by Remo Camerota
128 pages, Hardcover, $27.95, MBP
Australian photographer and graffiti enthusiast Remo Camerota made friends with the Japanese graffiti scene via the Internet before traveling there to document its work.
Graffiti writer SUIKO acted as the local guide in Hiroshima, and together they created one of the most thorough books to date on the Japanese graffiti scene.
Camerota ended up spending over a month traveling through Japan, sleeping on writers’ floors, and documenting what he saw and learned. He eventually moved to Shimokitazama and assembled this book.
Each included artist has a short interview, including BELX2, a female writer and ex-Yakuza member who says, “Graffiti writing took me away from all of that.”
Considered the godmother of Japanese graffiti, her work draws from contemporary graphics (which often seem tired, even commercial) as well as traditional Japanese imagery (the rising sun, ocean waves, and spiritual warriors). The combination has mixed results, but successful works like a mural with GIGA and SUIMA standing out.
Interviews with KRESS, BELX2, FATE, TENGA, EMAR, SUIKO, QP and many more reveal how these artists define their work as specifically Japanese, musing on everything from replicating the calligraphic intricacies of the Japanese language with spray paint, to foreign influences and national pride.
Every single photograph in Graffiti Japan was shot in Japan, featuring anime and manga characters, kanji, sprawling legal murals, and illegal hidden spots, all of which comprise this spectacular scene that could not exist in any other country.
You can also check out Camerota’s Graffiti Japan website.
Chris Force is the founder and editor of ALARM Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter.