"Shishi-koma" (Lion-dogs)

 

I decided that whenever I wanted to describe humans,

I should draw dogs instead of men.

After all, the history of "dogkind" is as long as that of mankind… 

As I studied further the anatomy and the habits of dogs,

I ended up feeling that their evolution might be even more remarkable than ours.

The "man-haunted" Shishi-koma you will find in my works were born as lions, a long time ago, somewhere in India. Then they moved to China to become "Shishi", and travel all the way through the korean peninsula to Japan, where they eventually turned into dogs. 

Our ancestors created godlike dogs, our contemporaries made dogs their pets… and here I am, drawing in all their visions, trying to design "Shishi-komas" that fit the era.