Description for "Harvest Fest. Dwarfs carrying a portable shrine"
This is a contemporary illustration drawn in brushstroke style.
In Japan, there are invisible dwarfs.
There is a Japanese folktale about a dwarf called “Issunboushi” who exterminates demons. There is also a world fairy tale about “Seven Dwarfs” who save a princess in a castle. Where do these dwarfs come from and what do they do?
Japanese people love festivals.
Festivals are held everywhere in Japan. There are hundreds to thousands of festivals in Japan, most of which are held in the late summer and fall, and are mainly to thank the local gods and celebrate the harvest. In modern times, thanksgiving and celebrations have become a means to an end, and the purpose is to gather together to drink, go to stalls to buy something to eat, and so on.
This illustration is intended to be a celebration.
There is the event of carrying a Portable shrine(Mikoshi) at a festival. The Mikoshi is a kind of ritual in which a small house is built for the local deity to enter, and the people of the community carry it in procession to celebrate the good harvest of the year and wish for a bountiful harvest the next time.
The Mikoshi is made into a vegetable on a platter (burdock root, carrot, Chinese cabbage, onion, leek, radish and potato) and carried by a small person dressed in the costume of the old days to express a fantasy and nostalgic atmosphere.
Often the dwarfs are said to appear as messengers of gods or demons. Since this is meant to bring about a bountiful harvest, if we were to use a Western Gothic analogy, would they be like angels coming to us carrying wheat and bread?
