light vessel automatic

Okinawan buildings traditionally have sculptures of shisa — fierce lion-dog creatures — on their roof or gateposts in order to scare away evil spirits. When they’re found either side of a gate or door, one always has its mouth open while the other’s is always shut. Traditional shisa are sculpted in an old-fashioned Chinese-looking style, but on Ishigaki there’s a pottery that’s become quite famous for its crazy, bright-coloured 21^st century shisa and shisa-inspired creatures. They’re very photogenic, but oddly, they seem to look a lot better in photos than real life. Or rather, they look the same, but in real life it’s easier to notice that they’re a bit too gaudy and crazy to sit comfortably against a background of less crazy objects… I think they’re still quite groovy though.