A Penguin Having a Meal (1976)

Medium: Ink and color on paper (magazine illustration)
Date: 1976
First Appearance: Garo magazine, April 1976
Collaborator: Shigesato Itoi (Text and Concept)
Curatorial Note: Added by Curator on October 7, 2025
Related Artists: Yosuke Kawamura | Shigesato Itoi
Related Movements: Heta-Uma | Garo Generation | Japanese Pop Illustration

Created in 1976, A Penguin Having a Meal represents one of the most recognizable early works of the Heta-Uma movement—literally translating to “bad but good.” This anti-establishment illustration style, led by Teruhiko Yumura and Yosuke Kawamura, subverted conventional expectations of artistic skill by embracing deliberate imperfection, distorted forms, and hand-drawn immediacy.

According to recent research, Heta-Uma flourished during the 1980s, peaking before its decline toward the decade’s end. Comparative analysis of over 500 works by Yumura and Kawamura revealed that Yumura’s practice spanned magazine covers and serialized illustrations, while Kawamura’s focused on independent works. The role of text also varied: 82% of Yumura’s works included hand-painted words, emphasizing his fusion of image and text as narrative tools, compared with 42% in Kawamura’s output.