Updated: Feb 3, 2024
Kappa Kappa Hey!
Welcome back all you ghouls ghosts and goblins! It's Friday so its yet another entry in the Speakeasy Tattoo LA blog of random ramblings authored by a rambling madman.
Did y'all watch the BIG GAME!?
Did we win?
Yay...go team!
(I dont know anything about football)
So last week we took a small dive into the wonderful world of Japanese Yokai, focusing on the red-faced Tengu. Well why not stay on this path and touch on some other Yokai in Japanese folklore that often make appearances in traditional Japanese tattoos.
Well, hold onto your butts (literally) because this week we are dipping our toes in the waters of the Kappa Demon.
Looking like a humanoid, beaked turtle creature with a hole in its head, the Kappa demon is a water dwelling creature in the rivers and lakes of Japan.
Yet another mischievous creature making up the Yokai pantheon, the Kappa's menace seems to vary over time and depending on the particular folklore. At best, they are triksters and perverts, merely being known to look up beneath women's Kimonos. At worst they are known to commit the most horriffic crimes from drowning anyone who ventures near the water's edge, devouring children and adults alike and raping bathing women. Needless to say, not the nicest creatures to encounter. Sometimes they kill their victims for the sole purpose of drinking their blood or eating their liver, but more often than not they are seeking a magical and powerful ball known as a shirikodama. This
magical ball gives the Kappa power and is located, yes, in the victim's anus.
In fact, it is their obsession with the anally-located shirkodama that leads us to a few of the Kappa's weaknesses. For one, you can lure in and trap a Kappa by standing at a river or lake bed, dropping your underwear and bending over, exposing your lunar surface to the water, drawing in the insatiable Kappa. Try it! I do it at the LA river all the time!
Another weakness of the Kappa is cucumbers. Other than children, Kappa's favorite meal is cucumbers. One could say they are obsessed. And while Johnny Marr once famously (and correctly) proclaimed "cuke is puke" in regards to how disgusting cucumbers are (its a scientific fact, dont DM me), Kappas cant get enough of the disgusting green phallic veggie. Ever go to a sushi restaurant and see "Kappamaki" on the menu? Welp, that's named after these little turtle demon predator creeps. In Edo (old Tokyo), there used to be a tradition where people would write the names of their family members on cucumbers and send them afloat into the streams to mollify the kappa, to prevent the family from coming to harm in the streams. However, eating cucumbers before swimming could potentially spell certain doom for the swimmer.
For their last "weakness" we see a commonly seen motif in Japanese folklore: politeness and honor. This also brings us to probably the most notable physical feature of the Kappa (as if a creepy black-haird humanoid turtle things coming for your as...butt isnt notable enough as it is). At the top of the Kappa's head is a hollow depression, even sometimes depicted as a hole, containing water. It is from this water in the Kappa's head that it derives it's power. SO because the Kappa is a stringent adherent to politeness and social protocol (if you ignore horrific things like eating people or rape), if one encounters a Kappa, simply bow in greeting. The Kappa will always return the gesture. In doing so, the water contained within its head will spill out. This forces the Kappa to be stuck in a bowing position until it is able to return to water and because the Kappa is already at its weakest while on land, this is an immediate defeat of the Kappa. But it doesn't end there. If you feel so inclined, you can refill the Kappa's head with water, the Kappa will be so grateful that it will forever be your servant.
While these are the MAIN weaknesses of the Kappa, I would be remiss if I ignored what one may consider a "Kappa repellant" so-to-speak. Farting. Much like myself (and most of us) Kappa's are repelled by farting, as depicted in this Yoshito painting from 1881.
Kappa remain in contemporary Japanese folklore today. As mentioned, you can go to just about any sushi restaurant and order Kappamaki. In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles third live-action film, the Turtles are sent back in time to ancient Japan and are mistaken for Kappa. To this day, Japanese children are told tales of Kappa to warn them of the dangers of playing in water. It is not uncommon to see warning signs near bodies of water depicting Kappa all over Japan.
So why do we see this in Tattooing? Well, the "meaning" of a Kappa tattoo is varied, like the Kappa itself. A Kappa tattoo can represent a duality. Good and evil. Or it can represent the wearers dedication to politeness and honor. Or, oftentimes, the wearer might simply like the imagery of the Kappa. Kappa tattoos are often depicted as both fearsome and terrifying while simultaneously looking somewhat goofy, keeping in the theme of duality.
As with all Yokai, there is far more nuance and variation to the Kappa than I could touch on here. Japan has gone through numerous dynasties and is geographically large so Kappa legends and characteristics vary over time and regions. Hopefully I have given you some knowledge this lovely Friday morning. Take that knowledge with you on your next Tinder date. Impress them with your magical Shirikodama.
That's all this week. I love painting Kappa (seen here) and would love to give you a little polite turtle demon if that's something that interests you. As always, we are taking submissions for future appointments. Whether its a traditional Kappa, some neon colored smoke, a marble statue worthy of a greek god or a portrait of Maynard James Keenan, Speakeasy artists are ready to work with you!
Enjoy your weekend. Get covid tested. Stay safe. Wear a mask.
XXX
-Sweeve
Updated: Feb 3, 2024
Happy Friday, funk masters! Welcome back to your weekly Speakeasy Tattoo blog from the dark apprentice Baron Sweeverton von Killjoy the First. It's been a chilly week this week. Of course, chilly for LA is still mid 50s, but still, aren't we cool enough to begin with? Here is where you insert the sunglasses guy emoji.
Who doesn't love emojis in this modern age. An entire sentence can be condensed into a tiny little cartoonish image. From squids to eggplants, all some to convey unspoken nuance. Personally, I tend to default to the hang loose hand or the shrugging lady. One of my favorites is one that I often hear referred to as "angry devil guy."
So why am I talking about emojis?
Well it is actually this very "devil guy" that brings me to this very subject. In actuality, this emoji has ties to both tattoo culture and Japanese mythology. In fact, these aren't devils at all. The emoji represents an ancient Buddhist deity known as a Tengu (more specifically, the emoji represents a Tengu mask).
Tengu are mischievous supernatural beings, often considered the reincarnated spirit of one who was proud and arrogant in life....I'm afraid this hits a little close to home. Tengu can end your ass with their swordsmanship and are well respected as military tacticians. They live in trees in mountainous areas. A group of tengu is headed by a chief, who is depicted with a prominent nose, angry and threatening expression, dressed in red robes and carrying a feather fan.
One the surface and as depicted in modern culture, the Tengu presents as a red-faced, winged humanoid, often featuring black or white facial hair and an extremely pronounced nose. The tengu's long nose popped up around the 14th century and is thought to be just an interpretation of a bird's beak.
Tengu got no time for braggarts (again, something I can relate to) and are equally as intolorant of those disrespectful of Dharma. The tengu were originally extremely dangerous demons and enemies of Buddhism. Over the centuries, their behavior changed from spirits of the damned to active defenders of Dharma. (Source: World Heritage Encyclopedia)
In tattooing, a Tengu goes along with an often-seen theme in traditional Japanese tattooing which is the overcoming of adversity. The struggle of good an evil, the balance of yin and yang. A Tengu can represent to the wearer a reminder to honor and respect the Bushido code, or code of the Samurai. "Be virtuous, honorable, loyal and to keep yourself strong against personal vices and excess or weakness."(Tattoo pictured done by Chris O'Donnell)
A Tengu tattoo, when done well, will be bold and striking. I have a deep affinity for traditional style Japanese tattoos and while my main style is more in tune with American Traditional, there is literally nothing more beautiful than a well executed traditional Japanese body suit. Check out one of my own Tengu masks pictured here.
If you wanna learn some more about the Tengu, check out this in-depth and detailed site here.
That's it for this week. Enjoy your weekend, and dont forget to make your submissions here with whichever speakeasy artist you are interested in!
Sweeve out!
Updated: Feb 3, 2024
Hi Kids!
Welcome back to the ramblings of a madman that is the weekly blog of Speakeasy Tattoo, Los Angeles.
Finally! The cool rains have arrived in Los Angeles. What never ceases to crack me up is how ill-equipped the Los Angeles infrastructure really is for even the tiniest bit of rain. In almost an instant, streets are flooded. Things come to a grinding halt for no other reason than the city planners didnt have the logical foresight to imagine that, rare as it may be, Los Angeles DOES, in fact, get a little bit of rain. One afternoon of mild showers is considered a "WINTER STORM" and Hollywood Blvd risks flash floods.
SO. There's your weather report. You're welcome.
What, you expect something a little more substantial?
I'll try. My brain is spinning and distracted. As mentioned last week, I am getting to the point in my apprenticeship in which I must start focusing less on sweeping floors and doing dishes and more on building an actual career. This means getting actual clients! Frankly, I'm terrified. Nothing like a global pandemic in a country that offers literally zero help to its citizens to try to build up a client base! Who's ready to spend that one time $2000 check? Oh....it's $1400 now? In April? Okay....cool....I guess I'll buy food in april. Who's ready to move to New Zealand?? Hey, at least we aren't dirty socialis........don't say it.
ANYWAY, all this flash flooding in Los Angeles while spinning my brain out of control into the depths of insanity overthinking the future, my thoughts are on creating flash art.
What is "flash" exactly?
Picture your classic tattoo parlor. Odds are, in your mind, you see a room lined with images of sheets of classic tattoo iconography. Roses, swallows, hearts and the like. This is flash. Simple, clean, classic designs, usually able to be completed in one sitting.
This is a tradition that dates back to the earliest days of electric tattooing. For a variety of reasons, tattooing was somewhat limited to what can be done in one session rather than larger pieces that require a long, drawn-out process. We've discussed the basics of tattoo history on here in the past so I won't bore you with rehashing all of that. If you are interested, go ahead and take a peruse back into earlier entries from myself and apprentices gone-by.
To put it briefly, a combination of the legalities fluctuating and the closely tied roots with sailor culture, tattoo artists had to be done "in a flash" so to speak.
This is also why it is not uncommon to see the imagery repeating (the line between plagiarism and homage is always a fine line to be balanced). How many variations have wee seen of the classic Sailor Jerry wolf that in and of itself was taken from an old advertisement for US Savings bonds?
But that said, flash is not limited to the variants. This is where we see the break of so-called "Market Flash" and "Collector Flash." Market Flash is exactly as it sounds. Its the "point at an image on the wall" wham bam, thank you ma'am Done. Collector flash is unique to the artist themselves. Typically, and as it should be, once a piece has been done by the artist, it is not repeated.
As to be expected, and as with everything else in the modern era, the internet has been both a blessing and a curse. One one hand, artists can reach an audience far greater than previously. On the other, pages like pinterest and tumblr will often collect and re-post artist's work without credit. Customers may see something they like and want the same. not fully recognizing the nature of tattooing and that unique work is unique for a reason. Honest tattoo artists will refuse to do an exact copy of someone else's work, but in the wonderful world of late stage capitalism, not all are honest. Causing a dilution of the art itself.
For this reason, it is best to find an artist YOU like and YOU seek out, rather than "who can reproduce this thing I saw on the internet best."
Hopefully that was a coherent explanation. I never know how to wrap these things up!
I'm looking forward to creating some cool flash for future clients as well as revisiting the classics. Also looking forward to doing some custom designs! And as always, all our other Speakeasy Artists are here with a variety of styles to meet your unique desires. Send in your submission today!