#kotos photos

[voteforkoto]

A few pages from my zine Lunchmeat !

I am beyond elated to see my zine all stapled and binded together. I loved making this, it was so fun to put this together. Having people buy it is honestly the last goal that I have besides being able to make something and show it, despite how random and unserious it may be named or even look. Learning about all facets of self expression, even the awkward moments or moments of uncertainty. Cheers to anyone who bought one/has looked at this and to the life this zine has beyond its creation.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Malays from Koto Gadang, near Fort de Kock, modern-day Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia

Dutch vintage postcard

[zangyo]

this is the stuff koto makes kento to take to work for lunch but she puts him in a little kento suit

     SOMETIMES THE FOOD KOTO prepared for him made him not want to eat it. Not due to it being unpleasant or her cooking lacking, but because of how much of her time she put in the presentation. That, and of course, because he loved this particular Sanrio character – had since he had been a teen – quietly, secretly, but they were adored all the same. ❝Koto, you make it hard to…want to eat my lunch when you go through all this effort.❞ But he had to. It would be rude to not do so.

[yridenergyridenergy]

do you have pictures of all of kyo's tattoos you could make into a master post?

Judging by how long it took me to reply to this (57 days), I didn't hahah.

While compiling all of it into a sort of encyclopedia of each tattoo would have been possible, I just felt that it was slightly cringe? Sure, it's obviously all skin that he has shown us, but... There's something too uncomfortable about it, until he actually does another full-body photoshoot on his own. I opted for a list instead, and I'll give you links to some posts that show examples:

SCALP

Dum Spiro Spero statue

Chrysanthemum flower(s)

Barbed wire

Flames

Eye fresque (?)

(Nape) Enneagram (nine points, astrology-related)

FACE

Uranus symbol

Handwritten "Vanitas" (?)

Small x at external corner of right eye

NECK

Blended female heads (reminescent of Ochita koto no aru sora cover art)

H.R. Giger art

Handwritten "truth"

"Damned" with skulls

Skull with crown

RIGHT ARM

Noh mask with string

Scribbled-over blue butterfly with the Russian word for "To be born"

White/negative space flames

White flower/leaf

Spider with skull etched on back

Jewelry

Queen crown

Skeletal queen with black censor bars over eyes and mouth "GOD KILL THE QUEEN     MAD STALIN"

Leathery gauntlet patch (?) that quickly covered up the Russian words for:  "Eternal" "Sleep" "Mind" "Freedom" "Happiness" and a blue star

LEFT ARM

Chinese-style dragon

Phoenix

FINGERS

Handwritten "Vice" & "Virtue"

"S A V E"

Christian cross covered by longer black triangle

Skull holes (knuckles)

Norse runes (Mannaz, Laguz, Hagalaz) & upside-down Russian orthodox cross

"God" and "Pain" in Russian

Flame tribal mark (?)

HANDS

Anarchist "A" in circle symbol (right palm)

"The Emperor Is Dead"

Thorny ring

ABDOMEN

Ankh cross (with loop) meaning eternal life, with a Noh mask/face inside it

Inner forearms bound at the wrists, palms facing up with at least one showing a lucky square, a W/M of fortune and a long, straight vertical Life line (re: palmistry, or the characters on the second palm form a word)

Tiger with red flames

Handwritten "triginta duo" (32 in Latin) (?)

Skulls

Yokai with two pairs of eyes

White heron or phoenix

Skull ghoul

Oni mask/head with horn and jewelry

BACK

Eye surrounded by illumination lines near nape

Sanjusangendo Kannon

Black smoke swirls

LEFT LEG

"To live and die with a sense of inferiority is all I know."

Flames, waves, clouds

Large sakura flower (?)

"AXIS"

Swirls

Geisha with burnt left side of the face

Large chrysanthemum flower

White spider web (?)

Skulls

Duplicated Noh masks (art by _suzani on instagram)

RIGHT LEG

Large chrysanthemum flower

Rooster

Negative/black space

Flames, waves, clouds

"LOOP"

Noh mask in a triangle (art by dualflow on intagram)

Honeycomb (?)

Koi fish

FEET

Symbols for Mercury, Sun, Jupiter & Venus (toes)

Handwritten "the reckless love"

Most of Kyo's tattoos were credited to nobuisobe666 (Instagram), while Sezuni did his back tattoo and the anarchist A in his palm.

Unknown tattoos:

Hip area

Ankles

Rest of feet

Some pictures:

Rock And Read 115 - Petit Brabançon

Rock And Read 098 - sukekiyo 1 2 3

Rock And Read 087

MadaraNingen x Milkboy photoshoot

Instagram 1 2 3 4 5

Tour24 Psychonnect screenshots

Tour22 FROM DEPRESSION TO________ 25th Anniversary screenshots

Graphic from Twitter

PHY vol.14

Tattoo Tribal vol.65

The World You Live In gifs

Natalie.mu Petit Brabançon

Barks Petit Brabançon

Don't Forget by Petit Brabançon promotional photo 2 3

sukekiyo Tour24 Tsumetai Chinmoku screenshot

[ofhouses]

1226. Kazuhiko Namba + Kai Workshop /// House in Minamisuna /// Minamisuna, Koto City, Tokyo, Japan /// 1992-93

OfHouses presents: Japanese Fields OfHouses, part XVIII. (Photos: © Hiroyuki Hirai. Source: ‘Jutakutokushu’ 04/1994.) — This project will be published in our upcoming book: ’Japanese Fields | OfHouses.’

[croquis-el]

Authentic Japan in Gyakuten Saiban pt. 2

We continue the series of posts about authentic Japanese things in the world of Gyakuten Saiban. Today the focus will be on case 3-5, which takes place high in the mountains at the Hazakura temple.

真宵ちゃんによ��ば、《円座》というらしい。

mayoi-chan ni yoreba, “enza” to iurashī.

According to Mayoi-chan, it's called a "Enza."

……きっと、ここに来なかったら

一生、知らなかっただろうな。

… kitto, koko ni konakattara isshō, shiranakattadarou na.

...If I hadn't come here, I would never have known.

It would seem that Naruhodo was so active in commenting in 2-2, and here he refers to what Mayoi told him. But let's pay attention to the fact that he had never seen such pillows, so he could not know their name. (the theory of familiarity with interior items through relatives).

In fact, this is quite understandable - in Japan, enza were actively used only until the Edo period (1600-1868), and after cotton was brought to the country, they were replaced by "zabuton" pillows.

This fact can be used to measure how ancient the Ayasato clan is, compared to the Naruhodo clan, even if the tradition of using some no longer common interior items has been preserved.

___________________________________________

火鉢のまわりに、ワラで編んだ座ぶとんが並んでいる。

hibachi no mawari ni, wara de anda zabuton ga narande iru.

Straw cushions are lined up around the hibachi.

テレビの時代劇でしか見たことのない光景だ。

terebi no jidaigekide shika mita koto no nai kōkeida.

It's a scene I've only seen in historical dramas on TV.

He continues to call enza "straw zabuton".

Hibachi is a traditional Japanese portable stove for heating and cooking food, traditionally located in the center of the room.

___________________________________________

きゃあ、カワイイ! お地蔵さんがいっぱいだよ!

kyā, kawaī! Ojizōsan ga ippaida yo!

Oh, so cute! There are lots of Jizo statues!

ここには、かわりに事務所のコケシ、置いとけばいいでしょ。

koko ni wa, kawari ni jimusho no kokeshi, oi tokeba īdesho.

Why not just put the office Kokeshi doll here instead?

(sō ieba, ano kokeshi wa doko kara arawareta nda?)

(Now that I think about it, where did that Kokeshi doll come from...?)

Jizo (地蔵/womb of the earth), as they are called, are made in the image of Jizo Bosatsu, guardian deity of children and travellers.

Jizo also affectionately called “O-Jizo-san” or “O-Jizo-sama”.

Jizo are properly called “Jizo Bosatsu”, originating in ancient India where in Sanskrit they are called Ksitigarbha, which means earth womb. Jizo are often dressed in red bibs and hats as in Japan it is believed that the colour red can help ward off evil.

Kokeshi (こけし, 小芥子) are simple wooden Japanese dolls with no arms or legs

Although kokeshi dolls are primarily used as children's toys, they are also symbols of hopes for a bountiful harvest, wishes for good fortune and good luck, and great appreciation for craftsmanship and culture.

Mayoi unironically suggests that they steal one of the statues to the office, to which Naruhodō simply ignores, but also ponders another detail - where did the Kakeshi doll in his office come from? It was clearly not his doing. And the person who brought this doll clearly did so with only good intentions - a wish for good luck and an expression of appreciation for craftsmanship. Any suggestions? (Wrong answers only)

___________________________________________

There are several more moments in Case 3-5 related to cultural heritage. And what's even more intriguing is that they are all related to Mei Karma (Franziska von Karma). But, unfortunately, I have a limit on the number of attached photos, so wait for the next part.

[nightingale-prompts]

“average ace attorney game gets 3 backstories per character” factoid is actually just statistical error. average ace attorney game gets 1 backtory per character. Backstory Apollo, who lives in Khura'in & gets over 10,000 backstories, is an outlier and should not have been counted.

Jokes aside instead of complaining that Apollo gets too many backstories I choose to embrace it. I keep adding more backstories, each more wild then the others. He's my little doll and I get to play with him. Each backstory only comes up wherever a case forces the cast to investigate a seemingly unrelated crime.

Musician accused of killing his manager/lover? Apollo used to date him, wrote songs for him (that he stole) and Apollo knows damn well he doesn't like women. And the manager was actually his new songwriter because the guy was a fraud but he was to cowardly to murder someone.

A horse is accused of killing his rider(because if a whale could be on trial so can a horse) Apollo used to do mounted archery competitions in honor of Khura'in tradition and mostly for money to pay for college. Apollo knew the horse through being at the same competitions and knowing fellow riders. The horse was deliberately spooked and Apollo tested it by riding the horse through the obstacle course with no problem and then making an inexperienced rider (Phoenix) do the same with no problems.

Small Japanese restaurant/venue in danger as someone is stalking one of the workers. Apollo is called in as a favor since he used to work there as the most popular worker. But no one knows because it was an all-women staff. The restaurant was well known for making photo books, albums, videos and calendars of their female workers. The owner points to one of the posters and tells them that it's Apollo. He used to crossdress and work there under the table to get by after he became independent. It allows them to investigate the stalker because he was a major fan of Apollo who was actually mistaking the new girl for Apollo's old persona. In the end the ower invites everyone to a few meal and performance and twisted Apollo's arm to put on his old kimono and perform again on the koto.

The possibilities are limitless.

[sgtgrunt0331-3]

U.S. Marines pause on the road from Hagaru-ri to Koto-ri during their fighting withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir in December 1950. In the distance, smoke is seen billowing into the sky after Marine F4 Corsairs completed a napalm run on enemy hillside trenches. This epic battle became one of the harshest and most bitterly fought in Marine Corps history.

(Photo courtesy of the Department of Defense)

[fashionbooksmilano]

Chic Clicks

Exhibition curator Ulrich Lehmann

Hatje Cantz Publ. , Berlin 2002, 150+140 pages, 23,5x30cm, ISBN 3-7757-1135-X

euro 90,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

Catalogue reads from both directions, with texts in the center of the book, with hundreds of full color photographs by a range of artists including Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Anders Edstrom, Takashi Himma, Richard Prince, Collier Schorr, Cindy Sherman, Larry Sultan, Erwin Wurm, and many others. Published on the occasion of the exhibition held first in Boston from January 23-May 5, 2002, and subsequently at Fotomuseum Winterthur from June 15-August 18, 2002. 

Chic Clicks est la première publication traitant du conflit entre la revendication artistique et la réalité commerciale dans la photographie de mode. 40 photographes de renom présentent des travaux libres et inédits ainsi que des commandes publiées dans des magazines de mode ; cinq essais traitent de la photographie de mode dans sa signification culturelle et sociale.

Chic Clicks présente à la fois des clichés privés et expérimentaux de photographes qui se sont fait un nom avec des photos de mode, et des photos de mode de photographes qui se sont d'abord fait connaître par leur travail artistique et qui, par conséquent, ont reçu des commandes de magazines de mode et d'entreprises.

Les artistes : Fred Aufray, Laetitia Benat, Anuschka Blommers & Niels Schumm, Koto Bolofo, Mark Borthwick, Jean-François Carly, Alex Cayley, Banu Cennetoglu, Donald Christie, Philippe Cometti, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Corinne Day, Horst Diekgerdes, Anders Edström, Alexei Hay, Takashi Homma, Mikael Jansson, Marcelo Krasilcic, Christophe Kutner, Tom Lingnau et Frank Schumacher, Glen Luchford, Richard Prince, Dmon Prunner, Blaise Reuterswärd, Terry Richardson, Satoshi Saikusa, Jimo Salako, Luis Sanchis, Collier Schorr, Cindy Sherman, David Sims, Antonio Spinoza, Larry Sultan, Iké Udé, Javier Vallhonrat, Jonathan de Villiers, Matthias Vriens, Erwin Wurm

10/06/24

[postcard-from-the-past]

Malays from Koto Gadang, Sumatra, Indonesia

Dutch vintage postcard

[love1kimono]

A Geisha Standing With a KOTO

This circa 1880s-90s Geisha is standing next to Japan's "National Musical Instrument" --- the KOTO.

The Koto has a nominal length of about 1.8 meters / 6 feet long (sometimes a bit longer), and is played while horizontal --- usually on the floor, but sometimes on a table or stand.

The standard instrument has 13 strings, but this number can vary. The one in the photo has 13 (as well as 13 movable bridges). At first glance, there seems to be less than 13 bridges, but that is because several of them are in close pairs.

Scanned by Soba from an original albumen print. Photographer and Studio unknown to me.

[konjaku]

荻[Ogi] Miscanthus sacchariflorus

In Akutagawa Ryūnosuke's novel 芋粥[Imogayu](The Yam Gruel), there is the following passage. This is the scene where a fox captured by a general 藤原利仁[Fujiwara-no Toshihito] was ordered to deliver a message. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/217513605 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujiwara_no_Toshihito

抛り出された狐は、なぞへの斜面を、轉げるやうにして、駈け下りると、水の無い河床の石の間を、器用に、ぴよいぴよい、飛び越えて、今度は、向うの斜面へ、勢よく、すぢかひに駈け上つた。駈け上りながら、ふりかへつて見ると、自分を手捕りにした侍の一行は、まだ遠󠄁い傾斜の上に馬を並べて立つてゐる。それが皆、指を揃へた程に、小さく見えた。殊に入日を浴びた、月毛と蘆毛とが、���を含んだ空󠄁氣の中に、描いたよりもくつきりと、浮󠄁き上つてゐる。 狐は、頭をめぐらすと、又枯薄󠄁の中を、風のやうに走り出した。

[Hōridasareta kitsune wa, nazoe no shamen wo, korogeru yō ni shite, kakeoriruto, mizu no nai kawadoko no ishi no aida wo, kiyō ni, pyoi-pyoi, tobikoete, kondo wa, mukō no shamen e, ikioi yoku, sujikai ni kakeagatta. Kakeagari nagara, furikaette miruto, jibun wo tedori ni shita samurai no ikkō wa, mada tooi keisha no ue ni uma wo narabete tatte iru. Sorega mina, yubi wo soroeta hodo ni, chiisaku mieta. Koto ni irihi wo abita, tsukige to ashige toga, shimo wo fukunda kūki no naka ni, egaita yorimo kukkiri to, ukiagatte iru.]

[Kitsune wa, kashira wo megurasuto, mata karesusuki no naka wo, kaze no yō ni hashiri dashita.]

The fox that was thrown out ran down the diagonally sloped surface as if tumbling, dexterously leaped between the stones at the bottom of a river without water, and this time, ran up the opposite slope diagonally with great force. As running up, it looked back and saw that the group of samurai who had captured it were still standing with their horses lined up on the far slope. All of them appeared to be small about the size of fingers lined up. In particular, the palomino and the gray (horse), bathed in the setting sun, standing out more clearly in the frosty air than depicted.

The fox turned its head and ran like the wind through the withered silver grass again. Source: https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1214737/1/80

Actually, 利根川[Tone-gawa](The Tone River) flows beyond this colony of Ogi in the photo. In the story it says 枯薄󠄁[Karesusuki](Withered silver grass, Susuki), but when I read this, always imagine the scene with Ogi spread out. Ogi is more appropriate for wide open plains and riverbeds than Susuki(M. sinensis). The two are so similar that it is difficult to distinguish, though. And, Akutagawa would not have made such a fine distinction either.

荻の穂や 頭をつかむ 羅生門

[Ogi no ho ya kashira wo tsukamu rashōmon] As I was passing near Rashōmon, the ears of Ogi grabbed my head. By Matsuo Bashō https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashōmon_no_oni

[ofhouses]

Dear friends, for the next three weeks OfHouses invites you to enjoy the eighteenth part of our very long series dedicated to some of the most unique Japanese old forgotten houses built in the last three decades of the 20th century. This will be the most comprehensive investigation of Japanese single-family housing ever published in the Western media!

In our forthcoming book “Japanese Fields | OfHouses” (scheduled for release in May ‘25), we will reveal the exact locations of all the 280 subsequent projects, plus more. Stay tuned; it’s going to be awesome!

(Cover: Namba, Kazuhiko + Kai Workshop /// House in Minamisuna /// Minamisuna, Koto City, Tokyo, Japan /// 1992-93. Photo: © Hiroyuki Hirai.)

[moongothic]

I was Once Again thinking about that one SBS question and more specifically about how it had been translated, when I accidentally came across this lowres photo of it (on KnowYourMeme of all places lmao)

(It's Vol 90, Page 174)

So the reason I had been wondering about the actual translation of what Oda said here, is because while Viz translated the first sentence of Oda's reply as "I wonder if any of them have been married.", fantranslations have ranged from "The marriage experience, huh." to "I wonder if any of them have been to a wedding."

Needless to say, those are all very different things.

But now that I got access to the original text, I get to read it for myself and check what Oda actually said! So here goes (assuming I'm parsing the lowres jpg correctly)

結婚経験あるんですかねー。子供がいるのかいないのか知りませんが、とりあえず僕の想像でお楽しみください。 Kekkon keiken arun desu ka nee. Kodomo ga iru no ka inai no ka shirimasen ga, toriaezu boku no souzou de otanoshimi kudasai.

Arguably, the most literal (and thus clunky) translation would go something like "I wonder if they do have experience in marriage. I don't know if they have kids or not, but for now please enjoy what I imagined up". So I would say Viz's official translation is indeed the best/most accurate one-- like for the "been to a wedding" version to be an accurate translation then Oda would've had to say something along the lines of 結婚式に行ったことあるのかな (Kekkonshiki ni itta koto aruno ka na), and the "marriage experience, eh" version excludes Oda wondering if any of the three actually have any.

And, yeah, now I know. Fan vs official translations can have very interesting differences to begin with for a variety of reasons (not even getting to when mistranslations happen, which can and does happen to both), but with a series like this with a lot of "Oda said this" and "Oda said that" going around, it is really nice if you can doublecheck things yourself. Now this translation ghost will no longer haunt me!

And I can focus all my neurons on the missing ring instead!

[l-crimson-l]

I'd love to get into girlpla, I'm just a bit too broke to afford any kits; however, if you'd like to talk about it as a whole, I'd be more than happy to hear.

So…let me try this again. I had a whole nice post written up and I swapped off for a moment to check something and I completely lost the post.

Mecha Musume has a pretty long history that I’m not going to go into but here’s a little video if you’re interested.

Now when most people think of Mecha Musume there’s basically one standout line above them all: Frame Arms Girl.

This line is a bit old now but its popularity has set the aesthetic style for the market as it stands now. The build of these are…ok. Kotobukiya was definitely learning with these kits but they’re still solid at the end of it.

Now if you’re like me you’re not too much a fan of the pantsu out look, and other kits in the line don’t exactly do anything to mitigate that feeling (looking at you Durga I).

The next line Koto would release would be better at this tho. The Megami Device line features all original designs as well as collabs from new and old mecha musume brands alike.

First thing off the bat this is that they’re pricey. At an average cost of $70 you’re basically buying a Bandai MG gunpla. That said, they all typically come with a bunch of option parts. These are usually in the form of unarmored limbs, different chest pieces, face plates (with water slides to make your own) and extra connectors to help with kitbashing. Koto also has released option body segments to let you swap any part of the body you might want to if the right option isn’t available in the box (~$12). It should be noted the newest kits in this line have brought the price down to $50 as well as reengineered the build to add a lot more articulation and pose-ability.

Also in this lines favor is the articulation and build quality. You’re going to get a nice range of motion with or without armor and some of the smaller details also sometimes come pre painted.

That said Kotobukiya is a company that favors more complex character design over an Out Of Box experience so there’s some smaller details that are etched into the kit but unless your paints them won’t be color correct. I would say this is pretty common across most Koto lines.

Both the FAgirls and Megami Device are scaled at 1/12 so Little Armory guns and the whole market of 3rd party accessories will work with these kits.

Next up is Koto’s Sousai Shoujo Teien which is simple girls as plastic models

A little cheaper and at 1/10 scale instead of 1/12. I’ve not built any but I do know they can bash with Megami Device and Hexa Gear lines just fine. If you take a peek at the JP girpla community there’s actually a niche but healthy group dedicated to taking nice photos of their kits dressed up in everyday scenarios.

Finally the newest line of Koto girl kits is the Arcanadea line.

Purely in a fantasy take these are Incredible kits. I’ve only built one (Lumitea) but it was far and away a much better build experience than the FAgirl kits. These are actually designed by a vtuber artist iirc which is why the designs are so different than other Koto kit lines. If you have the cash and want to try something different I would highly recommend.

Now finally we get to Bandai. After learning from their failures with the Hg Build Fighters girls they went back and designed something solid and what got me into mecha musume: 30 Minute Sisters

Right off the bat with an average price of around $30 the barrier to entry is much easier. While not as refined as the Megami Device line, these simple kits cram in a lot for the price. You’ll get an armored and unarmored form, as well as face plates. However the biggest selling point is How Damn Easy they are to bash. Being apart of the 30M line means they’re completely compatible with the 30MM line of mechs. Which also means all of those extra weapon and armor sets transfer over for the most part. And that’s not even talking about the dedicated 30MS option sets like hair parts, body parts, etc.

This is a Very beginner friendly line of kits and the place I would suggest most people starting if they’re looking to get into mecha musume.

This example I think uses about 5 different kits to build and I don’t believe any serious modifications were needed.

Another Bandai line to mention is the Standard Figurise line which you’ll be familiar with if you’ve picked up the Sulletta, Miorine or ChuChu kits. Typically pretty solid kits (uma musume excluded, only get the 30ms version of that one) they usually include characters from a variety of different shows. These are still of course bash-able but not without modification.

With the explosion of popularity with these kits means we have even more companies now joining in the race. ATK and MS General have a bunch of kits to offer and we see new companies pop up some really sick looking kits (see tgat Galahad)

We even have Plamax giving us the really cool looking GODZ ORDER kits and soon character kits from Blue Archive, Konosuba and others.

For these smaller/third party companies I would suggest doing plenty of research before buying one. The ATK kit that I made was Especially frustrating and required a lot of extra work to make parts fit right or to clean them up so they fit at all. Not to mention the extra detail work required to really make them look like the box example. Just do your homework.

I hope this helps!! It’s a growing market so there’s always more kits being announced. This should have covered the majority of kits out there but IMPORTANT! Check sites like AmiAmi for sales or resales on kits. You can sometimes find an unbuilt kit that retails at $70 going for $30.

USAGS will regularly get Koto kits in and new releases but by no means believe them when they say a kit is USAGS exclusive. Remember to check HLJ as well. Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll do my best to answer them!!

[vivionthemoon]

“tinker belle’s forest” vogue nippon march 2002, photo by koto bolofo.