Taiguruma

Taiguruma etegami

When I got a last minute call from my friend Lynn Cooper inviting me to her house for dinner to meet a Japanese artist who was in town, I didn't really care what his art form was.  I was excited! Especially when she told me that the artist was from Niigata where my husband grew up.  What fun this was going to be.

 Then, when I looked up 鯛車 (sea bream on wheels), I discovered a wonderful obon (an annual Buddhist event for commemorating one's ancestors.) tradition that I'd never heard of and was really curious.  Traditionally, at the end of the Bon period it’s time for the ancestors to return to where they came from. If the location is near water, lanterns may be set out on the river or sea in a ceremony called toronagashi.

In Niigata, they have an old tradition I'd never heard of- that children pull these paper lantern sea bream around with a candle (now LED light) inside inviting the God of disease to follow it out to sea (and then drown, of course) keeping the children safe and healthy.

Two young men from Niigata decided to keep this tradition alive and presented workshops in Galveston to teach how to make them as a part of the

Galveston and Niigata sister city initiative.

I loved the taiguruma so much, I decided to paint an etegami to give to them.

Amazingly, it turned out better than I thought it would!

But in the spirit of etegami, it doesn't matter if it's perfect or not

It's all about giving.  He was surprised and delighted to receive.

Lynn and Justin now have a taiguruma of their own and it looked quite

beautiful in front of a mirror.  We are hoping they will return for the Japan Festival of Houston and do a workshop here in Houston.

Taiguruma