Japanese and Asian Mythology panel for 2008?

[Evaldas]

I have seen specific panels about Christian elements, travel, some explicit art, specific histories, but nothing dealing specifically with the stories themselves. I suppose I could go to a bookstore and find the material, but I think it would be cool to have a panel that gives a good run down of the basics and some interesting stories and creatures. 'Cause some of us are quite as otaku or knowledgeable about this area when it comes to anime.

And if this has been done before, forgive me. This was only my second year attending as an artist.

And, could you also offer a version of Ukiyo-E that can be shown during the day? I am more then old enough to attend the adult version, but I normally don't stay at the hotel (I commute). I would like to learn more about the art form and some of the artist and history behind it during more accessible hours.

[Darkerlight]

Hehe, I tried to get some help on this for 2007 but I'm merch staff and only one person responded to my help askings so it did not marterialize into a panel at the time. I still have the research materials! Maybe 2008 will be the year...

[Evaldas]

That would be fantastic! You will at least have one person supporting you in this.

[superjaz]

i sugested my teacher Larry Komitiz be a guest he's at profersor at psu and an  expert on japanese litrature and kabuki theater (hes credited in and writtin books on the stuff), no on was really intersted

[Evaldas]

Eh, that's horrible. For an anime convention...I kinda thought it would be appropriate that people are familiar from which the culture(s) anime is derived from.

I don't know much about kubuki...but what I do know is pretty awesome. ^^

Honesty, maybe we should do a group or something and share amongst those who are interested if we can get enough interest in a panel.

The other thing is to perhaps put a spin on it like "Kubuki in Anime"  or "Mythology in Anime".... an example perhaps would be picking a few animes that have solid representations or use( Kami and kodoma in Princess Mononoke)

But for me, I would like to know that stuff that may not be used in Anime...or serves as a jumping point for concepts and whatnot.

We have about a year to strum up some interest and I am willing to participate in that endeavor. ^^ I am done with college, so I am more then willing to dive into the materials. I miss cramming and info dumping.

[lychee-twist]

If you came to the Ukiyo-e Uncensored panel, I put that on and I'm sorry for wasting your time running around like a chicken with its head cut off ^^; I personally consider it a success, but, yeeaaah. *cough*

Anywho, I'd totally be game for attending that! That sounds awesome. If you do touch on ukiyo-e, perhaps the Tale of Genji or The Tale of Ise should be mentioned. They're reoccuring themes in Japanese art. Irises are associated with the Tale of Ise, so if you see those around, that's what they are. I think the artist Korin did iris screens.

Would you be touching on Shinto, too? The story of Ametaratsu and the mirror is pretty standard, too. Kofun period funerary statues called haniwa sometimes have round mirrors attached to their belts, and that comes from that. I don't know a whole lot about Shinto, but it sounds really interesting.

And if you're ever in Eugene, the University of Oregon's AAA library is a great resource when it comes to Japanese art history if you need examples like that. I'm sure the Knight library would cater to the mythological point. It's a huge library jam-packed with nothing but scholarly works, but it's also two hours by car from Portland.

I don't know if my comment helps, but if it does, then I'm very happy. I hope you go through with your panel. It sounds awesome!

[Antares]

This all sounds very cool. Some things I would like to know re: Japanese myths as they relate to Anime =

- Foxes. What's the deal with foxes? Are they native to Japan? Are they good / evil/ demons? And on that topic...
- What's up with Demons? Why are there so many demons? Are they the same as devils?

[superjaz]

Honesty, maybe we should do a group or something and share amongst those who are interested if we can get enough interest in a panel.

when i talked to him he said that he could probably run a pannel on the roots of anime in kabuki
and in the lit class i'm taking this fall we are going to read tales of the genji

here is a list of books he's written
http://worldcat.org/search?q=au%3ALaurence+Richard+Kominz&qt=hot_author

[Evaldas]

This all sounds very cool. Some things I would like to know re: Japanese myths as they relate to Anime =

- Foxes. What's the deal with foxes? Are they native to Japan? Are they good / evil/ demons? And on that topic...
- What's up with Demons? Why are there so many demons? Are they the same as devils?

I don't know much, but I can answer your questions:

Foxes are known as kitsune and they are often a trickster as much as are coyote and ravens in Native American myth. They can be evil or good. But that is all I really know.

As for demons, that is a loosely used term and is not necssarily as devil. Unlike in Western Christian myth where demon = evil, demon is a term that equates to being an entity, but not quite a god. There is certainly a devision between "good" demons and "bad" demons.

And then there is the kami.....

I hope I answered those satisfactory and please let me know if I am wrong or add to this. ^^

[superjaz]

- Foxes. What's the deal with foxes? Are they native to Japan? Are they good / evil/ demons? And on that topic...
- What's up with Demons? Why are there so many demons? Are they the same as devils?

on foxes, there are old kyogen plays about foxes, they show up like you would see in native american storys, tho the resoning is a bit off, like in this one story there is a fox whose family was killed by a farmer, so he pretends to be the farmers uncle and tells him to stop hunting foxes, and later the frmer see some bait that had be tamperd with by the fox and realizes that the fox must have been pretending to be his uncle

demons are really easy to make in japanese myth, take a priest who promsed to marry a girl when she was little (he jokingly said yes) when older he runs from her and she follows, he crosses a river thinking he is safe, but through her torment she turns into a snake demon and crosses the river after him

 

[Evaldas]

Boy, after reading what everyone has been suggesting, I realized that you could spend semesters talking about all the things that comprise of japanese myth and culture. >< So perhaps I thought of three separate panels that might be cool, focus on one aspect that people probably do not know much about.

Examples:
Panel #1: "Things with Ears" Kitsune,the good and bad and the trickster( focus on explaining the varities of different kitsune, the ones who possess babies and the ones that guard temples for example)

Panel #2: Demons and Gods- discuss what they are and the different levels of demons and gods

Panel #3: Kami- who they are, how did people worship them and how to get them mad.

Dunno if people would be interested in that, but I thought those were some pretty solid subjects that can be fit into a panel slot and still be interesting. And how the Japanese use Judo-Christian myth in anime is a whole bag of beans in it's self (touched on briefly this past year).

[lychee-twist]

I don't know exactly when demons come into Japanese mythology, Buddhism incorporated more rules, punishments, and gains rather than just life, worship, and then death like Shinto. They worked really well together later on in, like the 1500's on, I think.

Demons were pretty big in the Kamakura period. That's when all the shogun crap started happening and people started just having war after war, burning each other's castles, temples, and shrines down, and chopping off one another's heads. Because of this, around the Kamakura period, Hell Scrolls became really popular. They're scrolls of the Buddhist Hell. Things like rivers of fire and blood, bad souls being devoured piece by piece, bad souls getting coals poured on their crotches, etc. started popping up in art.

Demons usually were watching over as the souls self-inflicted pain or made sure that they were getting their rightful punishment. Lots of interesting pictures of demons popped up. Some look like old hags and others your typical ogre like from YuYu Hakusho.

As for Kami, mandalas are a great way to show a lot of them within one picture. Views of the Western Paradise work really well for seeing a lot through one object.

Kitsune and Tanuki, for some reason those two go hand in hand with me. Probably from Shaman King's little mockery of Ren and Stimpy with a tanuki and kistune.

Amano worked with the author Neil Gaiman to either recreate or create a story of a fox demon. I forget the title but I'm pretty sure it's based off of an actual myth. It's really beautiful and sad.

Anyone ever had tanuki udon? It's good :9 Little fried pieces on top of udon. Tasty.

[Antares]

Thank you for the responses!

I have to look up to see if foxes have been in Japan for a long time. I am very interested in native animal stuff (use to work at a zoo) and knowing the history of the animal helps to put into context the history and mythology that springs up around the human societies.

Oooh - another panel (or sub panel) -- Animals in Anime and Japanese Mythology!

[lychee-twist]

Apparently fox demons and fox mythology goes back to China, too.

I did not know that until a few days ago.

[Rathany]

Due to liking supernatural-type anime and manga I have tried a few times to get some actual historical information on Abe no Seimei but can't find sources in English on him.  I did find his shrine in Kyoto, though. 

He is referenced or appears in Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Tokyo Babylon (in Japanese only, the translation leaves him out), Otogi Zoshi, Shounen Onmyouji, etc.  Also, he is the main charcter in the live action Onmyouji movies.   

I love scholary type panels like this.  If you do cover him and want pics of his shrine just let me know

[Jamiche]

These are some really great ideas... are you interested in running the panels? 

[Evaldas]

Not necessarily myself, I was hoping to see if someone else was interested, but if no one else will and there is interest, I wouldn't mind trying to lead a panel or working with someone for a panel (especially if they have the resources and access to resources).

[RemSaverem]

(a) The topic is a great idea.
(b) The Religion in Anime panel was NOT limited to discussion of Christian imagery / motifs in anime/manga, nor to only Christian panelists. Panelists included a Jew and multiple pagans/witches. Jewish, Wiccan, Shinto, and Buddhist imagery / motifs were also discussed, not only by the audience but also by the panelists.
(c) I don't know if I can get Toni Levi to commute back to Portland now that she lives in Canada. However, this brilliant professor gave a workshop at the Creation Station at SC & Anime Evolution '06, and has an article (which I beta'd!) in the premier issue of Mechademia Journal, called "The Werewolf in the Crested Kimono". This was about shapeshifters and halfhuman/half other species (or half demon/half other species) characters in anime and manga, and had quite a bit of info on the derivation of such characters and themes from Ainu culture (people indigenous to what is now Japan). This article would be among the helpful materials for someone planning said panel.

[Jamiche]

Please do consider it.  As you can see from the response on this thread, there is an interest in it.  And if you are unsure about how to go about setting up a panel, we would be happy to work on you with that.   Some of our most popular panels started out with someone saying "hey, this would be interesting to talk about, I wonder if anyone would be interested"... and you have some really good ideas.

[Evaldas]

I am definitely considering it, especially if you can give me a hand and how to tackle this. ^^

[Jamiche]

If you can, come to one of the general meetings, and we can brainstorm

[Evaldas]

 I will keep that in mind. I am just worried about how much time I would have to put into the panel(s). If I could partner up with someone else or a small group to do the panel ideas, that would be ideal. Otherwise, it would be a lot of work on my end, and I don't necessarily have the time to do it.

[Oni Kitsune]

I would be more than willing to partner up on a panel about this, but it would have to depend on when the panel ran. As is I'm going to be running 2 panels (A D. Gray-man and XXXHolic) as well as helping with cosplay. If possible though, I will certainly help. ^^

[Higuma]

I would go to a panel like this, I love history and a people's mythology is part of who made them who they are. So I hope this panel happens.