Love Love Otoyomegatari

Connecting the beautiful culture of Turkic people to Mori Kaoru's Otoyomegatari.

[passionpeachy]

The way adult fandom people hold indie online creators and cartoons to a much higher standard than their actual local politicians. You could be putting that energy into terrorizing and protesting conservatives at your town hall and actually make a good material impact on the world but instead you're background checking everything the trans woman who made the amazing digital circus has ever said

[passionpeachy]

The point isn't "stop criticizing indie artists" or "defend your favorite show under this post". I don't even watch Digital Circus and no one is above criticism. Literally every indie show is getting torn to shreds on twitter right now and I'm not saying this to defend anyone I don't know. The point is "someone who actually has the power to kill us all and get away with it deserves way more ire and accountability than a cartoonist and I expect grown adults to understand this"

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

The eastern foot of the Pamir Plateau, Kashgar Prefecture, traditional clothing and daily wear of Tajik people in China. (cr 歌莱诠，刘星球，CCCCEE是个秀导，FoodWine 中文版)

The Tajik people in China identify themselves as Plateau Tajiks. Some mistakenly believe their fondness for red is influenced by Central Plains culture (such as weddings and the Spring Festival), since Tajiks residing in Afghanistan and Tajikistan have no similar cultural tradition of this kind. Yet culture and languages of Plateau Tajiks differ greatly from the Tajik people from plain region in Afghanistan and Tajikistan. In fact, the Plateau Tajiks culture and the Central Plains culture developed a preference for red independently. The Tajik people's affection for red stems from their indigenous aesthetic tradition, originating from the ancient Eastern Iranian worship of sacred fire and the sun on the plateau. Many Tajiks are fluent multilingual speakers. Their native languages are Sarikoli and Wakhi (these two are mutually unintelligible). Besides, they can also speak Uyghur and Putonghua, so they have no trouble communicating with others at all.

[loveloveotoyome]

I went to check on the post with the Animal Crossing dresses, and saw that the upload quality was insufficient to use with a phone!

[kaorumori]

Pariya

[lalayik-deactivated20150627]

Regional folk attires of Tajikistan (including Samarqand & Bukhara).

[kainoliero]

We finally had a proper photoshoot! Talas is from Otoyomegatari/A Bride’s Story by Kaoru Mori.

[utkhowaga]

Friday Mosque (Juma Masjid), Khiva, Khorezm.

© Christopher Rose, 2013.

[thesignsinthestars]

Bukharian jewels

[everythingcentralasia]

Shyrdak felt rugs

A shyrdak is a stitched, and often colourful felt floor- or wall-covering, usually handmade in Central Asia. Kazakhs and Kyrgyz alike traditionally make shyrdaks, but especially in Kyrgyzstan, the traditional is still alive. It takes the wool from approximately five sheep to make one shyrdak rug. The process is slow and labour-intensive. Traditionally shyrdak rugs have been made by women.

The patterns used in shyrdak are characteristic of those used in other Kyrgyz arts and crafts. Some designs are very old, before Islamic times. Each pattern has a name, some of which indicate a connection with the old shamanism past.  

Well known is the Sheep’s horn motif, mostly used in the centre field of the shyrdak in a variety of combinations. It represents wealth. The sheep will bring wool, milk and flesh to the tribe or family.

Also birds play an important role in the Central Asian textiles. In the shyrdak they stand for freedom or the connection between heaven and earth. They are often used as border. 

The symbol “köökör” is for hospitality. It is a nice pattern with a lot possibilities for variation. The form represents the leather kumiz vessel. Kumiz is the national drink made of  fermented horse milk, always offered to the guests. You see this symbol often countered in a heart form. A nice way to welcome your guests.

more about the symbolism

[vestien]

(sorry for the repost)

I’m reading the manga now though.  the artwork is super pretty.  I’m loving all the patterns and textures!

[kaorumori]

Translation of chapter 4, read it from here.

[snarp]

(It’s been gone for a while - I translated this about four years ago - and I unfortunately no longer have the originals of these images or the text.)

Sketch Dump (from November 11, 2009)

I’ve finally got some free time.

I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of the once-a-month pace, so…

[loveloveotoyome]

Kazakh Tribal Division by bulatus on Visual.ly

[loveloveotoyome]

Hi, I'm just writing to you to say thank you! I'm doing research on Otoyomonogatari and I want to present it on manga covention. Your blog is very helpful, so can I link my presentation to it and make that kind of reference? :) Once again, thank you so much!

Absolutely! I am glad it is helpful. Let me know if you need help with any particular topic. I need to write some new pieces. Also, which convention? I'd love to know.

Thank you for asking. :D

[figarizzle]

Another Kaoru Mori interview translation

Once again, Deb Aoki’s come through with another interview from the Salon du livre in Paris that proves that Kaoru Mori is the cutest mangaka alive. 

Article and image credits goes to Manga-Sanctuary.com

You can find Kaoru Mori’s work in English! Bride Stories is taken care of by the lovely Yen Press, and Emma was put out by DelRey before they shut down, if you scour internet used book stores. In French her publisher is Éditions Ki-oon.

Translation under the cut!

Read More

[sailorcq]

Next is Karluk’s Town! Fun fact about the name Karluk, it’s the name of a nomadic Turkic tribal confederacy (who are closely related to the Uyghurs) and is also one of the six major branches of the Turkic Language Family (which includes Uyghur and Uzbek!) As I mentioned in my first post,...

[kaorumori]