"Cute" Images

This first image is by Takashi Murakami, it is very happy and smiley. It is very round and childlike and innocent looking with the 2 focal images being children dressed as bunnies and them being surrounded by happy flowers. I think that the children being dressed up as bunnies ties them into what Ivan Vartanian was saying in "Drop dead cute." Vartanian says that animals are tied into the juvenial theme by representing an ideal of peace and comfort. One of the bunny children is a little disturbing with its 3 eyes that are all independent of each other and its fangs. With this character, Murakami creates an alternate universe where creatures like that exist. Even though he creates a "monster" the picture and even the monster are still cute because they seem so harmless with their big smiles and gentle colors.

I chose this image because I thought it was something different. It is cute food, something you would not normally see in America, unless you get a clown sundae from Friendly's. These pigs have similar qualities to the image by Murakami, they are very round. The roundness gives a soft impression, there are no sharp edges or sharpness at all from their faces.
I imagine that you would find food like this in a place that experiences a lot of tourism, especially Western tourists. Many Westerners assume that Japan's style is very cute and innocent and this certainly plays into their expectations. I do not think that this is how Japanese adults expect their bentos to be presented to them.

My Flower Album

The images that I choose all show a more ornamental side of Japanese culture. This aspect of Japanese culture is their art of flower arranging. A traditional style often thought of as "very Japanese" and is also shown here is Ikebana. The Ikebana style incorporates nature and harmony and is often very minimalistic like those arrangements shown here.

The women shown here arranging are very "geisha" looking, and seem to play up the stereotypical image of Japanese women with their very traditional clothing. They show the women as being very graceful and delicate, much like the flowers they are arranging. The women pictured in the photographs are put on display much as if they themselves were flowers on display. The vivid colors that were added to their garb and makeup add to the illusion of them as flowers.