Tokyo street art 1
11/08/05
Tokyo is pretty hard up for graffiti, by world-city standards. The best stuff seems to be along the Yamanote Line tracks between Shibuya and Ebisu, and in Naka-Meguro, but there's scattered good stuff in other places too. You have to work for it.
9:06 AM | Comments (29) | TrackBack (1)
Comments
No.Way.
He really is everywhere! From the style, it looks like the genuine article.
He must have a hell of a trustfund...
Posted by: Helen at November 8, 2005 10:45 AM
For some reason, it strikes me as odd that ALL of the text in the graffiti/street art is in the roman alphabet, and mostly English. Don't they graffiti in Japanese kana and kanji ever?
Posted by: ianqui at November 8, 2005 11:04 AM
I did see a small amount of kana graffiti, but it is mostly in English. The Japanese in general seem to have a fascination with written English; teenagers and twentysomethings won't be caught dead in clothing with Japanese script on it.
Posted by: Mike at November 8, 2005 11:52 AM
Nice shots!
I prefer the third!
:)
Posted by: cristina at November 8, 2005 06:39 PM
Obey was there!!!! I think he was everywhere!!!!
Nice Shots!!!
Posted by: Seat83 at November 9, 2005 01:38 PM
In some of your earlier shots of New York I remember seeing the graffiti tag Neck-Face alot. Did it surprise you to find the same thing in Tokyo or is this a mistake?
Posted by: Benny17 at November 9, 2005 03:36 PM
Nice collection.
Posted by: Srijith at November 9, 2005 03:37 PM
Yes, Neck Face is a very well known NYC artist. I'd seen his stuff up in San Francisco before, so I was only mildly surprised to see him up in Shibuya as well.
Posted by: Mike at November 9, 2005 03:46 PM
to Seat83;
"Obey"
can be where you are too;
http://obeygiant.com/
Posted by: Johan at November 9, 2005 06:41 PM
Oh my God, I just got home from Tokyo. It was amazing, the best experience in my whole life!
I waked up at 4 a.m. too!
Posted by: Rodrigo at November 10, 2005 09:19 AM
Wow thats crazy to see Neck Face in Tokyo
Posted by: Dan at November 11, 2005 12:47 PM
sao lindas essas fotos sou brasileiro e gosto de cuisas que tenhhao muitas cores parabens belo trabalho moro em cap cod vou tirar fotos daqui tambem espero que fiquem boas como essas !!!!thau
Posted by: alfredo at November 21, 2005 09:00 PM
Really enjoy your site a lot, wonderful photographs .... Just so you will know how far you are reaching .... I live in a small town in Nevada called West Wendover, the entire town is only 2 miles long. 1 movie theatre, 3 gas stations, 1 McDonald's, 1 Burger King, 5 gambling establishments. I am a Blackjack dealer in one of those gambling establishments. Thanks for the great website, I am a regular fan.
Posted by: Frank at November 25, 2005 02:57 AM
Very strange .... I tried to send you a message using a word that start with a C and ends with an O, and means gambling establishment, but that word was prohibited and I had to use the words: GAMBLING ESTABLISHMENT in order for my message to send to you .... is there any particular reason the word C****O is forbidden ?
Posted by: Frank at November 25, 2005 03:00 AM
It's a somewhat heavy-handed anti-spam measure. You wouldn't believe the spam comments I get.
Posted by: Mike at November 25, 2005 10:27 AM
Wtf. There's no way NeckFace was there too. Is it not just a coincedence that it follows you around...or are you making this up?
Posted by: Benny17 at December 24, 2005 02:27 AM
That was interesting. I've never seen japan graffiti before.
Posted by: Andy at December 26, 2005 01:59 PM
Even the Graffiti in Japan is cool. In my hometown of Denver, I'm glad when the city sandblasts it off the walls. If the graffiti here were this good. I might want to keep it around. Most of the Denver grafitti I see, I want to pick up the sand blast hose and eliminate it myself.
Posted by: Great One at January 6, 2006 11:06 PM
I'm moving to Yokohama soon so I'm going to peep this out for myself! Thanks for the heads up babe. ;)
Posted by: christinieweenie at January 17, 2006 11:15 PM
What's up with the "neck face" stuff? Don't think those are originals and doubt he's big enough to be imitated. Also, noticed the paper cutout stencils were very much like "swoon's." I no she's never been to japan.
Posted by: jonathan at January 19, 2006 04:31 PM
Neck face are all originals. I don't see anything here that looks like Swoon's.
Posted by: Mike at January 19, 2006 05:05 PM
This is sweet man!
Posted by: Jenny at February 23, 2006 07:23 PM
Nice to see someone else that has noticed how cool the graffiti is in Tokyo! I took a lot of graffiti pics on my last trip over there and posted them on my website; here's the link if you want to check it out: http://webpub.byu.net/lando32
. . . and yes, Neck Face is everywhere in Tokyo.
Posted by: Landon at April 6, 2006 12:17 AM
cool collection......
obey...!
Posted by: amiek at May 9, 2006 12:53 AM
like the stickers pic!whre is it in japan?ive seen sum gud piece in tokyo but they seemed be dun by artists from other countries. dnt u know any1 who does graff in japan?i like to contact them.
Posted by: shu at June 11, 2006 04:07 PM
If you want to see lots of big bomb stuff, and in Japanese language also, go to Sakuragi-cho (in Yokohama city), and look at the long wall that is supporting the train tracks, it's always full and often changing.
(I came to the site looking for the crazy chicken restaurant post, and saw these posts.)
Posted by: akibare at July 7, 2006 02:13 AM
Just one thing friends, is vandalism legal in Tokyo?
I salute the guy because he looks like a master of all. He can work using different subjects. With the use of various media he’s just the man.
I suggest that Tokyo can provide one wall where guys who made these art works could work on. A little support can boost up the talent of these people.
Posted by: Portrait Painting at September 26, 2006 01:54 AM
I particularly like the last one. At first I thought it was a letter, but I see it's a kind of crane.
Posted by: repsac at December 4, 2006 04:32 PM
I lived in Shibuya for 10 years before moving to the States. The street art scene can seem kind of non-existent/hard to to tap into. If you can find anything on it online, look up Mito's (small city about 1 1/2 hours outside Tokyo) exhibit on Japanese street art and graffiti held about a year ago in the Mito Art Tower. I really enjoyed it.