The "Dinosaur Picture Book Exhibition," which felt like a dream, has now ended, and I find myself in a period of post-festival blues. However, my quest for dinosaur books continues with no end in sight, and I recently acquired several more intriguing titles. Let's start with this one.

 

"The World of Fossils" (by Ichiro Hayasaka, Dokugakusha, 1955)

 

I couldn't believe my eyes when I found a photo of Opabinia on a page of this children's book published in 1955. Of course, Walcott's description was from 1912, so it's not an out-of-place artifact, but for us ordinary people, encountering Burgess Shale creatures only became possible much later, in the Heisei era, after the Japanese edition of Gould's "Wonderful Life" was published in 1993. Until then, they weren't featured in any popular science books about paleontology. The protagonists of the Cambrian scene at the time were trilobites, jellyfish, sponges, and so on. Some children's books even included sea scorpions and straight-shelled nautiloids, depicting them as the all-stars of the ancient ocean before the appearance of fish.

Unusually, the adult encyclopedia "The World of Ancient Life" (Bunri) published in 1980, mentioned the Burgess fauna, but while Marrella and Leanchoilia were named, stars like Anomalocaris, Opabinia, and Hallucigenia had not yet appeared.

However, nearly half a century before the "Cambrian Explosion" became widely known, Opabinia quietly made its Japanese debut. This is quite astonishing.

 

The author, Dr. Ichiro Hayasaka, was a paleontologist active from the Taisho period to the post-war era, specializing in Paleozoic brachiopods and other invertebrates. He apparently also had connections with Kenji Miyazawa. 

I own about four of his books that explain the history of life, including this one. While he passionately and meticulously describes invertebrates, he tends to gloss over dinosaurs and mammals.

 

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From left: "The World of Fossils 1955" book cover, Opabinia, author's recent photo

 

This "World of Fossils" is actually a heavily revised edition of a book with the same title published by Seibundo Shinkosha in 1940, before the war. I had owned the 1940 edition for quite some time but never paid attention to whether it contained Burgess Shale creatures. Upon checking now, while Opabinia wasn't there, several fossil photos were introduced, including the relatively well-known Sidneyia, Eldonia, and jellyfish! Of course, it was an Anomalocaris mouthpart.

Furthermore, this book features beautiful frontispiece illustrations (Shigeru Hatsuyama - Paleozoic scenery) and half-title illustrations (Toraji Suzuki - Mesozoic and Cenozoic scenery) that would be perfect for a "Dinosaur Picture Book Exhibition." I think they are quite sophisticated illustrations for a children's book.

 

Both the 1940 and 1955 editions conclude the Cambrian section with the following sentence:

"Professor Walcott, who discovered such intricate things from such ancient strata as the Cambrian period, was truly a great man."

 

Incidentally, in both books, the section introducing dinosaurs is titled "The Greatest Animals of the Mesozoic Era," but for some inexplicable reason, this person seems to have never used the word "dinosaur" throughout his life. He refers to them as "giant reptiles." I wonder if there was some unknown circumstance. An early work, which I will introduce next, offers a glimpse into his thoughts on the matter...

 

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Top row from left: "The World of Fossils 1940" book cover, Sidneyia, Eldonia, Jellyfish, Frontispiece "Imaginary scene of the Paleozoic Carboniferous forest" (Shigeru Hatsuyama), Half-title "Desert Age (Triassic) landscape" and "Giant elephant Mastodon rampant in the Cenozoic" (Toraji Suzuki)

 

 

The next two books, written during the Taisho period, are both rather specialized and intended for adults. Regarding dinosaurs, "An Outline of Historical Geology" (Yubunkan), published in 1920 (Taisho 9), states, "Among terrestrial reptiles, greatly diversified species of Dinosaurus appeared..." and lists a few names, but provides no detailed explanations.

In "Chitojin" (Kyobunsha) from 1926 (Taisho 15), in the introduction to the chapter titled "Large Animals of the Geological Age" which introduces dinosaurs, he writes, "I am writing about these so-called large animals here because of a special request, and in accordance with that request, I merely wish to count a few animals that are vaguely perceived as large and present them as examples. I will omit overly theoretical matters here." He expresses his frustration at being made to write about subjects outside his expertise. This was likely the true feelings of a brilliant researcher who was 35 years old at the time. To put it bluntly, he disliked dinosaurs and other ancient vertebrates. However, precisely because he was so passionate about Paleozoic invertebrates, he was able to introduce the Burgess fauna to the public 60 years ahead of his time. Incidentally, in these books, dinosaurs are referred to individually as Megalosaurus, Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus, and Iguanodon (was the Japanese name "Kiryū" unknown to him?). What's more, the illustrations in these two books are exceptionally beautiful for their time, which is a delight.

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The top four images are from "An Outline of Historical Geology."

The top-left image, "A kind of Permian reptile," is a hybrid pelycosaur resembling Edaphosaurus with the head of Dimetrodon.

The bottom three images are from "Chitojin." The Archaeopteryx (?) in the frontispiece on the left has four wings! The caption explains, "It resembles the flying machines invented in early times." This book provides sources and explanations for its illustrations, stating that this picture is "from Popular Science Monthly July 1917," the Stegosaurus is "a reconstruction published by paleontologist Abel in 1920," and Diplodocus is described as "a highly credible illustration created as a result of extensive research on numerous specimens by paleontologist Abel."

 

 

Lake Tedori in 1976

 

Here's another item that didn't make it into the "Dinosaur Picture Book Exhibition." I recently acquired it from an online used bookstore.

"Full-Color Restoration - A Collection of Earth History Paintings" by Sanzo Kaneko (illustrations), supervised by Masao Minato and Shoji Iri (Tokyo Bunko Publishing, 1967)

 

The painter Sanzo Kaneko (1909-1990) was responsible for the covers and illustrations of paleontologist Shoji Iri's "Lake Nojiri Elephant" (Fukuinkan, 1970) and "Mystery of the Stegosaurus" (Fukuinkan, 1972). He also illustrated several other picture books and created covers for famous science fiction novels such as "The Fall of the Galactic Empire" (Clarke) and "2 Billion A.D." (Clement) for Sogen Suiri Bunko, and "The Devil's Invention" (Verne) and "The Skylark of Space" (Smith) for Kadokawa Bunko.

This collection of paintings appears to be a re-publication of the artwork created for "Illustrated History of the Earth - Japan in the Pre-World" published in 1961 by the same team. It's a rare item, a set of 15 unbound A3-sized paintings, with only 400 copies ever published.

It's understandable that the book covers the period from the birth of Earth to the Jomon period in just 15 scenes, so it's a quick overview. Dinosaurs only appear in Scene 9, featuring Nippon-ryu. A poetic explanation is written on the back of the preceding Scene 8. It's quite good, so let me share a part of it:

 

Scene 9: "Nippon-ryu"

 

Episode of Biological Evolution - Evolution and Specialization

(Excerpt)

There is no adaptation that escapes specialization.

 

The dinosaur that descended into the swamp

got stuck in the mud of adaptation and specialization,

repeating the episode of evolution in vain.

 

Mud, adaptation and specialization, the end of a master.

 

 

What's interesting is Scene 8, on the front side.

 

Scene 8: "Lake Tedori"

 

Under a sky neither clear nor cloudy, the Hida mountain range can be seen in the distance.

Ferns have already become undergrowth, and large conifers and Podozamites trees form a forest along the lake shore.

In the forest, there are no birds flying, nor the wriggling of reptiles.

In this drowsy, languid lake scenery, we can see the mature nature of the Mesozoic era.

 

Putting aside the fact that the Hida mountain range, which began to uplift approximately 2.7 million years ago (according to Wikipedia), is visible in the Early Cretaceous, it is deeply moving to consider how the drowsy, ancient area around Hakusan and Katsuyama, from about half a century ago when there were no birds or reptiles, is now about to transform into a dinosaur sanctuary.

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Hasamic World is an Archaeopteryx Festival

 

This summer, I went shopping at "Hakubutsu Festival" again. This time, Hasamic World, a paper-cutting art creator, focused on Archaeopteryx, showcasing three-dimensional models of five famous and lesser-known specimens. At this point, it was almost impossible to resist the urge to collect them all, and I ended up buying all four skeletal models, excluding the feather fossil, without much thought. Please take a look.

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The Berlin specimen, almost life-sized and framed. The skeleton is amazing, of course, but the feather expression is also incredible. Please take a close look.

The small white Berlin specimen is cute, less than 5cm in wingspan, but look at the quality of the work.

The framed item on the bottom row is something I was embarrassingly unaware of, called the "11th specimen."

Next to it are smaller versions, simpler in construction compared to the previous two, but still wonderfully atmospheric London and Maxberg specimens. These were originally for display, but I managed to persuade them to let me have them.

The small ichthyosaur skeleton on the bottom right is a Mixosaurus skeleton that I requested at a corner where they would create something on the spot for 100 yen, based on a request. I once asked for a goblin shark. (New Treasure House Vol.37)

I thought I might have asked for something troublesome, but they gladly accepted, and while looking at a photo I searched on my smartphone, they cut and snipped for 3-4 minutes to complete it.

All I could do was applaud.

 

It had been a year since I last met Mr. Takao Ito of "Takao Kiln," so we ended up chatting for a long time. Unfortunately, the Zuru I had hoped for wasn't available. He said he was inspired to create it after seeing the Zuru in Ueno, but couldn't finish it in time for this event. I can probably look forward to it next time. This time, I bought about four small pieces related to the "Picture Book Exhibition." 

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A "Briant-style" Iguanodon, a "Hawkins-style" Iguanodon with a Megalosaurus (this is the second pair of this combination in Takao's work — New Treasure House Vol.47), and finally, perhaps a "Knight-Parker-style" Tyrannosaurus?

 

 

"Creating the 'Commonly Known' Anguirus"

 

While it pains me to show something like this after such artistic works, I was strangely captivated by a scene from "Godzilla Raids Again" that I mentioned in the Ankylosaurus section, where a professor casually declares, "This is an Ankylosaurus, commonly known as Anguirus," while identifying a new monster from a dinosaur encyclopedia. Taking inspiration from the encyclopedia's illustration, I decided to create a "commonly known" Anguirus. To elaborate on that scene, the professor reads a report from Dr. Predelin Hordern, a world-renowned authority on ancient animal societies in Poland, as recorded in the encyclopedia, and explains Anguirus to the task force. He states that it is a carnivorous tyrant lizard, 200 feet (approximately 70 meters) long, with brains distributed throughout its body, allowing it to move quickly, and so on. A 70-meter Ankylosaurus is beyond imagination.

I tried to find the foreign encyclopedia used in the movie, but the title was unclear, so I gave up. I also searched for Dr. Hordern, just in case, but found no clues. 

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Now, for the creation of the "commonly known" Anguirus. I bought a Bandai soft vinyl Anguirus from the 90s on Yahoo Auctions at a bargain price, and then cut, pasted, and bent it to create this. I wanted to preserve as much of the original as possible (as I lacked the energy to make it from scratch), so I regret that the legs ended up strangely large. The head, of course, was unusable, so I bought a Dracorex skull from "Dinosaur Fossil Museum (Gacha)" for about 200 yen on Yahoo Auctions, added flesh to it, and made it look somewhat accurate. I also gave it Heterodontosaurus-like fangs.

I didn't have much time, so it ended up a bit rough. I might try remaking it when I feel like it, but I recently received the Kaiyodo and X-Plus Tyrannosaurus plastic models, and the Kaiyodo "Tower of the Sun" (with the Tree of Life) plastic model will be released in September, so those take priority. I also have several unbuilt dinosaur kits at home, so who knows when the "commonly known" Anguirus revision will happen.

 

Dinosaur summer is far from over. The "Dinosaur Science Expo" in Roppongi runs until September, and on August 12th, the "Paleoart Creation Joint Exhibition," where deep dinosaur enthusiasts gather, will be held.

Additionally, dinosaur events are flourishing everywhere this summer. I plan to attend as many as possible.

 

Finally, here's a late-summer greeting, with an Anomalocaris hat I bought at "Hakufes," placed on the Homo Erectus that, for some reason, resides in my house.

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