{"id":4411,"date":"2012-06-20T10:21:48","date_gmt":"2012-06-20T01:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ilovedotcat.com\/?p=4411"},"modified":"2012-10-30T12:58:11","modified_gmt":"2012-10-30T03:58:11","slug":"%e3%83%87%e3%82%b6%e3%82%a4%e3%83%8a%e3%83%bc%e3%83%bb%e5%a4%a7%e5%b3%b6%e4%be%9d%e6%8f%90%e4%ba%9c%c3%97-%e3%81%b2%e3%82%83%e3%81%a3%e3%81%93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ilove.cat\/en\/4411","title":{"rendered":"Art Director Idea Oshima \u00d7 Hyakko"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art director Idea Oshima has produced graphic design work for films such as ‘Hyakumanen to Nigamushi Onna<\/a>‘, ‘Kamome Shokudo<\/a>‘ and ‘Renta Neko<\/a>‘. He has also done the book design for photography publications such as ‘Misao to Fukumaru<\/a>‘ and books about the popular funny-faced cat known as ‘Mako’. Oshima currently lives with an odd-eyed (his right and left eyes are different colors) feline named ‘Hyakko’. Though Oshima was once a dog-lover, he has become an addict to Hyakko’s charm.<\/p>\n

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– How did you first encounter Hyakko?<\/h3>\n

“Hyakko appeared by chance in my garden one day. Until that time, I had absolutely no interest in cats. However, I felt that this was a cat that I could take in. At first, he would kind of come and go from the house. So I wasn’t really consciously taking care of him. After some time had passed, I noticed that he had an infected wound on his belly. Having no idea how to handle it, I decided to take him to the veterinarian. When the doctor was treating Hyakko, he told me that I shouldn’t let him outside until the infection is healed. Because I wasn’t really Hyakko’s ‘owner’, I deliberated about what to do. Having felt a connection with the cat, I decided to let Hyakko live in my house for about two weeks. Though I had planned on sending him back outside after his wound had healed, I found that I had totally fallen for him (laughs). Hyakko became my cat.” <\/p>\n

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– So Hyakko started out as a stray cat. Did he quickly get used to living in a home?<\/h3>\n

“From the beginning, Hyakko knew where to find the litter box. Therefore, I think it is possible that he had a previous owner. I also had the impression that he wasn’t very comfortable living outside. He didn’t seem to possess the masculine confidence of a stray cat. When he first came into my house, he would hide behind the bookshelf. Hyakko was also hesitant to let me touch him. However, he gradually got over this.”<\/p>\n

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– What’s the reasoning behind his name?<\/h3>\n

“He kind of reminded me of a creature from the old book of ghost stories titled ‘Hyakki Yako’. His name also derives from the word ‘hyaku’ (‘one-hundred’) – as in, Hyakko is unique among hundreds of cats.” <\/p>\n

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So you were transformed from a ‘dog-lover’ into a ‘cat-lover’?<\/h2>\n

– Before Hyakko, you had never even thought of keeping a cat?<\/h3>\n

“Actually, I was always a dog-lover. When I was a child, my family kept a dog. It was a mixed-breed Shiba. One of my closest friends had a Siamese cat, so we would always argue which was better, dogs or cats (laughs). Being a lover of animals, I never disliked cats. I was just never at all interested in having one. After my family’s dog passed away, I never had another pet until Hyakko. Now I’m such a cat-lover that I’m even prepared to fight dog-lovers.”<\/p>\n

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– Since you came to live with Hyakko, you’ve come to understand how cat-lovers feel?<\/h3>\n

“My friend used to talk about the appeal of cats, saying that they were mystical and holy. And I would totally laugh at him. Dogs obey their masters and act a little dumb. Cats, however, are a much funnier form of life. Their characters are so natural. This is especially true when it come to Hyakko. Of course, because I’ve never had another cat, I can’t compare Hyakko with others. However, he often miss-times jumps and does other things that make me laugh every single day.”<\/p>\n

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– Because his right and left eyes are different colors, Hyakko is what people refer to as an ‘odd-eyed’ cat.<\/h3>\n

“In addition to having different colored eyes, Hyakko is a ‘Hemmingway Cat’. This means that his paws contain 5 digits instead of four. Because he was my first cat, I initially thought he was completely normal. However, after hearing that odd-eyed cats often have internal conditions as well, I took him to the vet for an examination. Fortunately, it seems that he has no other issues.”<\/p>\n

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– Does Hyakko have any issues when it comes to food or litter boxes?<\/h3>\n

“For food, I give him the crunchy type of Royal Canin<\/a>. As for his litter box, a specialty shop imported it for me. The actual litter is ‘Deosand<\/a>‘ by Unicharm. Sometimes he causes me trouble by messing with his poop. Hyakko also has the habit of scratching the corner of the entryway. To prevent this, I now keep the area covered. Besides these things, Hyakko is pretty well-behaved. His favorite toy is a cat-teaser that he received from Miyoko Ihara, the photographer behind the book ‘Misao to Fukumaru<\/a>‘. He totally loves jumping and running around after it.” <\/p>\n

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Cats Attract Cats<\/h2>\n

– Beginning with ‘Mako toiu Na no Fushigi Gao no Neko<\/a>‘ (The Funny-faced Cat Named ‘Mako’), you’ve taken on a lot of work involving cats. <\/h3>\n

“Recently, I did the advertising art direction and soundtrack jacket design for the film ‘Renta Neko<\/a>‘ (‘Rental Cats). Even when I worked on the ‘Mako’ book, I never mentioned that I myself had a cat. Considering that I never did any cat-related work before I had my own cat, I guess you might be able to say that ‘cats attract cats’.” <\/p>\n

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– Does having a cat have any kind of influence on your actual design work?<\/h3>\n

“If you look closely at the page numbers on the ‘Mako’ books, you’ll notice some little bugs. When I was working on the layout, Hyakko scratched at the numbers – probably thinking that they were bugs. This became the origin of the actual design. So I guess that some ideas will come about by merely having a cat next to you.” <\/p>\n

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– Do you have much interest in all of the cat-related goods that are popping up around us?<\/h3>\n

“Unlike the ‘product culture’ surrounding dogs, which has brought forth a lot of stylish goods, I sense that cat-related products are still in an early stage of development. There’s not so much out there. I paid very little attention to pet-related goods until I had a pet of my own. Now, I find myself really attracted to calendars and other things on sale at pet shops. In addition, movies such as ‘Cats & Dogs<\/a>‘ now capture my attention. Even though the story lines aren’t very interesting, I can’t help but watch them all the way through. Just the fact that there’s a cat them seems to make me melt… In fact, having a cat has completely changed the way I view the entire concept of ‘cuteness’.” (laughs) <\/p>\n

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– From your own perspective, what makes cats so attractive?<\/h3>\n

“I can’t lump all cats together into a single category. Hyakko is just a single living creature. When I see a stray cat, I am conscious that it is the same kind of creature. However, it is entirely different from Hyakko. Of all the animals that live alongside humans, I believe that cats are quite special. Because my family kept our dog outside, this is the first time for me to really live together with a pet – to share both good times and bad. When I wake up, Hyakko is there. I’ll never get used to this. Touching Hyakko and feeling his weight – each time I am surprised. Just the moist tip of Hyakko’s nose gives me a sense of his fragility. With this in mind, I don’t want to imagine life without a cat. However, because Hyakko is already 14, I think about what lies ahead. We normally live our lives without being conscious of things like our arms. However, if we lost one, we would feel a huge sense of loss. This is kind of how I feel about Hyakko. He has become a part of me. Because this feeling relates only my cat and I, I don’t think it’s possible to really share it with anyone else.”<\/p>\n

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