A dog of Flanders - Japan's Obsession with Nello and Patrasche Revealed

“A dog of Flanders” by Ouida is the story of Nello and Patrasche in Antwerp. In this video we try to find out why is it so popular in Japan and why Japanese tourists are so interested in Rubens’ masterpiece “Descent from the cross” in the cathedral of Antwerp.
Chapters:
00:00 Why are Japanese tourists moved by the masterpiece of Rubens?
00:26 The novel : "A dog of Flanders"
00:51 The story
03:02 Why is it popular in Japan?
04:12 Global success of the novel
04:24 "A dog of Flanders" in Belgium
#antwerp #japan #history #19thcentury #novel #painting #flanders #dog #antwerpen

[@antwerpstories]

Chapters: 00:00 Why are Japanese tourists moved by the masterpiece of Rubens? 00:26 The novel : "A dog of Flanders" 00:51 The story 03:02 Why is it popular in Japan? 04:12 Global success of the novel 04:24 "A dog of Flanders" in Belgium

[@crowsandravens8998]

*Oh what a heartbreaking story!!* 😭

[@addambelmont3050]

There are 2 versions of the story where Nello either dies for nothing and his girlfriend becomes a nun or lives, becomes an artist and marries his girlfriend.

[@sven888]

I am not a fan of all the new architecture in Antwerp but this is truly timeless.

[@antwerpstories]

Yes, the new architecture is sometimes quite controversial. To clarify, when you say timeless, do you refer to the novel 'A Dog of Flanders', the cathedral, the statue of Nello and Patrasche, or all of them together?

[@sven888]

Thank you for making the videos. Both the cathedral and statue are beautiful. The statue really compliments the cathedral and the beautiful old buildings surrounding it. I haven't read the novel. Like you say it is quite popular in Japan where everybody seems to know the story. @@antwerpstories

[@antwerpstories]

Many thanks for the feedback. It is a pleasure to make the videos, especially if people appreciate them. Yes, it is quite remarkable that a story that is so famous in Japan (and South Korea) is so little known in the region where it takes place.

[@tonybarde2572]

I actually went to Antwerp in costume as Nello last year and sang the hymn Abide With Me to a group of Japanese tourists who recognized whom I was dressed as. Here is the hymn in case you don’t know it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHTLlmCnrseHn7c The tourists were crying during my performance. Was it because of the sad ending of the story? Was it because of my powerful voice? Or a mix of both?

[@antwerpstories]

Excellent! Thanks for your feedback. I would have really liked to see that!

[@tonybarde2572]

@@antwerpstories I am glad. I plan to Cosplay Nello again sometimes

[@antwerpstories]

Correction - At 04:13 in the video - 'More than 100 000 copies of "A dog of Flanders" have been sold worldwide' should be 'More than 100 million copies have been sold worldwide'. Although technically 100 million is more than 100 thousand and the text in video is not incorrect, it fails to show the magnitude of global success of this novel.

[@user-uu5zc4eg3j]

It's so beautiful and sad tale it's almost like the story of Jock of the bushfield 😂🦮

[@nepwata]

Is anyone else here because of hetalia or am i the only one 😭

[@meow77768]

Nah me too

[@JamieBar]

Me too

[@corneilcorneil]

99% of Flemisch don't know this figures.