Do you love crazy Japanese art? I do. One of the leading proponents in way-out Japanese illustration, encompassing all the extremes of Japanese life and culture has to be Shohei Otomo. His graphic stylised vision is especially pertinent as much of his art deals with the violence of Japan, something usually only confined to comic books and movies. The fact that Japan has one of the lowest murder rates in the world is by the by when you realise how many Japanese gangs such as the Yakuza fight to a very bloody near-death. They may seem a calm and collected people on the surface but their history is as murderous as any other country in history. Besides the violence there's the seediness, the spectre of death, pollution and corruption to deal with. I know I'm not selling this too well, but if you want a "reality hit" laid out like a luxuriously ceremonial dinner then tuck in. This rather shocking side of an apparently sedate culture is executed by Otomo in his own unique mix of Manga and traditional Japanese drawing style,s using a well known Japanese palette of red, black and white, and which he's famed for creating in a lowly ballpoint pen of all things.
This is one of those times when I wish I'd learned Japanese (amongst at least another dozen languages), his blog is a feast for the eyes with incredible works uploaded every week, however I haven't a clue what he's writing about. If you're tempted to use Google translate I wouldn't bother, unless you want to see a translation program have a breakdown! Luckily enough the works are pretty much self explanatory so feast your eyes on these…
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