the art of ORR MARSHALL

Shōnen Naifu: The band’s name is on the blade, Shōnen meaning “boys” or “young persons” followed by the English “Knife.” The two Yamano sisters who form the band are portrayed in place of round rivets on the knife handle, with their names Naoko and Atsuko below. Active for many years, they formerly toured with Nirvana. All their songs are sung in their special brand of English. Head of Kahimi Karie (see this note), Japanese vocalist with the inimitable voice and long green hair as she appears on her self-titled U.S. Minty Fresh release. The letters K.K.K. echo the words below the underline, Kahimi Karie Kawaii (“Kahimi Karie - Cute!”). To the right: Chō SBS. Chō (“super” in Japanese) is followed by a gyaru abbreviation for the English “Super-Beautiful Sexy.” Stuffy: Sign seen on a Tokyo building (type of business unknown). Puffy: The singing pair Ōnuki Ami and Yoshimura Yumi, on a sticker pasted across the bottom of this sign. Nomiya Maki, a portrait of the singer of many guises. Her name is below, and at bottom is an abbreviation of her band’s name, Pizzicato Five, whose composer Konishi Yasuharu shamelessly satirizes Japanese and American pop music. To the right of the two Chinese characters, their meaning and supposed Japanese pronunciation are written in katakana: hotto doggu. “I’m going to live on my own! I’m going to have a baby on my own!” Some examples of graffiti in this picture were invented by the artist and some were drawn from other sources, such as this quote from a Japanese website called “Tokyo Toilet Tours.” Pachinko: Gambling devices like upright pinball machines, found in pachinko parlors throughout Japan. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō: “Glory to the Sutra of the Lotus of the Supreme Law!” — invocation of the Nichiren Buddhist sect, written traditionally in this calligraphy style and called “the bearded mantra.” Kahimi Karie no kurokodairu: “Kahimi Karie’s crocodile,” alluding to the first album of this Japanese singer (see this note) who now lives in Paris, with its French title Larme de crocodile (“Crocodile Tear”).
The smaller print below says Okazaki Kyōko no mo (“Okazaki Kyōko’s too”); in her graphic novel Pink, Okazaki draws and writes of a heroine who keeps a pet crocodile in the bathroom of her Tokyo apartment. Konnichi wa: “Good day” or “Hello” written in gyaru moji, a type of writing used in gyaru culture (see this note). Non-Japanese symbols are written with a computer to resemble standard kana phonetic symbols. For instance, は (ha or wa) is made by putting together レ and £; ん (n) is replaced by ω, and so on. A skateboarder, supremely confident of her skill in skating on the tile roof. The underside of her board says Skēto! (“Skate!”). Doro: “Mud.”