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An exhibit for Yotsuba&! titled “Yotsuba & Danboard: The Exhibition” is currently being held at Shibuya Parco Part 1. The purpose of this event, which began on Aug. 31, is to celebrate 10 years of serialization for Kiyohiko Azuma’s popular manga Yotsuba&!, and it is also themed after the character Danbo who is made out of cardboard.
The first thing we saw upon entering was a display of Yotsuba&! comics along with many promotional goods and advertisements that have been produced to date. On display are many rare items that we thought we would never have the chance to see again, such as bookmarks that were handed out with the manga, book covers created through collaborations with various bookstores, advertisements published in newspapers, and more.
Proceeding to the next area of the exhibit, we saw original copies of the manga along with many documents used in its creation. Next up were many items from the series recreated in real life, such as Yotsuba’s beloved unicycle and keyboard, stuffed animals and other toys, and the keyboard Yotsuba’s dad uses at work. Also introduced is the process by which the analog drawings created using mainly pen and screentone are made into digital drawings. Visitors can enjoy comparing the original analog drawings to the digital ones to find the differences.
Finally, we came to the area showcasing the popular character whose name also appears in the title of this exhibit: Danbo. On display in this area are, of course, cute Danbo collaborations with several companies, as well as original, high-quality figures of Danbo made by ambitious modelers who each created the iconic character in their own style.
One part of this area in particular we would like to highlight are the dioramas created by Naoto Arakawa. Among these are ones that expand the bewitching and comical story of Danbo, as well as 360° dioramas that can be viewed from any angle. We saw many visitors stopping in their tracks to get a better view of these.
If you happen to be in Japan, we recommend fully enjoying the world of Yotsuba&! at the “Yotsuba & Danboard: The Exhibition” being held now until Sept. 16.
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
