INCREDIBLE POKéMON EXHIBITION FEATURES TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE CRAFT TECHNIQUES

Pokémon made its debut in 1996 and has since become ingrained in popular culture. Even if you're not an anime watcher, gamer, or card collector, you've probably encountered the familiar characters that have contributed to the franchise's immense popularity. Some of the animated characters are reimagined in an exhibition at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles by fusing them with both traditional and modern craft techniques. POKÉMON X KOGEI | Playful Encounters of Pokémon and Japanese Craft is the name of the exhibition, which includes more than 70 installations and sculptures created by 20 well-known Japanese artists.

This exhibition displays the talent and inventiveness of its artists with everything from curtains depicting tiny Pikachus to models of Eevee and its evolutions. They had to use traditional mediums like lacquer, ceramics, textiles, and metalwork to bring Pokémon to life. Metal musicians Taiichiro Yoshida and Morihito Katsura are two of the featured artists.

Since the main Pokémon types of Grass, Fire, Water, Ground, Steel, and Electric overlap with the materials and methods used in Japanese art making—which uses grass, fire, water, earth, metal, and electricity—the synthesis of Japanese craft and Pokémon takes on even more significance. According to an official statement, clay used in Japanese ceramics is extracted from the earth, combined with water, and frequently formed using an electric potter's wheel.

It is then painted with pigments made of metal and mineral oxides and fired in a kiln. They also point out that artists have a similar journey in learning and honing their creative skills, just as the objective of Pokémon games is to nurture and train their creatures.