Saturday, February 2, 2013

New Call for Art Submissions - Raijū, The Thunder Beast 雷獣

The Raijū is friends with Raijin, the Shinto god of lightning. He falls to earth in a blot of lightning and takes the form of one of the other henge (shapeshifters) – tanuki, weasel or kitsune, only he is wreathed in lightning. He can fly around at will as a ball of lightning and when lightning strikes it means the Raijū has clawed the ground. Because the Raijū has left claw marks on trees so people stay away from trees during thunderstorms lest they come face to face with the creature. He’s said to hate camels and if a camel image is put up, thunder will not come. Finally, he has an odd habit of making himself tiny and sleeping in people’s navels. When Raijin wants to wake him he shoots an arrow into the unsuspecting mortal’s bellybutton! The superstitious sleep on their stomachs during a storm.

  • Deadline for submissions April 30, 2013
  • Submissions WILL NOT be returned so if you want to keep yours please send a HIGH QUALITY digital scan of at least 400dpi. Do not send photos. Email or dropbox to gominekobooks@yahoo.com
  • Submissions sent in will be auctioned off online and the money donated to the Support The Underground Crew - a group of underground bikers, musicians and artists that spend one weekend a month biking supplies in and donating their time to help out some of the villages in Tohoku the government deemed too small to resuscitate. 
  • Post to: Gomineko Books/ 3-13-29 Imagawa/ Suginami-ku, Tokyo/ 167-0035 Japan 
  • Please send a written statement giving Gomineko the right to publish your piece in any future publication and if you send the original, written permission to include it in the online auction.
  • You may send as many submissions in as you'd like but I print one per artist (per motif). There is no guarantee that your piece will be selected but please know that we definitely appreciate the time and energy spent on each piece. 
  • Questions can be sent to Crystal at gominekobooks@yahoo.com