Kappa Machine

By way of background: the critter depicted in the image above, and after the jump, is a Japanese kappa monster. Their favorite foods are cucumbers and human bungholes. (For more, view this two-part Boing Boing TV kappa-monster-hunting series: one, two).

Sean Bonner says,

Yokai Attack co-author Matt Alt and his pal Marugame claim to have discovered this disturbing creation deep within the bowels of Tokyo's sewer system. It's a totally handmade homage to an old Japanese toy series from the Seventies: the Jumbo Machinders! Kappa missiles! Kappa shuriken! Kappa cucumber cudgel! Kappa... anal intruder!?!

Whatever the case, it's going to be on display at the Artist Garden gallery in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, from July 9th through the 21st. It's part of the Kappa Exhibition, an annual gathering of kappa-crazed artists amateur and pro. Fans of the yokai should pencil in their date with destiny. Directions and map here.

And Matt has posted an in-depth report on how the piece was made.

(..more photos after the jump!)

[#1 posted by Krackatoa, July 13, 2009 3:10 PM]

Kappa Ganmen!

[#2 posted by Darren Garrison, July 13, 2009 3:27 PM]

"Their favorite foods are cucumbers and human bungholes."

Kappa aren't claimed to actually eat anuseses-- they are simply used as a handy access point for the tasty bits. Usually it is the liver that they are supposed to be after.

There is a kappa story in one of the books of Japanese mythology/folklore I have that has this dry, understated line that I love:

"The kappa tried to insert his hand into the cow's anus and draw out its tounge. This startled the cow,..."

[#3 posted by Shay Guy, July 13, 2009 4:18 PM]

Yup, looks like a Gunmen to me. Just needs a Lagann-head on top.

[#4 posted by Anonymous, July 13, 2009 4:51 PM]

There's a strange little anime show out there that has one of the single most bizarre references to a kapa I've ever come across. This will take some background;

The show is called Yakitate Japan! ('yakitate' means 'freshly baked' and the -pan in Japan means 'bread') and it's about a young fellow with warm hands. Seriously. That's his gift. Warm hands. His warm hands allow him to be the greatest baker in Japan as he creates his masterpiece bread that represents everything Japanese. Ja-pan.

The show pretty much relies on puns for most of its, quite considerable, humor. You'll never see an attempt at marketing it in America because you have to constantly pause to read the explanations for the subtitles to figure out what the joke is. The fansubs are superb though.

So anyways, in his quest for the ja-pan he goes through all of these whack-ass baking competitions where the judge has hallucinatory reactions, again based on puns usually, to the bread. One of the competitions is at Monaco where he has to make a bread perfect for a Formula One driver to eat before the race.

And the driver who will taste the bread is Michael Schukapa. Really. Michael Schumaker with a dish in his skull constantly babbling about how he "likes to play tricks on people" while giggling maniacally. His reaction to the bread turns into a spoof of Initial D as he recounts being forced by his father to deliver bratwurst at high speeds while not spilling the water in his skull-depression.

It really is a quite brilliantly strange little show. I still haven't figured out its obsession with afros. Highly recommended for kapa fans everywhere.

[#5 posted by IamInnocent, July 13, 2009 5:04 PM]

There are two things I can't understand of humans: they can fall asleep while driving their car although they are fully aware that they'll die if they do; they still can stuff their butt with cucumbers although they are fully aware that one Kappa monster will make them wish that they died if they do.

[#6 posted by Anonymous, July 13, 2009 5:20 PM]

Kappa no X Baby, chu chu chu!

[#7 posted by Anonymous, July 13, 2009 8:27 PM]

umm that should've been "Kappa no Ekisu chu chu chu", Extract of Kappa! -Shonen Knife.

That's what I get for not look up the lyrics first and relying on faulty memory. Glad I left it anonymous.

[#8 posted by Anonymous, July 14, 2009 8:44 AM]

#4 - That sounds just awful