Japan

[OHASHI]

if i remember correctly the spot in shibuya moved right next to the old spot. they should be packed with montana

its actually to the very left of this spot

[OHASHI]

tokyu hands also have those american cans with a barbeque/grill looking logo that come in black white silver and gold

[OHASHI]

this shop still sells belton, if you like..

[OHASHI]

[OHASHI]

[xlando]

Dericious.

[Super Duper Graffiti]

that rime and revok on the pull down doors is such an awesome spot...

i cant wait to get back to tokyo...

[xlando]

take me with you super duper ?

[OHASHI]

[FUCKMUNI]

uggh...rigth on ohashi for hookin up the knowledge

[THE SURGEON GENEREL]

wheres my lil dude secto at....buri buri nikkahhh

[Mellow]

stolen

[Mellow]

stolen

[Mellow]

stolen

[Okininam]

 

 

______________________________

 

 

Check out this dope Japanese Rapper

[ksde ksde ksde ksde]

why do all you japanese talk english on this thread?

[serum]

why do all you retards have internet access?

[serum]

Graffiti Nation

From walls to road signs to art galleries, Tokyo gets tagged out

 

A three-story production piece by SCA Crew in Mito, Ibaraki

Courtesy of Laurence King Publishing

 

Open your eyes. it’s everywhere. And depending on how you see it, the explosion of graffiti in

Tokyo is either desecrating or beautifying the surfaces of our city.

 

What started out as a guerilla activity in New York has since been adopted by youths around the

world. And Tokyo’s “writers,” as graffiti artists prefer to be called, are enthusiastically making the

tradition their own. Deploying Japanese characters, anime—and even gardening tools—the growing

army of local taggers have set themselves apart.

 

But not everyone appreciates the writing on the wall. Politicians, television show hosts and train

company executives all seem to have a different take on the increase of graffiti in Japan,

alternately decrying, downplaying and denying its rise to the fore. Amid this criticism, local writers

are being celebrated in glossy underground magazines and, just last month, the publication of the

first book dedicated to Japanese graffiti.

 

One thing’s for sure—thanks to Japan’s writers, the city is becoming a more colorful place.

 

According to “Dr. K,” the editor-in-chief of Kaze magazine, graffiti arrived in Japan amid the

skateboarding and hip-hop boom of the early ’90s. Kaze itself was launched in 1999, and has since

become Japan’s foremost magazine for the writer community, charting the rise of the subculture and

the country’s contributions to the form.

 

Two years ago, Dr. K collaborated with the Art Tower Mito in Ibaraki to hold the giant “X-Color/

Graffiti in Japan” exhibition, showcasing the talents of 42 domestic artists. The canvas included 13

public walls in rural Mito, a city of perhaps 250,000. The event paid tribute to graffiti’s early days as

a corollary to the B-boy subculture with live music and breakdancing. Because many of Japan’s

writers are also skaters, a fully tagged half-pipe was installed to add to the vibe. The artists, who

normally do not publicize their alter egos, provided live painting demonstrations and even lessons to

visitors. “X-Color” was so well-received that a second incarnation is now in the works, scheduled for

2010.

 

The attempts to bring street cred to the exhibition, however, were criticized by some observers who

pointed out that for graffiti to be classified as such, it must be illicit, not commissioned or

sanctified. Otherwise, it is dismissed by purists as “graffiti art.”

 

But whatever you call it, the works exhibited a uniquely Japanese perspective. An artist called Nes

showed a photograph of a piece he created by cutting his tag into a lawn with gardening tools.

Another writer, Suiko, who lives and tags in Hiroshima, specializes in incorporating kanji and

katakana into his work. Still others, like Esow, draw anime-like characters.

 

According to Kenji Kubota, the curator of “X-Color,” such exuberance shows that Japanese writers

are bringing a distinct sensibility to tagging. “[Japan] is developing its own recognizable style,” he

told The Japan Times, “after an initial period in which the works simply imitated American artists.”

 

Japanese character art by female writer Sasu in Shibuya

Courtesy of Laurence King Publishing

 

Such fresh approaches have been dramatically documented by London-based author-filmmakers Ryo

Sanada and Suridh Hassan. Five years ago, the pair were working on a documentary about Japan’s

underground hip-hop scene called Scratching the Surface, for which they interviewed MCs and

turntablists—and pillars of Tokyo’s underground graffiti community. These encounters led them in a

new direction. “I used to buy a copy of Kaze magazine every time I went to Japan,” Sanada says,

“and I knew that there were some very talented writers out there who just needed to be

documented.”

 

The fruit of their labor is RackGaki, the first book about Japanese graffiti, says Laura Willis of

publisher Laurence King. Explains Sanada: “We wanted to present our readers with a fuller

experience by capturing the graffiti in video, to show the unique environment in which it exists.” The

result is an ambitious hardcover book and DVD providing the outside world with a rare intimate look

at Japanese writers and their controversial work.

 

The DVD is the sort of thing you might watch intently once or twice, and later put on in the

background at a party. Footage like that of the impossibly long Sakuragicho graffiti wall is set to

infectious, driving trip-hop, and makes one almost want to “rack” a can of spray paint and join in

the fun. The filmmakers also employ time-lapse videography to show the frenetic, almost robotic

ebb and flow of commuters past unchanging walls of graffiti.

 

Wildstyle by Kress (Sakuragicho)

Courtesy of Laurence King Publishing

 

One extended segment takes viewers inside an abandoned hospital in Kanagawa, reputed to be one

of the most haunted places in all of Japan. Both its outer walls and interior rooms are the

playground of graffiti artists who aren’t spooked by rumors of five murders being committed on the

grounds.

 

There are also almost voyeuristic shots of two aged construction workers in reflective vests

scrubbing at a tag someone threw up at their site. Watching this, it is hard not to be reminded of

those who don’t see beauty in graffiti—who fail to understand the appeal of defacing property that

others will be forced to clean or replace.

 

The victims of graffiti, of course, range from small-time shop owners to Japan’s numerous railway

companies. But because most people who have been hit by taggers tend to stay quiet about these

incidents, the official numbers don’t reveal the extent of graffiti’s reach.

 

Shigeaki Matsumura, a spokesman for Tokyo Metro says that there were only around 20 cases on his

railway last year—but, he admits, the company only reports vandalism done to the exterior of

subway cars.

 

A JR East spokesman who declined to give his name claims that “graffiti cases are not increasing or

decreasing.” Incidents remain rare, he says, because of tight security.

 

But don’t expect to catch a glimpse of a car after it’s been hit—it is the policy of Japan Railways not

to run cars that have been vandalized, out of respect for the riders. “We don’t use the train until it

is cleaned up,” he says.

 

Commissioned wall by Kami and Kane (Shibuya)

Courtesy of Laurence King Publishing

 

For their part, politicians often use the specter of graffiti to drum up support for tougher anti-crime

measures. In New York City during the ’90s, for example, then Mayor Rudolph Giuliani preached that

“graffiti creates an impression of disorder and lawlessness,” and famously made its removal a

priority of his “Zero Tolerance” campaign. This initiative was in line with the argument proffered by

James Q. Wilson and George Kelling a quarter century ago in an influential article in the Atlantic

Monthly, which claimed that the presence of buildings in disrepair announces a lack of policing,

leading to more serious crimes in the area.

 

But not everyone accepts this logic. In addition to the many academic rejections of this so-called

“Broken Windows” theory, the authors of RackGaki say it simply lacks merit. “Graffiti is just a very

good scapegoat for other social problems,” says Hassan.

 

Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara contends that graffiti is a problem in and of itself, calling it “an

eyesore in our cityscapes.” He also has said that the current penalties for offenders are too lenient.

“In Japan it’s all about money,” says a graffiti artist in RackGaki. The writer, who goes by the name

Very, says that he once got off the hook by insincerely promising to clean his tag, but another time

he was fined ¥50,000. “I’ve been relatively lucky so far,” he admits, “but one of my friends once

got fined ¥2 million just for writing on a shutter.”

 

In Scratching the Surface, an anonymous observer vents about anti-graffiti propaganda efforts. “The

Japanese media tend to distort the truth,” he says. “I once saw on TV where they caught a writer

tagging.

 

He was writing ‘QP’ on the wall, but it was just a guy who was tracing over the original piece. They

set up a random guy and interviewed him, like, ‘Why are you tagging?’ The guy replied, ‘Because

I’m pissed off.’ I don’t know any writers who write because they are pissed off. The media try to

ambush writers, but they never succeed. It really annoys me, the way they make up stories like

that.”

 

Character throw-up by Casper (Osaka)

Courtesy of Laurence King Publishing

 

These are the types of tales traded at writer hangouts, which can be anywhere from Shibuya

nightclubs to “graff shops,” perhaps the most popular of which is Harvest in Nakameguro. In

Nagoya, writers frequent the Oriental Street Service bar, founded by writer Koolaid in 2004, to

throw back a few with the boys and watch live painting every Saturday night.

 

On a global scale, the graffiti community tends to be tight-knit. Writers will often offer a place for

visiting writers to stay, and then collaborate on a piece or two. Sometimes, however, this isn’t

possible in Japan. “Apartments are so small,” Kubota tells the Tokyo webzine Ping Mag. “And some

writers still live at their parents’ house.”

 

Collaborations are also common among local artists. The SCA Crew (for “sports, crime, art”), for

instance, is made up of five writers from Kanagawa. Founded in 1995, the group painted several

murals around Mito for “X-Color,” and have done several pieces—both commissioned and not—

around Kanto.

 

Boxing gym mural by Casper (Osaka)

Courtesy of Laurence King Publishing

 

In a rare interview, founding member Kress says he began writing in high school after seeing graffiti

magazines, and soon visited neighborhoods around Los Angeles to meet and stay with local writers.

Since returning to Tokyo, he has become, according to RackGaki, “one of the most influential

writers in the Japanese graffiti scene today.” Perhaps the most visible example of his work can be

seen at the Shibuya Gate of Yoyogi Park, where he and another veteran writer, Belx2, were

commissioned in 2005 to paint a giant mural of a golden dragon encircling a colorful “wildstyle” tag

on a bright red background. Asked if he ever feels remorse or guilt, Kress responds that he only

writes where he thinks graffiti is needed—where his tag would be an aesthetic improvement.

 

Kress recently returned from London, where he and compatriot Esow participated in a live painting

event celebrating the release of RackGaki. He says the publication coincides with an increase in the

number of Japanese writers. The best places to see the work of this new generation is Shibuya,

Harajuku, Futako-Tamagawa and Nakameguro—as well as the “hall of fame” wall underneath the JR

train tracks between Yokohama and Sakuragicho stations.

 

But open your eyes. It’s everywhere.

 

 

source

[FUCKMUNI]

why do all you retards have internet access?

 

bagus 24 hour roppongi....free drinks too!!

 

wheres harvest?? sounds dope

[Okininam]

 

 

____________________________________

 

>>>>DOPE JAPANESE MC<<<<

[FUCKMUNI]

lets drink some kirins in shibuya park....we`ll be the trio posting at the soccer feilds surrounded by empty tall cans

[Power Bill]

^^ Yo MUNIFUCKA, get at me throgh PM... I am down to kick it and there is a fresh event at the end of this month you should check if you are still here.

:rolleyes: legal stuff. Gomen Nasai.

[livejig]

http://i140.photobucket.com/a1163329158_f.MGjpg[/i]

lbums/r9/bobidigital/

[La Bomba]

I WANNA GO TO JAPAN JUST FOR THE SNEAKERS. AND THEN THE HOOKERS.

[Okininam]

the clubs are dope too...check out this MC

[Okininam]

[FUCKMUNI]

hah we got chased by the harajuka hero last night.....what a fucking fruitcake...hes got some nice pictures of us giving him the bird as we shook the spot in one of tokyos many 660 yen getaway cars!!

 

 

damn power my timing is always fucked up cus im catchin a plane soon.....my brother will still be here so hit me the info on that event and ill tell him to check it out

[Okininam]

 

 

_____________________

 

 

SIQ Records

[RodneyRage]

hah we got chased by the harajuka hero last night.....what a fucking fruitcake...hes got some nice pictures of us giving him the bird as we shook the spot in one of tokyos many 660 yen getaway cars!!

 

 

damn power my timing is always fucked up cus im catchin a plane soon.....my brother will still be here so hit me the info on that event and ill tell him to check it out

USA ni kaere! Boke:D ! People like you give other internationals bad names over seas. Get fucked cunt!

[Okininam]

Tokyo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holy stickers,not graffiti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bringin it back!!!

 

 

 

 

 

_________________________________

 

 

 

SIQ Records