ZOTTO ぞっと
BONUS FEATURE: BAKENEKO
If you have found your way to this website, it means that you came across one of our 'bakeneko' or 'ghost cats' created by artist Casey Kawaguchi in Downtown Denver or the RiNO Arts District!
This website contains special bonus content for the Japanese Arts Networks' immersive production 'ZOTTO'. For more information about ZOTTO, and to participate in the adventure, click here to visit our HOME PAGE.
We have placed multiple bakeneko ghost cats painted by Casey Kawaguchi throughout the city - can you discover them all?
Take photos of and tag three or more cats with the hashtag #ZOTTODENVER and mentioning @JapaneseArtsNetwork on Instagram for the chance to own one of these cats/original pieces of artwork, and to give it a new home.
Bakeneko (化け猫, Bakeneko) is a type of Japanese yōkai, or supernatural creature.
The abilities attributed to the bakeneko are various, but include shapeshifting into humans, wearing a towel or napkin on the head and dancing, speaking human words, cursing humans, manipulating dead people, possessing humans, and lurking in the mountains. As an unusual example, on Aji island, Oshika District, Miyagi Prefecture and in the Oki Islands, Shimane Prefecture, there is a story of a cat that shapeshifted into a human and wanted to engage in sumo.
The bakeneko makes elusive appearances throughout the ZOTTO journey, but it's up to the audience member to decide how, when, and where they are encountered.
As you move throughout Denver you might get the feeling you're being watched - by a Japanese warrior woman, almost always in red, white and black. She peeks around columns under highways and peers down from RiNo warehouse walls. Don't be alarmed; her creator Casey Kawaguchi, a self taught street artist who works entirely freehand and has been evolving his nameless character for over a decade, says the battle is with him. You can find Kawaguchi's work captured in depth in the documentary short film "Mastery PT.1 & PT.2". Which has followed Kawaguchi over three and a half years of his journey.
Learn more about the artist here:
Sources for this Page:
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR RiNO ARTS DISTRICT for supporting Casey Kawaguchi's artwork that is part of ZOTTO!
