Kagawa: Figurine of Satirized Man Becomes Hit Among Young People; Researchers Hope to Boost Artists’ Profile

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:44 JST, June 28, 2025

ZENTSUJI, Kagawa — A figurine depicting a character from a 20th century satirical cartoon burning a banknote to light up the darkness has become a hit, especially among young people.

The cartoon, “Narikin Eiga Jidai” (Nouveau riche era), was drawn by Kunibo Wada (1899-1992), an artist born in Kagawa Prefecture. The Kyuman Museum of Art in Zentsuji, which conducts research on Kunibo’s work, hopes the figurine will raise the artist’s profile.

One of Kunibo’s best-known cartoons portrays society in the 1910-20s, when the nouveau riche appeared and amassed a fortune during and after World War I. The cartoon has even appeared in Japanese history textbooks.

In the cartoon, a female employee of a high-end Japanese restaurant is anxiously searching its dark entrance for a customer’s shoes while the customer, an elderly man, stands nearby burning a ¥100 banknote. He is smiling broadly and saying, “How’s this? It’s brighter now, right?” At that time, ¥100 would have been worth over a hundred thousand yen today.

In recent years, the cartoon caught the eye of Daiki Yoshimoto, who runs a figurine production company in Kobe. He reproduced the character. When he put the figurines on the market in July 2022 for ¥5,000, orders flooded in. “He has a charming face and seemed ideal for a figurine,” Yoshimoto said.

The Kyuman museum also sells other products featuring the character, including a clear plastic folder and postcards.

“More young people are visiting the museum thanks to the figurines,” said Miki Nishitani, a curator at the museum. “I hope it will lead to more people knowing about Kunibo.”