Manga artist Hiroshi Kurogane appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) broadcast on December 10th. He talked about his recent hobby of making figurines.
It takes anywhere from four or five days to a week to make one. "So many people (acquaintances) have died, so I start thinking about all sorts of strange things. Making things helps me. Every day, after I've finished my work quota, I just make these. I've ended up with several thousand pieces," he said.
When the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible for him to go out, he became even more reluctant to go out, and as a result he became more and more reclusive, and as a result he started making more out of loneliness, the number of people he made increased dramatically.
In the studio, he showed off a number of military commander objects placed on a chessboard. "When I made this, I was in a state of 'no self'. I had nothing, and before I knew it, it was done," he said. The material is wood. Leather is used for the parts that are glued together.
He will be 80 next year. "Between this year and next year, I would like to write just one book that is carefree and full of laughter, that can make any kind of person laugh," he said, adding, "It's an extremely difficult task, and I don't think I'll be able to do it, but I'll try my best."
