Miss Kappa - Kawaii Watercolor Japan Circa 1970-80

Miss Kappa - Ink and watercolor on paper mounted on cardboard edged with gold paper. Circa 2000. Unique piece. The creature wears a turtle shell. Signed and stamped by the artist. The kappa, until the 1930s, was considered a small, evil creature. He loved to drown and devour children, rummage under kimonos, and impregnate young girls so they would give birth to monsters. The kappa has a hollow head, with a sort of water container. Evil but polite, when he tilts his head to greet, he loses his water, and becomes harmless. From the post-war reconstruction, the iconography of the kappa became benevolent and childlike. The artist: Rakuichi Hagiwara, second of the name, is a popular Japanese illustrator from Tokyo. She continues the art of her father, who, from the 1940s, specialized in the representation of kappas, small Japanese demons. Her studio is located on the Kappabashi Bridge (Kappa Bridge), spanning the Shinano-gawa River in Tokyo. She is part of the Kawaii (cute) movement. Kappas, evil spirits who devour children, are always represented as small, cute pets.