Fred Patten on mythical creatures and Happy Science of Japan.
by Patch O'Furr
From the archive: Fred Patten, who passed away in late 2018, was a furry fandom founder who was also key for importing anime to the USA in the 1970’s and preparing it for English speaking audiences. As a historian and fan, Fred spoke to fellow researchers overseas. This led to discussing obscure traditions and customs. Occasionally they would come up about stories he was considering, but were too footnotey to add to the main articles. Below is the first of two interesting side topics, Happy Science of Japan. Coming next is Mandaean religion of Iraq, with 60-70,000 members worldwide. Fred suggests its mythology could be “a whole new area for furry artists and writers”. – Patch
From a story by a Japanese reporter about a visit to a 1994 “Happy Science” ceremony at age 15. The religious leader, riding on a dragon stage prop, ranted about a Japanese term for pornography which reveals the hair of a woman’s nether-regions.
Fred’s Happy Science story (6/25/15)
Dear Patch;
I don’t think I’ve ever told you about my encounter with the Happy Science religion.
This is more anime than furry-related.
Around 1995, give or take five years, I was contacted by a Japanese group. They had just released an animated theatrical feature in Japan that was #1 at the box office for two weeks, and they were trying to get U.S. distribution for it. They were about to have a Japanese-community screening of an English-subtitled print. Did I want to attend it? I did.