ONI WA SOTO MINI is the Pop Art Edition of the HIDDEN IN TOKYO picture ONI WA SOTO, showing only part of the TOKYO collection picture. The mystical monsters of the famous Japanese artist Takashi Murakami inspired me to look into Japanese history and legends. For several centuries, mysterious supernatural beings collectively known as yokai or oni have been central to the Japanese people’s understanding of fate. The picture ONI WA SOTO tells the story of Oni Land and the Setsubun festival which takes place one day before the beginning of spring and is a part of the Haru Matsuri spring festival. The main ritual of Setsubun is mamemaki (bean scattering). Roasted soybeans are thrown out of the front door, or at a member of the family wearing an oni (demon) mask while shouting “Devils out! Fortune in!” (Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!). The beans are meant to symbolically clean the home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health. Then, as part of bringing luck in, it is customary to eat roasted soybeans, one for each year of one's life, and in some areas, one for each year of one's life, plus one more for bringing good luck for the year to come. (WIKIPEDIA) In my Baked Bean Bomber picture, the figure of the Baked Bean Bomber, like Banksy originally from England, is throwing Heinz Baked Beans to scare the onis away. The Hokusai Monkey is also trying his luck with baked beans but also has a bowl with roasted soy beans. In front of the two pillars of the bridge you can see two monkeys, each of them with a sign, one saying “Oni wa soto!” (devils out) and the other “Fuku wa uchi!” (fortune in). The evil onis, ghosts and yokais flying around have their origin in the Edo Period. Hokusai's Lantern Ghost Iwa is attacking the Baked Bean Bomber. Utagawa Kuniyoshi's ghost Oiwa - which is part of Yotsuya Kaidan, a tale of betrayal, murder and ghostly revenge and perhaps the most famous Japanese ghost story of all time - is looking up to the monkey. Two yokais taken from a 18th Century Japanese scroll known as Bakemono zukushi make Oni Land complete: the hammer-wielding bird-faced yokai named Daichiuchi which is flying towards the monkey in the lantern of the ghost Oiwa, and Kami-kiri, who is known for sneaking up on people and cutting off their hair.
