T-shirt designs celebrate Year of the Dog

Chinese and Japanese cultural traditions combine in the fourth in a series of limited-edition T-shirts produced for the Japanese Cultural Center’s annual New Year’s ‘Ohana Festival.

Designed by local artist Brandt Fuse, the 2018 Year of the Dog shirt features a “Daruma-shiba inu,” which celebrates the zodiac animal’s affable personality as well as the Japanese symbol of perseverance.

Find the shirts at the JCCH gift shop; prices range from $12 to $18, with proceeds supporting the center’s educational and cultural programs. Call 945-7633, ext. 43.

Make it the Year of the Service Dog with “Paws Up for Service” T-shirts ($25) and canvas tote bags ($30) featuring a maneki-neko-inspired design by Honolulu-born, L.A.-based graphic designer Summer Shigetani.

All proceeds will benefit Hawaii Fi-Do Service, a nationally accredited nonprofit organization that trains and certifies service dogs for people with disabilities other than blindness.

The shirts come in men’s and women’s styles. Order at hawaiifido.org.

KEIKI BOOK ILLUSTRATES ANCIENT FOLK TALE

There’s a reason the cat and rat are no longer friends — and it has to do with why only one of them made it onto the Chinese zodiac.

Christoper Corr explains it all in “The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac” (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, $17.99). The brightly illustrated book gives all 12 zodiac animals their due in this retelling of an ancient folk tale about the Jade Emperor’s contest to see which creatures would have a year named after them.