of East Asia.  The interest in Asia began long ago thanks to a teacher in elementary school (so long ago that Confucius was still a lad), was revived thanks to an excellent couple of professors in college, and is now moving into full gear.

It’s unlikely I’ll be remembered centuries from now as a Sinologist, but I’d like to take my knowledge to better than the average layman’s level.  This really isn’t too hard either.  There are so many good translations that can be had second hand, of both Ancient and Modern Asian sources, that pursuing this course of learning is quite possible.

These are some of the works I have been reading.  A few have been listed in my previous posts under the “Books” category but I repeat them here for consistency.  I offer my personal ratings too.

Fenby, Jonathan, China’s Imperial Dynasties. One thumb down.

Watson, Burton (trans.), The Tso Chuan. Two thumbs up.

Confucius (trans. Arthur Waley), The Analects. Two thumbs up.

Watson, Burton (trans.),Chuang Tzu: basic writings. Two thumbs up.

Watson, Burton (trans.) Mo Tzu: Basic Writings. Two thumbs up.

Buckland-Wright, John (trans.), The Circle of Chalk. Two thumbs up.

Tchao, Dan Pao, Hsiang Fei. One thumb up.

Waley, Arthur, Translations from the Chinese. Two thumbs up.

Shen Fu (Pratt, Leonard trans.), Six Records of a floating life. One thumb up.

Musashi, Miyamoto, The Book of Five Rings. One thumb up.

Mascaro, Juan (trans.),The Dhammapada. One thumb up.

Miller, Barbara (trans.), The Bhagavad-Gita. Two thumbs up.

Keene, Donald (trans.), Anthology of Japanese Literature.Two thumbs up.

I’ve about this many more books in this broad area yet to read, and they are already piled up in my house.  Amazon and a local library book fair make it certain that I’ll add even more to the Asian studies pile I’m working on through the rest of the year (mostly Chinese), and into next year (mostly Japanese).  We need more bookshelves.

J’apprécie les mangas. Si vous lisez ceci, c’est que vous appréciez les mangas ou que vous voulez vous y intéresser (ou que vous êtes masochiste, au choix). On aime les dessins, les histoires, les combats, les romances… Mais il nous arrive souvent de manquer des allusions et des détails qui rajoutent de la saveur aux mangas. Tout comme un japonais aura du mal à tout appréhender en lisant un Tintin (et les « petites » tendances colonialistes de ses débuts…), il nous manque certains présupposés culturels. C’est normal vu que les japonais habitent à peu près à l’autre bout du monde et que moi en tout cas j’en rencontre pas tous les jours au petit dej’. Je vais donc vous faire part de ceux qui me semblent les plus important, enfin surtout ceux que je connais….

Un peu d’histoire pour commencer. La bataille de Sekigahara, qui a eu lieu en 1600, est aussi incontournable qu’Ikéa pour un étudiant qui s’installe. Elle décida du sort du Japon pour à peu près  260 ans et c’est la fondation du Japon tel qu’on le connaît avec l’instauration de Tokyo comme capitale par les Tokugawas. C’est une période qui est le cadre historique de nombreux mangas (Samurai Deeper Kyo,Vagabond…), mais qui transparaît dans beaucoup d’autres car c’est l’apogée période d’or des samouraïs. Dès que vous entendez (enfin lisez plutôt mais on ne va pas jouer sur les mots) des noms comme Tokugawa, Yagyu ou Miyamoto Musashi,  ne cherchez pas, ce sont des références à cette période. Je vous conseille – petite note culturelle -  le roman “La Pierre et le Sabre” de Eiji Yoshikawa pour vous imprégner ce cette époque (et en plus ce livre envoie du pâté Henaff par paquet de douze).

Autre gros référent pour nos amis nippons, les bombes atomiques sur Hiroshima et Nagasaki en 1945. L’impact sur le pays a été énorme et a profondément marqué la conscience collective des japonais. On retrouve souvent la thématique de l’explosion / fin du monde / destruction de la Terre avec tout ce que ça engendre : mort, famine, plus de connexion internet…. Pour certains mangas c’est un élément déclencheur (Hokuto no Ken, Evangelion, XBlade, Psyren…), dans lesquels le monde est devenu un désert radioactif ou bien dans lesquels l’explosion a été un facteur de changement (rien de spécial => explosion => robots géants en armure). L’autre cas, très répandu,  est que les héros ont justement pour but de faire comme Bruce Willis et d’empêcher l’apocalypse prévue en défaisant le méchant dieu / savant fou / seigneur démoniaque – barrez la mention inutile  – comme dans les très bons Saint Seiya, X, Kamikaze….

Un point plus social, beaucoup de mangas « school life » aborde le sujet de la violence à l’école, qui est bien plus une réalité de tous les jours qu’en France (c’est bien plus dur que quand Kevin vous a piqué vos billes au CM2). Le fonctionnement  communautaire des classes et le respect de la hiérarchie des âges vraiment très prononcé fait qu’il y a beaucoup de clash, sans réelles interventions des enseignants (je vous conseille le toujours culte G.T.O pour  mieux comprendre). Cet aspect de la vie des lycéens est assez important pour que des mangas lui soit consacré (Crows, Worst…), et on le retrouve très souvent dans les mangas school life, même consacré aux filles (comme dans le très bon Vanilla Ice – oui je lis aussi des mangas pour filles, et alors).

Une chose qu’il faut aussi garder à l’esprit est la différence de religion. Les japonais sont majoritairement shintoïstes ou bouddhistes et cela transparaît dans les mangas. On retrouve en effet beaucoup de références aux fantômes / âmes / esprits (Bleach, Kekkaishi, Shaman King…), ainsi qu’une grande déférence pour les morts (offrandes sur les tombes, autels dans les maisons). Les personnes décédées ont pour eux un plus grand « poids », une plus grande action sur le monde des vivants – ce n’est pas juste qu’ils aiment se faire peur et effrayer le reste du monde avec des films comme The Ring que rien que d’en parler j’en ai la chair de poule.

Bon, il resterait plein de chose à dire sur ce qui nous sépare de nos amis nippons, mais cet article est déjà bien assez long alors qu’il vous reste tant de mangas à lire ou bien des choses intéressantes à faire comme éplucher des timbres ou collectionner les bouteilles de Banga mais là ça ne dépend plus de moi.

@ plus les amis.

The Dokkodo (独行道 Dokkōdō; “The Way to be Followed Alone”) was a work written by Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵) a week before he died in 1645 on my birthday.

It expresses a stringent, honest, and ascetic view of life.

1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect (the) God(s) without counting on his/her/their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
21. Never stray from the Way.

I’m glad to say that i have been following most of these precept prior to reading and knowing about their existence. This reinforced an inherent feeling I had of a deep rooted cultural mantra that resonated within my 魂.

Resensi oleh Mantoel Toeink

Musashi
Pengarang: Eiji Yoshikawa
Penerjemah: Tim Penerjemah Kompas
Penerbit: Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Tahun Terbit: 2001
Jumlah Halaman: 1248
Genre: historical, adventure
Rating: Dewasa
Harga: Rp 190.000,- (bisa berubah sewaktu-waktu)

Sinopsis

Miyamoto Musashi adalah anak desa yang bercita-cita menjadi samurai sejati. Di tahun 1600 yang penuh pergolakan itu, ia menceburkan diri ke dalam Pertempuran Sekigahara, tanpa menyadari betul apa yang diperbuatnya. Setelah pertempuran berakhir, ia mendapati dirinya terbaring kalah dan terluka di tengah ribuan mayat yang bergelimpangan.

Dalam perjalanan pulang, ia melakukan tindakan gegabah yang membuatnya menjadi buronan hingga seorang pendeta Zen berhasil menaklukkannya. Otsu, gadis cantik yang mengaguminya, membebaskan Musashi dari hukumannya, tapi Musashi kembali tertangkap. Selama tiga tahun ia mesti menjalani kehidupan mengasingkan diri, dan masa-masa itu dipergunakannya untuk menyelami karya-karya klasik Jepang dan Cina.

Setelah bebas kembali, ia menolak diberi jabatan sebagai samurai. Selama beberapa tahun berikutnya, ia mengejar cita-citanya dengan tekad penuh mengukuti Jalan Pedang, dan menjadi samurai sejati. Lambat laun ia mengerti bahwa mengikuti Jalan Pedang bukan sekedar mencari sasaran untuk mencoba kekuatannya. Ia terus mengasah kemampuan, belajar dari alam dan mendisiplinkan diri untuk menjadi manusia sejati. Ia menjadi pahlawan yang tidak mau menonjolkan diri bagi orang-orang yang hidupnya telah ia sentuh atau telah menyentuh dirinya. Ujian puncak baginya adalah ketika ia harus bertarung melawan Sasaki Kojiro, saingan terberatnya yang masih muda dan sangat tangguh. Mereka akan mengadu kemampuan, dan Musashi ingin membuktikan bahwa kekuatan dan keterampilan bukan satu-satunya yang bisa diandalkan untuk menentukan kemenangan.

Intro

Semenjak puas dengan Taiko karangan Eiji Yoshikawa, saya mulai melirik karyanya yang satu lagi ini, Musashi. Buku dengan tampilan fisik kira-kira sama dengan Taiko ini (bahkan sebenarnya lebih tebal) butuh waktu lebih lama dari perkiraan hingga akhirnya terbeli di Pasar Buku Palasari, Bandung. Ini karena masalah dana sebenarnya…

Oke, langsung saja dimulai pembahasan isinya.

Pertama kali membuka buku, setengah sadar saya melihat siapa penerjemahnya. Murni setengah sadar lho. Lalu untuk pertama kalinya dalam membaca novel saya mendapati di sana tertulis Tim Penerjemah Kompas. Wow??? Menarik, menarik, pikir saya.

Kemudian, ada semacam kata pengantar. Satu hal lagi yang tidak biasa dari sekian banyak novel yang bertengger di lemari saya. Penasaran, saya baca juga kata pengantarnya.

Dari kata pengantar itulah saya akhirnya tahu bahwa dulunya novel Musashi ini pernah dimuat sebagai cerita bersambung di harian Kompas. Jujur, agak ngeri membayangkan buku setebal ini dimuat di koran! Berapa lama yah sampe tamat?

Kemudian, ada informasi lain bahwa novel Musashi ini awalnya memiliki tebal 35000 halaman! Ini jelas fakta yang kelewat mengerikan! 35000 halaman! Lalu ada proses peringkasan hingga menjadi 1200+ halaman (kerja keras pihak yg meringkas nih). Hal inilah yang membuat saya maklum apabila rentang waktu semua kejadian di dalam novel terasa cepat berlalu.

(masih mikir… 35000 halaman itu… apa karena pake tulisan Jepang yang pake kuas itu dan nulisnya gak bolak balik yah? Kalo iya sih masih agak wajar)

Satu hal yang baru saya sadari, ketiga novel Jepang saya (maksudnya, ditulis oleh pengarang Jepang) ternyata mengalami dua kali proses penerjemahan. Dari bahasa Jepang diterjemahkan menjadi bahasa Inggris, baru kemudian diterjemahkan ke bahasa Indonesia. Sama halnya dengan novel Musashi ini. Ternyata novel yang sudah berbahasa Indonesia ini hasil terjemahan dari versi bahasa Inggris. Ya, tidak apa-apalah, yang penting ceritanya sama kan?

Cerita

Secara garis besar, isi dari novel ini terfokus pada perjalanan hidup Musashi, sama seperti yang tersirat dari judulnya. Tapi, mengimbangi banyaknya porsi Miyamoto Musashi, tokoh-tokoh lain yang berkaitan dengannya juga diceritakan. Dari banyaknya penceritaan yang dilakukan, pembaca dikenalkan lebih jauh pada sifat-sifat karakter lainnya dan juga perasaan serta keterkaitan mereka dengan sang tokoh utama. Nyaris tak terasa adanya pemeran figuran dalam novel ini karena pemberian porsi cerita yang cukup besar kepada tokoh-tokoh lain selain sang protagonis.

Lukisan Miyamoto Musashi

Kekurangan

Kemudian… satu hal yang menurut saya cukup fatal adalah terlalu rapatnya jalinan hubungan antar karakter. Akan saya jelaskan maksudnya.

Pertama, karakter-karakter yang demikian banyak sering berpapasan atau bertemu secara kebetulan di negeri Jepang yang ukurannya lebih besar daripada Pulau Jawa dan pada masa cerita itu terjadi, belum sepadat Jepang masa kini. Seberapa mungkin sih orang tanpa sengaja bertemu dalam perjalanan menuju suatu tempat yang berbeda, tapi kebetulan saja bersilang jalan?

Kedua, hubungan yang bersifat si ini ternyata adalah anak si itu dan variasi ini ternyata… lainnya banyak beredar di antara karakter-karakternya. Kadang agak menyebalkan kan berpikir mengenai betapa kecilnya dunia ini? (betapa kecilnya Jepang ini kalo di novel ini )

Ketiga, perubahan karakter! Salah satu ciri khas sebuah novel menurut pelajaran bahasa Indonesia yang pernah saya dapat salah satunya adalah adanya perubahan nasib tokoh. Musashi menerapkannya, sangat menerapkannya, tapi dalam cara yg mendekati cara menyajikan Pop Mie. Nyaris instan. Saya tidak akan mengungkapkan terlalu detail di resensi ini karena tidak ingin men-spoiler apapun, jadi akan saya contohkan beberapa yg dpt diceritakan scr garis besar.

Misalnya,

• Teman lama Musashi. Dari yang awalnya teman, karena suatu kesalahpahaman dia jadi membenci Musashi. Sejak lama sifatnya memang luar biasa parah. Pemalas dan kurang usaha (menjengkelkan bukan? ). Kemudian, sekian ratus halaman menjelang akhir buku, dia mengalami suatu kejadian yang mengubah hidupnya. Ia tertangkap basah, nyaris menghadapi hukuman mati, namun atas kebaikan seseorang hidupnya diselamatkan dan setelahnya, ia tiba-tiba diceritakan telah bertemu kembali dengan Musashi dan sama sekali tdk nampak menaruh dendam kesumat padanya. Ada entah berapa ratus halaman, yang menguraikan seluk beluk ia dapat berbaikan kembali dengan temannya, hilang. Lalu, sama cepatnya dengan ia berbaikan kembali dengan Musashi, karakter ini diceritakan berubah sikap menjadi orang yang lebih konsisten dan bertanggung jawab. Jika memperhatikan jalannya waktu, sikap pemalas dari karakter ini telah berlangsung selama sekitar enam tahun, lalu perubahannya terjadi dan berlangsung selama dua tahun. Memang bukan tidak mungkin terjadi, tapi saya kira agak langka.

• Ibu dari teman lama Musashi. Wanita tua ini demikian membenci Musashi krn menganggapnya telah merusak anaknya. Saya berani menjamin, siapapun yg membaca novel ini juga akan merasa bete sendiri mendapati bagaimana karakter yg satu ini bersikap. Lalu tiba-tiba… Sama seperti yg terjadi pada anaknya, sekian ratus halaman menjelang akhir buku, ia bertobat! Padahal selama hidupnya dia adalah orang yang saleh, tapi tidak pernah introspeksi diri dan tiba-tiba di suatu titik menjelang akhir cerita itu ia memperoleh pencerahan yang mengubah seluruh sikapnya yang keras.

Saya, sekali lagi, menyalahkan peringkasan 35000 halaman menjadi 1200+ halaman untuk hal ini! [>_<]

Kelebihan

Cukup sekian dengan kekurangan, sekarang saatnya beralih ke komentar netral dan bagus.

Menurut saya, poin bagus yang ditawarkan oleh novel ini adalah motivasi dan pembelajaran yang ditawarkan dalam ceritanya. Saya pribadi menangkap beberapa pesan tersirat semacam perubahan itu mungkin, belajar dan berkembang seiring dengan waktu, dan memutuskan akan menjadi apa dalam kehidupan. Saya tidak memaksakan pembaca lainnya menangkap pesan yang sama dari novel ini, ketiga pesan yg saya dapat itu murni hasil tafsiran pribadi.

Saya menolerir semua kelemahan-kelemahan yang telah dijabarkan di atas karena saya rasa novel ini lebih difokuskan untuk menceritakan pencerahan-pencerahan dan pelajaran-pelajaran yang didapat oleh seorang Musashi dalam perjalanan hidupnya. Buku ini, jelas, tidak akan cocok bagi mereka yang paling malas mendapat “kuliah” mengenai bagaimana sebaiknya bersikap dalam hidup ini dari sebuah buku. Saya jelas tidak menyarankan untuk kalangan seperti itu, tapi bagi penikmat novel (standar biasa dan standar pecinta Paulo Coelho) bolehlah novel ini dijajal.

Satu hal yang lupa saya bahas. Sang pengarang novel, hidup lama setelah masa-masa Musashi. Saya benar-benar salut karena beliau sanggup menceritakan sebuah masa entah berapa ratus tahun silam dengan tingkat kebenaran yang cukup tinggi. Ini membuktikan pengarang menuliskan sesuatu dengan bekal pengetahuan yang memadai, sehingga karyanya tidak hanya berkesan apa adanya.

Skor: 9/10

Miyamoto Musashi adalah sebuah novel fiksi karya Eiji Yoshikawa yang bercerita mengenai Miyamoto Musashi, pengarang buku Buku Lima Cincin (Go Rin No Sho) yang mungkin adalah pendekar pedang (samurai) Jepang paling terkenal yang pernah hidup. Di Jepang, kisah ini pertama kali diterbitkan dalam bentuk serial di surat kabar Jepang Asahi Shimbun pada tahun 1935-1939 dan dibukukan dalam pada 1980-an. Di Indonesia, kisah ini pertama kali diterbitkan dalam bentuk cerita bersambung di surat kabar KOMPAS pada tahun 1983-1984, dilanjutkan dengan bentuk tujuh jilid buku saku pada sekitar 1990-an. Versi bahasa Indonesia diterjemahkan bukan dari kisah asli bahasa Jepang-nya (sekitar 26 ribu halaman), melainkan dari terjemahan bahasa Inggris yang lebih ringkas (sekitar 900 halaman). Pada tahun 2002, Gramedia Pustaka Utama menerbitkan kembali buku ini dalam bentuk satu buku lengkap setebal sekitar 1200 halaman. (Sumber : http://wapedia.mobi)

Silahkan unduh ebook-nya :

• buku 1
• buku 2
• buku 3
• buku 4
• buku 5

Sou um grande fã de Miyamoto Musashi, um dos grandes samurais do Japão, tenho os dois volumes do livro (dois tijolos de quase 900 páginas cada) tenho também Vagabond (coleção incompleta) que é o mangá premiadíssimo que conta a história de Musashi, hoje fiquei feliz de descobrir que existe uma animação sobre a história de Musashi sendo feita pelo estúdio Production I.G e tem como roteirista ninguém menos que Oshii Mamoru (Ghost in the Shell, Sky Crawlers) e como desenhista Nakazawa Kazuto (Samurai Champloo), ou seja, vai ser foda.

Já foram feitas várias adaptações sobre a vida de Musashi, com destaque para o filme de 1955 que ganhou o Oscar de melhor filme estrangeiro. (ainda não assisti)

No site oficial da animação já existe uma “data” para o lançamento do filme lá no Japão durante o início do verão (inverno aqui no Brasil) e já existem 2 trailers que mostram um pouco do filme, a animação está ótima e a música também…Torço para que sejam fiel a história, mas acho que não preciso me preocupar muito já que Musashi é um herói nacional lá na terra do Godzilla só quero ver como vão colocar mais de 1800 páginas do livro em um filme.

Nesse trailer eu acho que ví os discípulos da academia Yoshioka, talvez o Gonnosuke com o bastão, um cara que talvez seja o Yoshioka Denshichiro ou até o Sasaki Kojiro pelo estilo das roupas.

Este aqui está mais para um teaser do que um trailer.

Musashi is the title of the book i’m currently reading. It’s big and heavy, like reading a bible.. it has 1.250 pages !! wonder when i’m gonna finish it.

The story is about the life of Miyamoto Musashi, from an arrogant young man to a real samurai. Quite interesting so far, but sometimes it’s kind of difficult to imagine how the scenes really are in those days of samurai.

It is also one of the many books I brought from Indo. Worried that I might be so bored here, so I tried to stuck as many books as I could into my suitcases

When i was in Jkt, Gramedia book store was my favorite place to visit. I went there almost every weekend and i had bought a lot of books, but hardly ever had time to read them, he2.. Just a collector, i called myself

I miss going to Gramedia so much..

To me, Gramedia group is the best in translation of book from foreign languages into bahasa. I have read books from other translators, they sucks

Don't Mess With Drew

9 year old Bakersfield, Ca. native Drew Heredia already owns the FlyMaster’s 2009 Athlete of the Year Award.  It’s over, so tell Mike Phelps, Lebron, Tiger Woods to look forward to 2010.  Drew Heredia was strutting down the street last week when he, a little lady friend, and their pet dog were assaulted by a pit bull.  The pit bull first attacked the little dog, then it attacked Drew’s friend.  Drew Heredia don’t play that junk.  Promptly, Drew jumped on the pit bull’s back and proceeded to choke the dog out using the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu he’d been studying.  That’s what I’m sayin’!  That kid wins the award hands down. 

First of all, pit bulls catch an overall bad rap, but every once in a while a rogue pit makes the news after mauling some kids or old folks.  That’s usually because they’re owned by methed-out, trashy fools who treat animals like beasts.  Enter Drew Heredia.  He sent a message to pit bull nation loud and clear.  “Pit bulls can fade Jiu Jitsu.”  Drew, you’re a bad man.  Not only did Drew teach the dog a lesson, he didn’t even have to kill it.  That’s martial arts on the highest level.  Bruce Lee and Miyamoto Musashi are smiling down on Sensei Heredia today for his display of control and valor.  I’m thinking of moving to Bakersfield to take lessons from this kid.  Be my guide, Drew.  Lead me from the squalor of selfishness into the lightness of being that is.  After learning how to choke out pits, I’m going to focus on other animals.  Bears, marmosets, camels, manatees…no rogue animal will be safe once Sensei Drew finishes with me.  Life has purpose once again. 

FlyMaster Signing Off…For Now!