Gashapon!
So dad got me a Japanese capsule toy (gashapon) from his trip. For those unfamiliar, these are like the capsule toys you find at american supermarkets, but are generally more expensive ($1-6) and much higher quality. Some are little figurines, but others (like mine) are actually model kits that can be assembled to make something much larger than the capsule.
The trick is figuring out what it *is*.. It's a lovely terra-cotta-colored figure, that from the look of it is probably something historical. A muscular gentleman, with flowing ribbons and sashes, holding a mace or flower or something in one hand, while the other is making a sort of pinching gesture. Given his expression, I would think him about to drop a used diaper into a bin.
I originally thought it might be a japanese Oni of some sort, but a tickling in my brain and some digging has led me to find out it's a Buddhist statue. The trick is digging through to figure out which one.
Ahah! It is one of the Niō - Ungyō to be exact - and a recreation of a statue at Todaiji, Nara. VERY nice! I have placed him next to my dragon and biting pear to ward off evil.
farm7.staticflickr.com/6033/5892029125_721abd6113_z.jpg
The trick is figuring out what it *is*.. It's a lovely terra-cotta-colored figure, that from the look of it is probably something historical. A muscular gentleman, with flowing ribbons and sashes, holding a mace or flower or something in one hand, while the other is making a sort of pinching gesture. Given his expression, I would think him about to drop a used diaper into a bin.
I originally thought it might be a japanese Oni of some sort, but a tickling in my brain and some digging has led me to find out it's a Buddhist statue. The trick is digging through to figure out which one.
Ahah! It is one of the Niō - Ungyō to be exact - and a recreation of a statue at Todaiji, Nara. VERY nice! I have placed him next to my dragon and biting pear to ward off evil.
farm7.staticflickr.com/6033/5892029125_721abd6113_z.jpg