Publication Facts and Rating (0 to 5 stars) "At-a-Glance"

Publisher: Seibido-Shuppan (Tokyo, Japan)
Publication Year: 1993
Number of cards: 78
Quality of artwork -- 4 1/2 stars
Usefulness for meditation/pathworking -- 2 1./2 stars
Readability (Divination) -- 2 1/2 stars
Symbology -- 3 1/2 stars
Value to Collectors -- 4 stars

General Commentary
There's an old joke that my husband likes to repeat... a joke that makes a relevant point when applied to a tarot like the Moonprincess Himiko. "As my grandpappy used to say," (quips my husband) "if we all liked the same things, everybody would want to marry your grandmother."

(Actually, my husband prefers a slightly cruder version of this joke… but you get the idea.)

So &emdash; keeping the point of that joke in mind, I will try to temper my comments about the Moonprincess Himiko tarot somewhat. The fact is, the collector who traded this tarot to me told me she didn't care for it much. I, on the other hand, believe it to be one of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful decks in my collection. I love it even more than my Amano tarot (reviewed earlier), as difficult as that is for even me to believe. So, in order to avoid misrepresentation of this deck to persons whose tastes may differ from mine, I will do my best to present both the pros and cons of the Moonprincess Himiko tarot. But I'm making no upfront promises that I'll succeed in that effort. ;-)

For starters, each major arcana card is filled with an explosion of color and detail. The result could be described as either vibrant or cluttered -- again, depending on one's tastes. The colors used on each card are bright, and they often "clash" by Western standards. But for persons who find such bold-and-brash color schemes appealing (which I do, and which is probably why I'm in the minority of "serious" tarot collectors in also liking anime-based tarots), the Moonprincess Himiko is like a joyous celebration of sensory overload. The court cards and aces are also breathtakingly lovely, although they are not quite as overwhelmingly detailed as the majors. As with most Japanese tarots, however, the pip cards (2 - 10) are not illustrated beyond the appropriate number of repetitions of the suit symbol.

Although over half the deck is comprised of the less-interesting pips, the remainder of the cards more than make up for this shortcoming, with endless intricacies that just beg to be explored. It was truly a challenge to select a mere half-dozen scanned examples to accompany this review. Each card seemed to jump out and scream, "Pick me! Pick me!" But no matter which cards I would have chosen, it would have been impossible to select a truly representative sample for the Moonprincess Himiko tarot. Artist Ayumi Kasai’s approach to the subject matter is so diverse in composition and manner of expression that were it not for her own consistent and distinctive artistic style, one could almost mistake this tarot as being a collaborative effort.

Describing the cards proves to be even more difficult. In some cards, the elements weave in-and-out of one another like an abstract tapestry. In others, the scenes are more rigid and “traditionalist.” My favorite card from this deck is the Justice card, which is positively Escher-esque in its unusual use of perspective. In addition, there is a lot of Japanese flavor in this Japanese deck. While many &emdash; though not all &emdash; of the characters appear “Westernized” or culturally ambiguous in face and form, the clothing, settings, and peripheral minutiae seem much more “oriental” than in a lot of other Asian tarots (many of which appear to be directly modeled after European decks).

Of course, this laudatory narrative comes from a collector's perspective. As a reading deck, the Moonprincess Himiko is probably too overrun with “illustrative noise” to allow a reader to properly focus on an interpretation. For those who use tarot for meditation or pathworking, the Moonprincess Himiko provides plenty of "mental meat," but the material may be too chaotically composited to allow for productive concentration.

So, I guess I'm back to singing the praises of the Moonprincess Himiko tarot for the collector. The cards, box, and accompanying book are all of the same high production quality as the Amano tarot. The book is written entirely in Japanese, of course, but the titles on the cards themselves are printed in English. The backs of the cards feature a lovely burst-of-butterflies design, set against a stark black background that accentuates the design's softer colors.

So... what would “grandpappy” have to say about all this? Well, if we all liked brilliant (even gaudy) colors and brazenly tumultuous imagery, we'd all be running out to “marry”… um, make that “buy”… the Moonprincess Himiko tarot. For those collectors who actually do share this reviewer's taste in tarot art, copies of this hard-to-find deck can be ordered on-line (as of this writing, 12/10/00) from Sasuga &emdash; a U.S. importer of Japanese books.

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Guest review copyright 2000 by Jeannette Roth
Used with permission