＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
(Reference) Original article in Japanese
・光宗薫ワールド全開の個展「SEMITOPIA」は彼女の無限の可能性を示した新境地
<Added 2022/2/20> Kaoru Mitsumune’s solo exhibition “SEMITOPIA” will be held in April!
Kaoru Mitsumune, who has demonstrated her unique and outstanding talent in watercolor painting on the TV show “Prebat,” will hold a solo exhibition, “SEMITOPIA,” from April 2nd (Sat) to April 24th (Sun) at Vanilla Gallery in Ginza (Higashisei Building B2F, 8-10-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo).
Admission is by online advance reservation only. [Tickets go on sale March 26th at noon on the gallery’s website]
Regarding this solo exhibition “SEMITOPIA,” Kaoru Mitsumune states the following:
For me, cicadas have always been a symbol of strength and divinity.
Based on a long-held desire to be protected by a giant cicada, I created “Cicada of Eden,” the main visual for this exhibition.
For me, who had previously only created monochrome drawings using a ballpoint pen, creating a colored painting was a new challenge, and a large oil painting is the epitome of that.
As someone who has never formally studied art, exploring various art materials felt like a solitary experiment, and it was exciting every day.
Furthermore, the increased variety of art materials allowed me to expand my ideas from the single subject of “cicadas” and create more works.
In the TV program “Prebat,” hosted by Masatoshi Hamada, where celebrities compete with unexpected talents in haiku, watercolor painting, and other areas, Kaoru Mitsumune achieved the remarkable feat of winning the “Autumn Watercolor Painting Title Match” on her first appearance.
Kaoru Mitsumune, whose popularity exploded thanks to her outstanding artistic talent, is currently showcasing her further evolved artistic abilities in her solo exhibition, “Melonta Tauta.”
This is a “fantastical, ultra-detailed drawing” done with a ballpoint pen, truly a full-blown display of Kaoru Mitsumune’s unique world.
1. About the Solo Exhibition “Mellonta Tauta”
From February 6th to March 4th, Kaoru Mitsumune’s solo exhibition “Mellonta Tauta” is being held at Vanilla Gallery (B2F, Higashinari Building, 8-10-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo).
Admission is 800 yen for online reservations and 1,000 yen for same-day tickets (only available if tickets remain).
This solo exhibition, the first in two years, features a new series of works depicting fictional creatures from various stories that have inspired the artist, beginning with Edgar Allan Poe’s adventure story, “Mellonta Tauta.”
In addition to exhibiting and selling new works, the exhibition venue will also host an “installation” in which the artist becomes part of the venue.
3. What is Mellonta Tauta?
“Mellonta Tauta” is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), published in 1849.
Set 1000 years after Poe’s later years, the novel takes the form of an epistolary novel, written by a protagonist on a bleak balloon journey addressed to a specific person.
In these letters, the protagonist examines the numerous folly of ancient people (i.e., us modern people) from philosophical, social, and chemical perspectives, but his tone is consistently critical, and even anger can be glimpsed in his words.
The protagonist makes a discovery, but the letter containing this discovery never reaches anyone; he throws it into the sea himself.
No matter how aggressive he may be, he doesn’t change his circumstances; he simply drifts in the balloon, consumed by loneliness, emptiness, and helplessness. This image of the powerless protagonist, driven by loneliness and empty rage, appeared both comical and deeply relatable to Kaoru Mitsumune, who felt a profound sense of sympathy for his helplessness.
In this solo exhibition, I am presenting works that imagine the world in which the protagonist of Mellonta Tauta’s works lives, by superimposing the protagonist, who can only think of writing letters, onto my own image of continuing to create art.