John and Yoko released "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" in 1971 wishing for eternal peace in the midst of Vietnam War, where around 3 million Vietnamese and 58,315 Americans were killed. Meanwhile, 32,765 people fell victim to terroism in the world in 2014 and 13,469 people were victimized by gun incidents in the USA in 2015. If only we all gave up selfishness, we might be able to live in peace a little more.
According to Wikipedia, Venus is the Roman goddess whose functions encompassed love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity and desire. This card was illustrated to depict today's Venus, who must be tough to repel vicious calumnies, tolerant to accept a variety of followers from all over the world, and wise to deal with greedy stakeholders, with mushing up several classical art works of Botticelli, Raffaello, Hokusai-1, and 2.
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of ABBA's world debut, this card depicts the scene of the Wedding Eve Party of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1976, where they performed "Dancing Queen" for the first time in the world.-->YouTube Video
Nakamura, Kanzaburo XVIII (May 30, 1955-Dec. 5, 2012), an actor active in Kabuki and other forms of live theater,
had gained a national reputation for his excellence in the theater arts and was loved by people for his cheerful
and broad-minded personality.
"Shunkyo Kagami Jishi" is one of the most popular programs of Kabuki, which includes the famous dance part that
involves vigorous action and the spectacular makeup and costume to express the engrossed state of dancer whose body
is supposed to be taken over by the spirit of Shishi (=Jishi), the imaginary animal like a lion.-->
YouTube Video
The Genji Monogatari Emaki is a famous hand scroll illustrated in the 12th century after The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari), which is a classic work of Japanese literature written by Murasaki Shikibu in the early years of the 11th century. The work is sometimes called the world's first modern novel. It describes romance, travel and the encounters with the supernatural through the love affairs of Hikaru Genji with various types of ladies in the aristocratic society.--> Original picture
The Shichi(7)-fuku(Lucky)-jin(Deities) represents the various good fortunes, as follows, based on the Japanese mythology and folklore, which were transmitted from China and India except for Ebisu that originated in Japan. "Hotei"; abundance and good health, "Jurojin"; long life, "Fukurokuju"; wealth and longevity, "Bishamonten"; courage and warriors, "Benzaiten"; wisdom, art and music "Daikokuten"; harvest, commerce and trade, "Ebisu"; fishers or merchants. They are so popular for their blessings that their figures or pictures are ubiquitous in Japan.-->!>Original picturee
Rick (Humphrey Bogart) says "Here's looking at you, kid." to Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) four times in the film "Casablanca"(1942). The phrase "Here's to" is usually used to give a toast and followed by the name of a person or place. In the movie though, Rick is trying to say that he loves looking at Ilsa so that's why he says this way.-->YouTube Video
In the episode 2-9 of "Seinfeld", Jerry gives Elaine cash instead of a birthday gift, which upsets her a lot for lack of delicacy. Meanwhile Kramer gives her the longing gift with a card quoting the words of Yeats, for which she is much grateful.-->YouTube Video
William Butler Yeats, the Irish Nobel laureate in literature (1923), wrote a poem after he visited the municipal gallery where his friends were portrayed as heros of the independence movements of Ireland. He ended the poem by saying that his glory lied in the fact that he had such great men as his intimate friends.
Fujin, the god of the wind, is portrayed as a terrifying dark demon, wearing a leopard skin, carrying a large bag of winds on his shoulders. Fujin was believed to control the wind and sometimes blow up a storm, while he was also believed to bring about the blessings of nature and became the worship of agriculture. This card was illustrated to blow a spiritual wind to cheer up the depressed people.-->Original picture