This lovely and feminine poster was made for the Sakura Jidai Festival, also known as the Festival of the Ages. While it is certainly beautiful, it’s garnering attention online because it was created by an 81-year-old man.
The 17th annual Sakura Jidai Festival was held this past weekend and attendees were thrilled by costumers dressed in old period clothing and a number of performances. People gathered from all over the country in part due to an absolutely stunning poster that was made for the event. It depicted a girl traditionally dressed in a soft pink kimono with numerous flowers adorning her hair and a set of extremely sparkly eyes beckoning you to come to the festival.
The poster is credited to Makoto Takahashi, written in kanji as 高橋真琴. For many Japanese people, that name, with those characters, invokes images of a woman, but it turns out that Makoto is actually an 81-year-old man.
▼ This poster was done by…
「第17回佐倉時代まつり」のポスター。こんな激可愛らしい絵を描かれたのは「高橋真琴さん」御年81歳の男性です。81歳の男性です。81歳男性...しかも色鉛筆と水彩で描かれてますデジタルじゃありません。まじかよと言わざる負えない... pic.twitter.com/UTUcEJjlNd
— るみねこ (@mv965y8) November 15, 2015
▼ …this guy!
ヒャダッ！！高橋真琴がヲトコだったって知らなかったワッ！！ pic.twitter.com/AYy5ZTdHyP
— Rachel D'Amour (@racheldamour) November 16, 2015
This Makoto isn’t just any old man, but a seasoned veteran in the world of girl’s manga. He’s worked for the shojo magazines Nakayoshi and Margaret, creating cover illustrations, centerfold drawings, and stationary designs with characters on them. It’s also said that he was the first person to give starry eyes to characters.
▼ Look at those shiny, sparkling eyes!
https://twitter.com/blancneige_info/status/665383247266734081▼ A few more examples of his work
https://twitter.com/veryprettybetty/status/660817468743548928高橋真琴先生の描く人形姫◎ pic.twitter.com/EIs2x87AaQ
— 四月🥀𝕲𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖈🔪𝔏𝔬𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔞 (@xx4xxdobusu) November 7, 2015
The poster for the Sakura Jidai Festival also wasn’t created using a computer. Instead, it was painstakingly drawn by hand and finished with colored pencils and watercolor paints. It’s a beautiful piece of art and it’s easy to see why people are going crazy for it. Next year’s committee will have a hard time topping it, unless they enlist the help of a talented 82-year-old man.
Source: Togech
Top Image: Twitter/@mv965y8
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