Little Heartbeat

Chara’s 50-year-old birthday celebration

提起日本歌手Chara,最先想到的,除了她獨特的嗓音外,還有她在岩井俊二電影〈夢旅人〉中,那雙惶恐憤怒又純真的大眼睛。在電影似夢似幻的場景裡,她於精神與現實世界的邊緣游走,跟她現實裡予人的印象極為吻合。

Chara今年已經踏入50歲了,為作紀念,她特別邀請了親妹妹綿引光子合作,出版繪本《Little Heartbeat》。《Little Heartbeat》的插畫由綿引光子揮筆完成,內容則由Chara親自撰寫,故事以她自己的經歷為藍本,講述一個在世界角落裡安靜地生活的女孩,某天決定要離開自己的居住地,到外面的世界冒險。當中不少情節的靈感,源自她兒時跟家人的回憶,以及50年來的人生經驗。真實的經歷,經過Chara之手,幻化成為夢幻般的章節。綿引光子於大學時修讀的是木版畫,畫風獨特,為Chara寫下的故事增添了魔幻氣氛。

為了慶祝書籍出版,於今年12月8日至明年1月14日期間,在東京新宿的B Gallery,將舉行其原畫展。詳情請參考B Gallery網站

Speaking of Japanese singer Chara, the first thing that comes to mind, other than her unique throaty voice, is her large pair of eyes filled with fear, anger and innocence in Picnic, a movie directed by Shunji Iwai. Within the dream-like movie setting, she wanders along the edges of spiritual and real world, which perfectly matches the impression she has made on others in real life.

 

Chara has turned fifty this year, and to commemorate this occasion, she specially invited her younger sister, Mitsuko Watabiki, to co-publish an illustrated book titled Little Heartbeat. Mitsuko Watabiki drew all the illustrations in Little Heartbeat while Chara wrote the content herself. Based on Chara’s own experience, the story is about a girl, who has lived a quiet life in a corner of the world, decides one day to leave her home and embarks on an adventure in the outside world. A good many episodes owe the inspiration to her childhood memories with her family as well as to her experience over the past 50 years. Real experience, through Chara’s hands, has been transformed into scenes resembling fantasy. Mitsuko Watabiki’s studies in wood engraving at university have contributed to her unique drawing style, which has in turn added a kind of magical atmosphere to the story penned by Chara.

 

To celebrate the book’s publication, an exhibition of the original drawings will be held at B Gallery in Shinjuku, Tokyo from December 8, 2018 to January 14, 2019. For more detail, please refer to B Gallery’s website.

 

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