A Definitive Text? A remarkable book came into my possession a few years ago and has always intrigued me. It was a small book by Shizuki Obuchi called How to Shoot Little Girls. Its 49 little chapters seem to cover just about every aspect of shooting little girls in the nude. It is my hope that readers will come forward and help translate this work so that interesting details and anecdotes might be included in a future post about the photographer. The first three chapters have already been translated by a Japanese student (and is also responsible for translating the Sawatari notes as well). Moko also took part and transcribed a few of the chapters as well. Please take a look and, for those who are able, please assist in having this translated. I would also appreciate suggestions for programs that can be purchased that can provide better translations than that offered by Google Translate.
Living Goddess: In recent news, Nepal just elected its new kumari. In some ways they are almost a living work of art. This practice also stirs some ambivalence because although these girls almost certainly have a better life than the vast majority of children in Nepal, they are also a kind of slave from the time they’re chosen until they reach puberty and lose their goddess status. My only exposure to this event was an episode of The Human Animal hosted by Desmond Morris. As part of his illustration on status displays, he points out how the Nepali kumari, though a diminutive girl, must be raised on a high carriage to reflect her high status in public.
Fellow Worshipers: Christian has found an excellent site online that has a lot of detailed information about Samuel Clemens’ Angelfish girls. A comment was included at the end of the post with a link to another site which discusses the topic.
ALSO, being the kumari must be a sad, lonely life without her family.
I wonder how frequently, or even IF, they are allowed to visit her.
Given that the text is in Japanese, I assume the title has also been translated from Japanese. Am I the only one wondering if that’s the best translation? Living as I do in a country that has a rich tradition of gun violence, and proudly claims the title of “mass shooting capital of the world” [sarcasm], I can’t help making unfortunate associations.
Googling the translated title brings up numerous videos of little girls firing high powered weapons, which I find somewhat less adorable than the people who post them seem to, but that’s just me. Translation is subtle and I have no intention of starting a gun debate, so if no one else has this reaction, I’ll let it drop, but it’s fascinating how people (at least where I am) are so much more disturbed by a little girl posing naked than one using deadly weapons.
For the record, my dad was a responsible gun owner/hunter who taught me gun safety, and we always ate what he brought home.
Japanese is particularly difficult to translate given that its structure is so different from European languages. I gave the “intended” title and I had no idea that the characters for “shoot” meant the same as for shooting guns as it does in English. There was a partial title in English printed in that book that seemed vague, “Shooting Little Girls”. The full title is somewhat more explanatory so that we understand that it is the photographic erotic portrayal of little girls. Here is the full title in Japanese: 少女を撮る: エロティシズム、妖精たちの