pencil, digital
2004
What we said about it at the time: The Japanese Salaryman's life is pretty regimented and requires him to endure quite a bit of abuse from above (and he must smile all the time). while his late nights are finished off with macho drunken carousing with fellow salarymen. But maybe this isn't the life these men really seek - every day on the subway they see hordes of young school girls who are giggling and gossiping, taking pictures, shopping endlessly...ahh - the life, the life! To be a school girl!
Looking back: A very fun piece for us. The schoolman made his first of many appearances in this panoramic. The concept of the schoolmen, as i envisioned them, is sort of a jumble of comments all rolled into one goofy character. The monotonous life of the salaryman, the peculiar sexual culture of japan in which anything goes in fantasy life, but actual sex lives are rather unfulfilling on average, men (both Japanese and gaijin) being obsessed with the school girl all collided in my head and these guys popped out. I kind of imagine them having some kind of impromptu meet up in random places, where they can all escape they stress of their boring jobs and relate to each other on a more naive level.
The Kin-san referred to in the title is kozy's own father. He is the one holding the big pink stuffed bear. He goes away on business trips a lot for the company he owns, but we thought it funny to think of him as having this secret life. Maybe one day when we are in Tokyo we will stumble across a flash mob of schoolmen in a Tokyo train station and find kozy's dad in a skirt, eating a big crepe and giggling with the guys...
I really would like to make toys of these guys. Do you think many people would want to buy a detailed, 12 inch tall doll, with cloth school girl outfit and all the requisite miniature accessories?
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