Director Shinsuke Tatsukawa introduces us to four influential Japanese street artists; ESOW, AIKO, and the duo KAMI & SASU (aka HITOTZUKI). Each of the artists have their own individual design style, based on the emotions that they would like to express to the world. For some of the graffiti artists, it’s not about communicating with people through their art, but rather to simply get out there and release their ideas onto the drab canvas of the city. For other artists, they create their graffiti as a part of their exploration of themselves and the world that they live in.
This video is an excellent introduction to Japanese graffiti art because it’s not often that news of artists from this small island country makes its way into the Western world. Each of the artists have a style that is their own, yet the influence of Japanese culture is apparent in all of their street art works. They’re giving us a view not only into their own minds, but into the culture upon which they build their graffiti art works.
ESOW combines traditional Japanese art styles with modern graffiti styles to create street art murals that are a unique blend of past and present Japanese culture. In this painting, ESOW has designed a Japanese man in a traditional Japanese illustrative style, holding up a heavy ball of graffiti lettering. This artwork seems to imply that traditional Japanese art styles are being squashed by contemporary art.
ESOW depicts Japanese people in his street art works, using his signature illustrative, cartoonish style. He often portrays Japanese men with styles of moustache that were often worn in the past but aren’t worn by Japanese men nowadays.
Japanese graffiti writer ESOW uses his street art to express the stories that emerge from human social interactions and relationships. His illustrative style is perfect for story-telling and his murals are often very endearing, because anyone passing by can relate to the emotions of ESOW’s graffiti characters.
AIKO is a female street artist from Japan who uses stencils and spray paint to create feminine pop art style wall murals. She uses pink, purple and gold color spray paints frequently in her street art, to add to the femininity of her designs.
Here is Japanese graffiti muralist AIKO using spray paint and stencils to create her colorful street art. She’s wearing latex gloves to protect her hands from the spray paint. AIKO’s graffiti is very feminine. Even the skull on the right of this picture is surrounded by bright pink spray paint and pretty, stencilled flowers.
This street art mural by AIKO is a prime example of this Japanese graffiti artist’s bold and outgoing art style. Her graffiti art works are often provocative and cheeky, challenging traditional Japanese ideals of modesty with their loud and extroverted statements.
Japanese street art crew Hitotzuki are also a relationship couple who are seen in this photo planning their next graffiti mural collaboration.
Japanese graffiti artists Hitotzuki use bright colors in their street art murals that are based on mandalas and sacred geometry.
This pink mandala flower wall mural is by the Japanese street artists and romantic couple Hitotzuki.
Kami and Sasu are a Japanese street art group who paint beautiful mandala flower wall murals; seen painted here in peaceful shades of sky blue and windy whites. This street art duo like to imagine that their art provides the backdrop against which the human dramas of Japanese society play out in front of.
