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Derakkusu ban Hihou Tarot      1999 Kazumi Niikura      Japan                                                   Art Medium: Pen drawings with use of large solid black areas. Description: Black and white pen drawings are wonderfully stylised, with beautiful flowing lines. The artwork knows European art well, and the drawing style draws on various sources, for example, we note some influence from Aubrey Beardsley. Mondo Oki also quotes from other art tarots in his designs. The cards are in the cut out foam box characteristic of Japanese tarot packaging and come with a book in a slip case. Derakkusu ban Hihou Tarot translates to 'The Wonderful Version of the Secret Method of Tarot' was first issued in 1991. It seems to have been designed by Mondo Oki and Mei Unasaka with the final artwork executed by Kazumi Niikura. Even though it is very Japanese in style one suspects that the artist may have been aware of the pen drawings of Aubrey Beardsley (1872-98).