Omairi

An American tourist and a aged Japanese woman meet on the train as they travel to a shrine.  Strangers in culture and as people, the shrine brings them together. Written and illustrated by me. This is a wordless comic, so there is no talking, just pictures. Enjoy!

Crafting the Story of a Place: Omairi

Platform 12:  Waiting on the train to Ise-shi.

This week in my Comics and the Visual Narrative class, we finished our silent comic challenge.  In the silent comic, you may use no words (not language or sound effects) and must convey the meaning of the story through gestures, facial expressions, and body language alone.  I went through many ideas, but something that stuck with me was the idea of a story of a place and how that place can weave people into merging and diverging tales.

This idea has resonated with me since I traveled to Japan.  I think, that often the United States feels so new that as a culture we miss that places cultivate different patterns of behavior in us.  I think, often enough, there is a lack of the truly "sacred space"  and place so old and monumental you feel humbled simply by being there.  There are few places here that give the average population chills--few places that inspire silence.