- Pronouns
- He/They
On my recent trip to Japan I got some Lupin things, one was the Dead or Alive movie book from 1996. Inside there was a page about fanworks, it included cosplays, fanzines, and using a rough translation I explored what I could. Click these for full photos!
I have an interest in how fandom looked, especially before the internet was popularized. I will try to find info from Japanese fans later but in this there were actually TWO American fans were featured, one cosplayer and one sculptor. I figured it would be fairly easy to start my quest in a language I understood well.
The machine translation of the text reads:
"John A. Morrison, glass sculptor
John, a glass sculptor living in Dallas, Texas, is a big Lupin fan. Hearing that Monkey Sensei was coming to America, he visited the hotel to give him his work as a present. The moment Monkey Sensei opened the hotel door, he was shocked to see John, with his sturdy build and beard, mistaking him for a burglar. The work is now carefully displayed at the entrance to the teacher's office. A fluorescent lamp is built into the wooden base, and when the switch is turned on, light enters the glass. (Photo at bottom)"
The glass sculptor had a name, location and profession listed so I did a quick search and found a website! Turns out Mr Morrison was still working. So I emailed him and asked if he remembered this encounter and a bit about the past.
He asked me to give him a phone call and here's what I learned.
Mr. Morrison is now in his 70s and he told me he became fascinated by foreign films after being a movie and media fan that grew very bored by Hollywood's predictable formulas.
He was interested in sci-fi and at a sci-fi convention he encountered bootlegs of Chinese movies for the first time and it opened his eyes to media outside what he grew up with. He started to seek out Chinese films and anime.
In Dallas there was a Chinese community that had a VHS rental shop that he would visit and rent movies from. He and the owner of the shop became friends and he would recommend films to him and this allowed him to find some Japanese movies and anime alongside many other movies.
Later on, he found shops for renting anime and Japanese dramas, taped gameshows, etc. He said he tried out whatever he could get his hands on and that he found different cultural perspectives compelling and still does.
He and his friends would meet once every two weeks and hang out all day and watch as many copied VHSes as they could find of Chinese movies and anime like this. He said "I was newly single at the time and I could be as crazy as I wanted so I just dove in."
This was the timeframe when he saw Castle of Cagliostro, and two other Lupin films, he said he couldn't recall the other titles, but he'd let me know if he remembered. So this was how he had learned about Lupin in the first place. My guess is Mamo and Babylon maybe? Based on the time frame it had to be films made in the early 1990s or earlier.
He told me he was always curious to find new experiences, especially in music, and that he is still excited to try new things. He told me he was fascinated with cartoons his whole life, but that anime was an amazing thing to find because it encompassed every genre, not just one thing and that it had stories with more complexity and new perspectives.
As for his lifelong craft, he said he was thinking about doing animation and other types of art, but when he first discovered glass sculpture it became his full time passion that still inspires him. You can see his website with some examples, he clearly makes some amazing pieces!
He had some contact with people who put on art and sci-fi conventions in Texas, and he would make specialized sculpted awards for celebrities and tournaments. He made awards for many of the Star Trek actors and found out from a friend that Kato-san would be attending an art convention. He offered to make this lamp for him for free if his friend would help him give it to him, and his friend introduced them.
He said he shared his glass portfolio and that Kato-san gave him a business card and offered to let Mr. Morrison choose one of the four paintings that Kato-san had in the art show. Mr. Morrison said he still had that painting and I've attached his photo here!
This piece is a cover of one of the Lupin manga releases! Thanks to @Peater for helping me find it!
Hope you guys found this little window into history interesting!
I have an interest in how fandom looked, especially before the internet was popularized. I will try to find info from Japanese fans later but in this there were actually TWO American fans were featured, one cosplayer and one sculptor. I figured it would be fairly easy to start my quest in a language I understood well.
The machine translation of the text reads:
"John A. Morrison, glass sculptor
John, a glass sculptor living in Dallas, Texas, is a big Lupin fan. Hearing that Monkey Sensei was coming to America, he visited the hotel to give him his work as a present. The moment Monkey Sensei opened the hotel door, he was shocked to see John, with his sturdy build and beard, mistaking him for a burglar. The work is now carefully displayed at the entrance to the teacher's office. A fluorescent lamp is built into the wooden base, and when the switch is turned on, light enters the glass. (Photo at bottom)"
The glass sculptor had a name, location and profession listed so I did a quick search and found a website! Turns out Mr Morrison was still working. So I emailed him and asked if he remembered this encounter and a bit about the past.
He asked me to give him a phone call and here's what I learned.
Mr. Morrison is now in his 70s and he told me he became fascinated by foreign films after being a movie and media fan that grew very bored by Hollywood's predictable formulas.
He was interested in sci-fi and at a sci-fi convention he encountered bootlegs of Chinese movies for the first time and it opened his eyes to media outside what he grew up with. He started to seek out Chinese films and anime.
In Dallas there was a Chinese community that had a VHS rental shop that he would visit and rent movies from. He and the owner of the shop became friends and he would recommend films to him and this allowed him to find some Japanese movies and anime alongside many other movies.
Later on, he found shops for renting anime and Japanese dramas, taped gameshows, etc. He said he tried out whatever he could get his hands on and that he found different cultural perspectives compelling and still does.
He and his friends would meet once every two weeks and hang out all day and watch as many copied VHSes as they could find of Chinese movies and anime like this. He said "I was newly single at the time and I could be as crazy as I wanted so I just dove in."
This was the timeframe when he saw Castle of Cagliostro, and two other Lupin films, he said he couldn't recall the other titles, but he'd let me know if he remembered. So this was how he had learned about Lupin in the first place. My guess is Mamo and Babylon maybe? Based on the time frame it had to be films made in the early 1990s or earlier.
He told me he was always curious to find new experiences, especially in music, and that he is still excited to try new things. He told me he was fascinated with cartoons his whole life, but that anime was an amazing thing to find because it encompassed every genre, not just one thing and that it had stories with more complexity and new perspectives.
As for his lifelong craft, he said he was thinking about doing animation and other types of art, but when he first discovered glass sculpture it became his full time passion that still inspires him. You can see his website with some examples, he clearly makes some amazing pieces!
He had some contact with people who put on art and sci-fi conventions in Texas, and he would make specialized sculpted awards for celebrities and tournaments. He made awards for many of the Star Trek actors and found out from a friend that Kato-san would be attending an art convention. He offered to make this lamp for him for free if his friend would help him give it to him, and his friend introduced them.
He said he shared his glass portfolio and that Kato-san gave him a business card and offered to let Mr. Morrison choose one of the four paintings that Kato-san had in the art show. Mr. Morrison said he still had that painting and I've attached his photo here!
This piece is a cover of one of the Lupin manga releases! Thanks to @Peater for helping me find it!
Hope you guys found this little window into history interesting!
