Hearts to you, Japanese ingenuity!  This tiny island the size of California fosters idiosyncratic thinking like no other region on Earth!  As sea monsters are essentially alien creatures, and Japan is surrounded by them, it stands to reason that their art, culture, and manner are so unlike anything else on Earth.

Adrift in the ocean, bred in solitude for years, the Japanese have suffered the blight of humanity’s deepest social fear, atomic warfare.  They’ve rebuilt their nation as a leader in technology, leeching parts of other cultures, but retain an essential Japanese-ness.

This Japanese-ness is defined by what they do embrace and what they do not embrace.  Even within their own society, there are strict social rules and defined roles to play.  But from this rigidity comes a playful creativity, innocent in its perversity.  And perverse in its innocence.

Case in point:  These fabulous Kanji creatures, Mojibakeru!  They’re 3D toys of Japanese kanji characters, anthropomorphized to physically emulate the animal they represent.  A physical kind of concrete poetry, these toys live in a space Roman-character readers can never access.  I found these toys on my favorite blog, Pink Tentacle.

These toys touch meaning, language, play, hi-concept artistry, and basic attention to detail and craftsmanship.  Japan sends another genius creation out into the world as if it were only child’s play.*

*I hereby offer myself as a companion to any travelers to Japan.  You buy tickets & provide lodging.  I’ll translate, order our food, and talk incessantly about the history of the country.  Not included:  navigation skills.  Trust.  Not included.