I found this set of vintage (early-mid Seventies?) punch-out paper dolls in a Shimokitazawa toy shop last week. The amazingly grotesque cover-art features what appears to be Oiwa-san on the front and a kappa, kara-kasa, and hitotsume-kozo kicking it with a skeleton on the reverse. Called "yako obake," or "glow ghouls," the really scary thing is that they still retain their luminescence after all these years, making me wonder exactly what the hell the manufacturer used (Radioactive isotopes? Photonic energy? Crushed-up human souls?)
Unfortunately, only three cards plus the display monster remained in the set. The one on the left is a ningyo, or Japanese mermaid; the Son-of-Godzilla-esque fellow on the right is a generic monster. The others in the pack were your average skeletons. The cover says there are 30 variations total, and now I've "gotta get 'em all."
Perhaps you shouldn't touch them too often, depnding on what they used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_paint
Posted by: thomas | October 21, 2009 at 05:43 PM
those are bad ass ! great find !
Posted by: jim m | November 05, 2009 at 07:34 AM