When people mention Japan it’s usually met with an air of cleanliness — an untouched veneer of a city. Yet beneath the hum of the commercialised city is a graffiti culture that has become an inextricable time machine to the back streets of NY in the 90’s.

Are they behind the times? Yes, but Japanese street graffiti has become a glorious escape to an era where hip hop and street culture just began to sink through the cracks.

 

 

Art is a scared form in Japan, where galleries are met with religious-like reverence. The wealthy sip on fancy wine, speak in hushed tones while occasionally glancing at the very much traditional artworks.

While outside is a gallery in itself being constructed. The outdoor artwork is met with same hushed tones as the opulent gallery around the corner, but instead voices are lowered in fear rather than reverence.  If the artists are caught they can face up to five years in jail for ‘mindless vandalism’.

 

 

The graffiti artists in Tokyo interweave calligraphy with graffiti tagging styles — mixing the ingrained tradition with the NY Street culture.

With its strong focus on the written word, street artists and writers travel from around the globe to the time-warped back streets of Tokyo to contribute. Despite the well-known international contributors, the graffiti scene is dominated by locals; WANTO’s 246, crew-mates TOM and RUST, as well as Japanese writers like HENKA, DART, and SECT.

A clean-cut city with a splash of NY grime.

 

 

Words by Edelle Gettings 

Pictures from Tokyo Graffitti