I now have this one finished! The mon badges were made as decals.
I decided on a simple scene with a roadside milestone. I did some research on the internet on how numbers are written in Kanji, and found that the Japanese have some unlucky numbers. For instance the number ‘four’, which I subsequently painted on the milestone.
This number is considered to be very unlucky 'cos it is pronounced as ‘shi’, which is the very same pronunciation for ‘death’.
So with this in mind, combined with the pose of the Ashigaru and the numbered milestone, and a little superstition, you can understand why he is lookin’ over his shoulder.
Research has shown that Japanese airlines don’t even have any seats numbered ‘four’, or any hospital rooms numbered ‘four’ either.
