New Call for Art Submissions for Next Book - BAKENEKO

Bakeneko are forked tailed cat demons, not to be trusted. There are different myths concerning when and why a cat’s tail splits into two and he becomes a bakeneko, including that it happens when he reaches a certain age (although what the age is specifically tends to vary with each telling); or that it is the vengeful spirit of an ill-treated cat returned to avenge itself on his tormentors. Some people say it splits when a domestic cat reaches 8 pounds or it if has eaten in the same house for 13 years – but in all the stories once a feline’s tail divides into two the cat becomes a bakeneko and has supernatural powers. Bakeneko have been credited with shapeshifting and it’s believed that Bakeneko can breathe life back into the newly dead so all cats are kept away from fresh corpses as a precaution. (It’s also been said that it can reanimates a corpse by jumping over it’s head). Bakeneko then use these zombie bodies to revenge themselves on people they felt have wronged them. To prevent their pets from turning into demons Japanese people would cut the tails off their cats and as a consequence, there is a huge number of bobtail or stumpy tailed cats here in Japan, both feral and domesticated. Bakeneko (all cats really) enjoy licking lamp oil – it’s convenient fat and protein for them. With the lamp right there playing with shadows and the inevitable distortion a shoji screen would add to the image of a cat on a table licking lamp oil, it’s easy to see why people began to speculate about cats as yokai. Some believe bakeneko can grow large enough to just snatch people up through open windows. They’ve been known to kill a person and assume his/her identity. In more than one story e Bakeneko kills a person in it’s household and hides the body in the floorboards (or sometimes just the bones – all gnawed clean) assumes the dead person’s appearance and place in the family appearing at meal times to gorge. Bakeneko are considered malevolent creatures and are usually depicted as quite ferocious and evil.

Deadline for submissions January 31, 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 emailed to Crystal at gominekobooks@yahoo.com