Posts Tagged ‘Japan’

Jan
18
'10
Tokyo Nobody

Tokyo Nobody

Tokyo is a metropolis of over 12 million populations. With such crowded place, how does one imagine it to be empty without any human being? Masataka Nakano seemed to be able to do just the impossible. Not only was he able to imagine so, he even captured the whole city (well, almost) through his camera lense into his masterpiece, a 96-paged photo book, namely Tokyo Nobody.

How did he do so? All he needed is going out venturing into the city at the oddest hours of the day and waiting for the right opportunity to capture a single shot of Tokyo totally deserted. And he took 11 years to do so.

As commented in Multilink Magazine, “For 11 years, photographer Masataka Nakano has kept watch for the most impossible of scenes: central Tokyo street scenes inhabited by nobody. These aren’t manipulated composites but rather the result of a dedicated opportunist. There’s something very eerie about these desolate moments and their startling absence of congestion, usually so integral to the portrayal of this environment.”

The photobook is not new. It has been released back in September 2007. For those who are interested to get a glimpse of the images check out Masataka-san’s gallery at Art Unlimited.

Sep
26
'07
Cat Soup (Nekojiru-So)

Cat Soup (Nekojiru-So)

If anyone of you was ever interested with any indie animation, especially with twisted story lines that makes you think, “It must’ve need a very artsy-fartsy mind to understand this story plot!”, then try out NEKOJIRU-SO. An award-winning short animation directed by Tatsuo Sato, the whole story almost feels too surreal and dreamy with silent scripts and only character actions and expressions to allow the viewers understand what is going on.

Here’s a link for on the director’s profile and the reasons for it to win the Silver Award for New York Expo of Short Film (source from imdb.com) and also the more the reason you got to watch this.

Wikipedia info for this animation here.

Aug
16
'07
Japan Language Festival 2007 poster

Japan Language Festival 2007 poster

Had bought Wacom recently and manage to test it out by doing a poster for a society. They want it in grayscale and red. Here’s the image. This design was rejected though. Below is the image itself.

Memories

May
18
'07
Sleep Traveler 05

Sleep Traveler 05

Aya Kato is a freelance illustrator from Japan. Born in 1982, in Aichi-ken, Japan. Her art, as stated in Boing Boing: Aya Kato, as “amazing and claimed by Bibi (I dunno who is she though…) as the style is a dark fusion of Manga and Art Nouveau. Really stunning.”

She learnt painting by on her own and graduated in graphic design at the Aichi University of Education in 2004. She became an illustrator in 2005. More here.

1 of her project is for Tori Amos’s music video. I happened to found it here.

Her official site is Cheval Noir.

Sep
14
'06

This person might not have anything to do with arts or design but… Maybe art is. Ever heard of Nujabes? A guy with lotsa cool hip-hop music in his mind. He is also the person behind the soundtrack for anime Samurai Champloo.

Here’s what they gotta say about him at Last.fm :
“Jun Seba is a Japanese hip-hop music producer who records under the name Nujabes. He is also an owner of “tribe,” a record store in Shibuya, Tokyo, and runs Hyde-Out Productions, an indie record label. He has released two CDs in Japan, Metaphorical Music in 2003 and Modal Soul in 2005.

He has also contributed music to the soundtrack of Samurai Champloo, an anime which blends a setting in feudal Japan with modern anachronisms, especially hip-hop music.

In addition to Japanese artists like Shing02 and Minmi, he has collaborated with underground American hip-hop acts Cyne, Apani B-Fly, Five Deez, Substantial, Fat Jon and with British rapper Funky DL.

His music is known for a strong cool jazz influence, frequently using samples from artists like Miles Davis and Yusef Lateef.

He is also a member of the production duo “Urbanforest”, an experimental collaboration with Nao Tokui (appearing on the Lady Brown 12″).”

For his Discography, check this link, Discogs.

P/S: His real name is Jun Seba. If you reverse each word individually and then join them, you will get Nujabes.

Jul
03
'06

“Draws monochromatic female images that uses both clean, delicate lines and daring compositions. Carefully details hair styles and costumes which makes the drawings very fashionable.” – digmeout.net

For any types of monochromatic, black and white masterpiece, Ena (born in 1980) proves to excel in this category. Lines and fills beautifully laid, producing silent pictures of even more beautiful females with different moods.

Her work:
• Passed the FM802 art audition in 2004
• Involved in Shinsaibashi Sony Tower exhibition
• Did visuals for FM802 live event, “Song letters” at Osaka-jo hall
Infos on her work is taken from digmeout.net.

Here is her her official site. (In Japanese language)

Jun
28
'06

What happen if you take the style of Japanese Manga and mixed it with Pop Art? You’ll find yourself in the world of Ippei Gyoubu, a superb illustrator from Yokohama City, Japan.

As stated in Super Real, Ippei has “a bold clean style that oozed color and design like some kind of pop art anime gone wild.” Which I find is quite true in a sense.

Job title
Illustrator • Comic artist

Techniques used
The character graphics, comics work using the computer.

Inspirations
Old super heroes • The Beatles • My wife.

Ippei Gyoubu Signature

Ippei Gyoubu Signature

Interview and picture are taken from this site.

Here’s a link to his site, too much monkey business.