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Description

Shameless plugging for my work(!) blog about the San'in region of Japan, since there will be more to come in a simple manga retelling of the Kunibiki (land-pulling) legend over the course of the next few months: saninstory.wordpress.com/

I've been writing simple manga renditions of the Kojiki (and otherwise) myths that took place in this region of Japan, and because last year was the Year of the Snake, it was obvious that I should make a nengajo (New Years greeting card) with an eight-headed serpent theme--this was the home of the Yamata-no-Orochi, after all (see that one here: wafuru.deviantart.com/art/Neng… ). The Year of the Horse was not quite as obvious, though. I figured I'd just draw whatever and add a horse, but then I remembered that there are wild horses on the Oki Islands! What's more, the Oki Islands are involved in the Kunibiki legend, which I'll be writing next! It's a bit of a stretch, but here is the great god Yatsuka (his real name is much longer), a hero of local Izumo mythology who dragged chunks of land from other parts of Japan and from the Korean peninsula to form the Shimane Peninsula. He's sort of playing tug of war with a horse from a chunk of the Oki Islands getting dragged over to the continent. To add some character, I included the hero of some other Kojiki myths I plan to work on this year.

Start reading the Kojiki manga here: saninstory.wordpress.com/the-k…

The characters represented here are my interpretations of legendary characters, and the art belongs to me, but everyone is welcome to use this if they so chose as their own New Year's card to post or send out, so long as you provide the blog address. Happy Year of the Horse, everyone!

Featured:
Yatsuka (Shinto god who wanted to the land of Izumo to be bigger)
Mt. Daisen: The "Mt. Fuji of Izumo", though technically it's in Hoki and is visible from many parts of Izumo. Yatsuka used it in the Kunibiki legend.

A horse: Because 2014 will be the Year of the Horse, and because there are wild horses on Nishinoshima, one of the Oki Islands (a new UNESCO Geo-park!). I'm hoping to visit the Oki Islands this year and see these horses for myself. While I'm not hanging on the beach, anyway.

The shore of Nishinoshima: Because I used a Nishinoshima horse, and land from the Oki Islands was used the Kunibiki legend.

Sea shells: Because I wanted a different texture than just waves, and there are naturally bright orange, yellow, pink and purple sea shells found in Oki.

Sharks: Because crocasharkagators: saninstory.wordpress.com/2013/… (I'm hoping to illustrate another short local legend about them this year, too)

Onamuji/Okuninushi: A major character in the Kojiki legends, who I've written one story about so far. He is destined to because the lord of the land of Japan, but has many trials to undergo first.

Rats: Because they help Okuninushi out.

Creepy-crawly things, flames, and a flaming, tumbling boar: Because Okuninushi still has many trials to undergo... I hope I'll get to writing them all this year.

Materials: Deleter paper, micron pens.

Description

Shameless plugging for my work(!) blog about the San'in region of Japan, since there will be more to come in a simple manga retelling of the Kunibiki (land-pulling) legend over the course of the next few months: saninstory.wordpress.com/

I've been writing simple manga renditions of the Kojiki (and otherwise) myths that took place in this region of Japan, and because last year was the Year of the Snake, it was obvious that I should make a nengajo (New Years greeting card) with an eight-headed serpent theme--this was the home of the Yamata-no-Orochi, after all (see that one here: wafuru.deviantart.com/art/Neng… ). The Year of the Horse was not quite as obvious, though. I figured I'd just draw whatever and add a horse, but then I remembered that there are wild horses on the Oki Islands! What's more, the Oki Islands are involved in the Kunibiki legend, which I'll be writing next! It's a bit of a stretch, but here is the great god Yatsuka (his real name is much longer), a hero of local Izumo mythology who dragged chunks of land from other parts of Japan and from the Korean peninsula to form the Shimane Peninsula. He's sort of playing tug of war with a horse from a chunk of the Oki Islands getting dragged over to the continent. To add some character, I included the hero of some other Kojiki myths I plan to work on this year.

Start reading the Kojiki manga here: saninstory.wordpress.com/the-k…

The characters represented here are my interpretations of legendary characters, and the art belongs to me, but everyone is welcome to use this if they so chose as their own New Year's card to post or send out, so long as you provide the blog address. Happy Year of the Horse, everyone!

Featured:
Yatsuka (Shinto god who wanted to the land of Izumo to be bigger)
Mt. Daisen: The "Mt. Fuji of Izumo", though technically it's in Hoki and is visible from many parts of Izumo. Yatsuka used it in the Kunibiki legend.

A horse: Because 2014 will be the Year of the Horse, and because there are wild horses on Nishinoshima, one of the Oki Islands (a new UNESCO Geo-park!). I'm hoping to visit the Oki Islands this year and see these horses for myself. While I'm not hanging on the beach, anyway.

The shore of Nishinoshima: Because I used a Nishinoshima horse, and land from the Oki Islands was used the Kunibiki legend.

Sea shells: Because I wanted a different texture than just waves, and there are naturally bright orange, yellow, pink and purple sea shells found in Oki.

Sharks: Because crocasharkagators: saninstory.wordpress.com/2013/… (I'm hoping to illustrate another short local legend about them this year, too)

Onamuji/Okuninushi: A major character in the Kojiki legends, who I've written one story about so far. He is destined to because the lord of the land of Japan, but has many trials to undergo first.

Rats: Because they help Okuninushi out.

Creepy-crawly things, flames, and a flaming, tumbling boar: Because Okuninushi still has many trials to undergo... I hope I'll get to writing them all this year.

Materials: Deleter paper, micron pens.