Sanmagumo’s Yokai Project introducing Finnish and Japanese yokai in both countries started over two years ago with two books, exhibitions and interactive programme for event visitors in two countries. And the project is still very much around!
Last year’s artist and scholar visits at Tokyo International Comic Festival and Oulu Comics Festival were supported by the Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation, and below is our in-depth report about the second stage, or the year 2016, of the Yokai Project (pdf, in Japanese). Enjoy (even if only the pictures and layout)!
In April 2017 we continued with the yokai theme and held a literature evening and a one-week yokai exhibition at the Valkeakoski city library. Valkeakoski was beautiful with a blue sky reflecting from the melting surface of the lake. Our audience listened intently and told about their own yokai experiences at the end of the event.
One of the super-coolest things that evening was to see Sanmagumo books available for loaning at a library! I could cry! Thank you Valkeakoski!
We were also happy to be invited to the fresh and shiny Pori Comic Festival, also in April 2017!
There we had another yokai exhibition with different art than in Valkeakoski and a programme piece for children. We even found some eight-year-old Finnish Yokai Watch fans, which was fun!
We also happened to found our amazing cover artist Kristian Huitula with his own excellent work like Kafka’s The Castle and Oni Kudaki!
The event was absolutely packed with inspiring and lovely comic people. We’ll have to try hard to get invited again. Love you, Pori!
Please look forward to where the Yokai Project will be next! Our Yokai books are now sold out but at the time I write this you can still find two or three of each at Turun sarjakuvakauppa.
We are about to start the application period for our new project Salmiakki Fiction, so stay tuned for that, too!