Keba Keba is Japanese for Gaudy Tawdry and it is the title of
artist Takashi Murakami's first picture book for children, with
a story written by pop musician Yujin Kitagawa. This bright,
colorful book, appropriate for readers of all ages, features
both Japanese and English texts and emerges at a pivotal time
for America's scrutiny of Japan's self-expression. Murakami is
both an artist and an intellectual; he has written on and
created works employing the concept he calls "Superflat," which
is to say, "completely Westernized." Murakami has speculated
that "The world of the future might be like Japan is today --
super flat." Murakami's art is inspired both by animation and
children's culture. But while he has created stuffed animals and
monstrously sized inflatable characters, Keba Keba is his first
work intended for children. As the book begins, we meet Keba
Keba -- a round, colorful, exeedingly generous, though
friendless creature. Keba Keba gives his yellow to a baby
chicken who has been bullied, his favorit