The literal meaning of jan ken pon, the Japanese equi- valent of rock, scissors, paper, is ‘beginning with stone.’ That was the given. To go with it, various other items were then subjected to a battery of tests. This painting shows some of them undergoing the fire test, to see how easily they burn, how long for, & how much is left behind. Only one additional item survived the testing relatively unscathed. To choose the third, a handoff was be- gun between the best of the first round failures. Paper won.
