Holy Action Figures

Hopi Kachina Dolls - Phoenix, Arizona                           Assorted Toys - Mongkok, Hong Kong

I have passed by each of these cases in the past month and I havent been able to get the juxtaposition out of my head - but since I didn't take any pictures I was unsure if I would be able to share.. thanks Flickr!! (the Kachinas) (the Toys)

Comments

[listener colin in Toronto]

good post. send me an email and I can send you some pics I took in mongok in march of toys galore!

[Taro at news.3yen.com (Tokyo)]

Actually, these “Holy Action Figures” are to the “truth” in Japan.

For example, at the Godzilla statue in Ginza there are always Shinto-eque offerings left for the Godzilla spirit. Likewise in Osaka, a commercial, copyrighted, Kewpie-like “Billiken” doll has a full-blown shrine built for its faux-Kwepie spirit and local people have been seriously praying to it since the 1920s.