Kumade

12 June 2018 ● 2 mins read ● 6 images

That day I was explained that Kumades are a Japanese good luck charm for the New Year made out of those objects that represent things you want to get or preserve during that particular year. And I was completely fascinated with it. The way they put such a bunch of things together on top of a bamboo rake, like those to brush the leaves, in such harmony… I was captivating and got me fantasizing with having mine done one day.

Having an injured foot and a skin infection, what forced me to be on diet and stop skating or drinking alcohol, besides all the issues with my apartment, I was imagining how my Kumade would include some elements that represent what I want fixed or happening in my life.

Later that day, I was exhausted, after so many emotions, and when I was about to fall sleep, there it was, floating in the middle of my room, a “living kumade” with all those things I was imagining before and some others that I wasn’t expecting, but that I realized are still important to me.

The doll in the middle smiled and somehow wasn’t creepy but calming, and I could hear her saying “Don’t worry, good things will come”. The Kumade was opening a new space that felt like a safer moment, warmer and calm. Once I started to compose this I got to understand the meaning of each of the things in there, like the butterflies representing success in love, the whale (connected with my dream to work with/at Psyop, where recently launched this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXRBLyQQ78A ), the sake barrels and the beer, meaning being healthy again, so I can have a drink sometimes!!, or the skateboard, something I have been missing so much lately. Funny how I saw a Matoi (that I wasn't planning to add). That white and tall object on the top left was used in the old times by the Japanese firefighters meaning the urgent need to fixing some important issues in my life. I hope it brings me good luck.

Kumade is part of "Echoes of Japan".​​​​​​​


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About Manuel

Manuel Camino

I'm a creative director in Tokyo, Japan

Creative Director and Visual Artist now in Tokyo, who quitted an ECD position in a big agency to follow my passion for Japan.

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