仕事猫

今日も一日。ご安全に!

Shigoto Neko (仕事猫; Working Cat) is a Japanese meme that originated in 2016 from an illustration posted on twitter by the artist known as Kumamine (くまみね). In the picture, Denwa Neko (電話猫; Telephone Cat) asks "How come you're still up in the middle of the night?"

「夜中科学電話相談」

Various reposts subsequently replaced the original text, and different forms of the cat emerged.

At some point, someone gave the cat a hard hat and had it pose as if performing yubisashi kakunin (指差確認). This design became known as Genba Neko (現場猫; Worksite Cat).

ヨシ!

As the meme gained popularity in 2018, Kumamine reclaimed the character, and called it Shigoto Neko. The design was slightly changed to avoid copyright issues due to the many memetic alterations that happened with the character.

The meme has since become mainstream, with industrial associations and government offices using the character to promote workplace safety.

2022 Agricultural Work Safety
Confirmation Campaign

Various goods, figures, and toys have been made of Shigoto Neko, but the only one of relevance to me has been the Construction Site + Shigoto Neko (工事現場+仕事猫) gashapon from Toys Cabin.

A limited black cat version was also announced last year, but such items are typically difficult to get ahold of if you happen to be overseas.

I apologize in advance for the resolution of the images. They are about ¼ the size of my typical pictures because I did some repairs on my camera, which reset all my capture settings.

I didn't realize there was an issue until after I started editing the photos, and now I'm too lazy to retake the pictures, so they are what they are.

Set A includes various barricades, a small A-frame sign, a detour sign, a cushion drum, a portapotty, and various stickers.

Set B is largely the same as Set A, except with a large A-frame sign, and a signal light.

Set C consists of various barricades, a traffic wand, plate compactor, wheelbarrow, metal plate, some rubble, and stickers.

Set D is similar to Set C, except it includes a sign and various hand tools.

All the sets are stated to be 1/64 scale, but I think except for the portapotty and shovel, everything else would probably work for 1/72.

The cat themed metal tube (単管) barricades need to be glued together for them to keep from falling apart.

A related set of gashapon that I picked up was the Toys Cabin Sidewalks & Signs Collection (歩道＆標識コレクション).

Set A consists of sidewalk and curb parts, as well as a sign with stickers for slow/stop.

Set B also has sidewalk and curb parts, but includes a mirror instead of a sign.

Set C consists of sidewalk and curb parts, as well as a sign with stickers for no parking/no u-turn/speed limits.

Set D consists of sidewalk and curb parts, as well as a sign with stickers for no passing/no entry.

Set E consists of sidewalk and curb parts, as well as two signs with stickers for school zone/bicycle and pedestrian crossing/one way street/left turn ok.

The signs and figures (except the cat) might be a little too big for 1/72 scale, but I'd give the sidewalks a pass.

Overall, these are fairly usable items from Toys Cabin depending on your level of tolerance for scale discrepacy. I look forward to more of their future releases.

Toys Cabin Parking Lot Collection

Toys Cabin (トイズキャビン) is a manufacturer of gashapon toys of various type, among which are 1/64 cars and related diorama items.

While their cars aren't of any interest to me, I did want to get some of the diorama items to see how they look with 1/72 scale miniatures. Their most recent set is the 1/64 Parking Lot Collection Ver. 1.5 (駐車場コレクション Ver.1.5).

The original set released in 2021 used different colors for some pieces, and had different stickers for signage.

The sets come randomly in gashapon capsules, and I was able to get all four variants. I don't think that each colored capsule corresponds to a particular set, but I could be wrong since I only had a sample size of four.

The first thing I noticed upon opening the capsules was that some of the pieces were bent from being stuffed inside the capsules.

Set A consists of road pieces, a wall, signs with stickers, and a payment machine with cover.

Some of the pieces were bent, and I did my best to straighten them out by heating them with a hair dryer.

Set B includes parking space pieces, a wall, parking blocks, flap locks, a vending machine with stickers, and a recycle bin.

Set C includes parking space pieces, a wall, a ticketing machine, and a parking gate which needed to have the arm straightened out.

Set D includes parking space pieces, a wall, parking blocks, flap locks, and some traffic cones along with a couple of traffic cone bars.

I think that the sets are actually pretty compatible with 1/72 scale figures. The sign post didn't fit in the base, so I drilled it out, but ended up making the hole to big, so now it's all wobbly.

Stickers are included indicating either a full lot or with vacancy, and I chose the later.

The parking spaces are probably unrealistically wide for 1/72 cars, and cars with low ground clearance might not fit very well over the flap lock (thus the painful way the Ferrari is parked).

The ticketing machine doesn't come with its own base, so the one from the payment machine needs to be used for it.

Eight sets are needed to create the lot shown in the promotional art, but I've seen Japanese parking lots with just one or two spaces.

If anyone is interested, a good overview of how hourly parking works in Japan can be found from RISE Corp.

La Bocca della Verità

The Mouth of Truth is a 1300kg Pavonazzo [Phrygian] marble mask said variously to represent Oceanus, Tiberinus, Faun, Triton, Mercury, or Jupiter Ammon.

It dates back to the 1st century AD ^[1] and is thought to have originally been an ancient Roman fountain decoration or a cistern cover.

At some point, the mask was moved to the Piazza Bocca della Veritá, which was the site of a Roman forum and commercial center.

Piazza della Bocca della Veritá

The mask was supposedly kept within the Temple of Hercules Invictus, until it was moved to its current location at the Basilica di Santa Maria de Schola Graeca in 1632.

Santa Maria de Schola Graeca

Legends surrounding the Mouth of Truth were propagated during medieval times through the Marvels of the City of Rome and other texts. The mask was attributed with oracular powers of making pronouncements regarding the truth of statements made by those brought before it (or not) ^[2]. An anonymous 14th century German text also claimed that Virgil ^[3] was responsible for giving the Mouth of Truth its powers.

The typical story surrounding the Mouth of Truth is centered around a type of trial by ordeal in which someone who is accused of a crime (or has taken an oath), places their hand in the mouth of the statue, which will bite off the hand if the person tells/has told a lie.

Representations of the statue vary in their depiction, with some Northern European artists apparently using the Brunswick Lion as a reference.

I've never seen the original Bocca della Verità, but I saw a replica at the VenusFort shopping mall in Japan (the mall has recently closed down due to massive redevelopment of the entire Palette Town complex).

Odaiba, Tokyo-to

Another replica is located not far from me in the northern San Diego area at the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens.

Vista, CA

The Mouth of Truth also makes appearances in various films and video games as well.

Roman Holiday, 1953

Only You, 1994

Tomb Raider Chronicles

Animal Crossing

As far as miniatures go, I have a couple of gashapon novelty figures from Epoch that present a humorous take on the Mouth of Truth.

The Shinjitsu no Kuchi-san no Shinjitsu (真実の口さんの真実) series consists of five poses (I. 真実の口さんの真実, II. 真実は激オコ, III. 真実は手が主食, IV. 真実はベー, V. 真実は休憩中).

The figures I have are pose IV (The Truth is Going Behhh), and pose V (The Truth is Taking a Break).

The diameter of the mask on the gacha-figures is 27mm, which scales out to about 1/66 scale, but given that the diameter of the actual mask is variously reported as being anywhere from 1.66m to 1.8m, it would be close to 1/72 scale using the larger diameter.

I'll probably sculpt a base modeled after the one on the actual statue sometime in the future to make a more accurate representation.


[1] Some sources claim the mask dates back to the time of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus and that it was originally one of many drainage covers of the Cloaca Maxima.

[2] I cannot find any version of the Mirabilia Urbis Romae with the oft quoted statement "Take your interlocutor to the Faun's mask, and you will understand whether he is telling you right or wrong." but I did find one version where the oracle was said to have deceived Flavius Claudius Julianus.

[3] For some reason, there are sources that claim the text refers to Virgilius Maro Grammaticus who was known as a grammarian, as opposed to the Virgil, who in the popular imagination of the Middle Ages was endowed with magical powers.

Giant Goldfish

from Goldfish Breeds and other Aquarium Fishes (1908)

The only appearance of giant goldfish in D&D that I am aware of was from module M4 Five Coins for a Kingdom.

Auratus: AC 7; HD 600; hp 2500; AT 0; D Nil; MV 120'; Save F36; AL N; THAC0 Nil.

The Aurati are colossal, hydrogen filled, 600–800' long orange and white telescope goldfish. They float through the air, and are used as a mode of transportation in the outer plane of Eloysia. Their temperament is described as docile and completely harmless.

A giant goldfish also appears in the Temple of the Jade Serpent in World of Warcraft.

The Talking Fish is a reference to a Chinese folktale.

The Talking Fish (as the goldfish is called) swims through the air in a watery ecosphere. It attacks with a Bubble Spray that inflicts cold damage.

The same model is also used for the goldfish pet in the WoW Pet Battle mini-game.

Most recently however, giant goldfish appeared in the manga Shibuya Kingyo (渋谷金魚). The story is essentially a zombie apocalypse story with giant goldfish in place of zombies. The Shibuya district of Tokyo becomes enveloped by a mysterious bowl shaped barrier infested with man-eating goldfish that swim through the air.

The goldfish make short work of the people in Shibuya, but it's lucky for the goldfish that the barrier was not centered around Tsukiji, or things could have easily been the other way around.

I know it might seem silly, but I think that they would certainly make for surprising and unexpected monsters if called up by a wizard with the Summon Monster spell.

I think that they would also make for unusual mounts (in the same vein as module M4) if you happen to run a more whimsical campaign.

金魚騎士只今推参！by 速水螺旋人

There are any number of models that can be used for miniatures, ranging from cheap rubber toys to the expensive gashapon from Yujin. The ones I own are just a couple examples of the wide variety of goldfish gashapon manufactured by Kaiyodo.

The first two models are Ranchu goldfish from the Furuta Choco Egg Pet Animals Collection (チョコエッグ・ペット動物コレクション no. 19 and 20).

The Ranchu are two piece models and come with a stand. They were made in clear plastic so the tail fins have a nice translucent appearance.

The next three models are Demekin goldfish from the Takara ChocoQ animaltales Pet Animals Series 3 (チョコQ・アニマテイルズ・ペット動物3 no. 86, 87, and 88).

The Demekin are four piece models and come with a stand. The tail fins are made in clear plastic, but I think the bodies are made with opaque plastic since the dorsal fins do not have the same translucency.

If I can find some really cheap plastic goldfish, I'm going to try my hand at adding some caparisons and saddles on a few of them for fun.