Tamayura hitotose 2 ~ flowers of the tangerines I plucked

Photography.

I mentioned last time that a major theme of this show, along with Junichi Sato “healing” anime in general, is the value in working with ones hands. This often comes across in depictions of arts and crafts. Episode 2 of Tamayura ~hitotose~ gives me a good opportunity to show how prevalent this theme can be. In this post I don’t attempt to discuss the events of the episode, merely to catalogue how this theme is represented.

Rowing.

Splitting bamboo.

Sawing bamboo.

Weaving bamboo.

Some finished bamboo crafts.

Note that, in addition to the bamboo woven basket, filled with bamboo woven balls, there are flying tops. A top is seen flying in a different scene. It also introduces a special class of activities: toys.

Making dolls from bamboo.

Completed (though poorly made) bamboo doll, representing an Okonomiyaki cook.

This concept of doing things with one’s hands doesn’t require hard work (although that is included), nor does it pertain only to traditional arts (although they are included). It can also include simple past-times.

Playing with puppets. Also notice the traditional porcelain doll in the background.

Games, especially commercial games.

More games and toys.

In addition to labor, arts & crafts, and toys & games, there is another major category of activities: cooking.

Lemon pie. Fuu's mother and grandmother run a café, where they make new desserts on a regular basis.

Home-made cookies!

Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki.

Okonomiyaki is a grilled dish, like an omelet or a pancake. (This is the dish supposedly being cooked by the puppet shown above).

The tiny bags by each girl's head are satchels of potpourri.

Finally, one of the girls makes perfumes and potpourri. This is actually a traditional Japanese craft or art. In the Tale of Genji, there are scenes in which the different courtiers made their own scents and presented them in contests.

I don’t think I can say exactly what the point is of this theme. It probably is something along the lines of humans are naturally meant to be engaging in the world in some way. Part of it, I think, is an anti-consumerist message, although they do go to an okonomiyaki shop, and some commercial games are displayed. It might even be difficult to think of this collection as representing one theme, since playing games seems so different from doing work, such as sawing or rowing. I would be very interested in hearing thoughts from others. Do you think I am making too much of this? What do you think Junichi Sato is trying to say by featuring these kinds of activities in his “healing” shows?