Neck Face in Shibuya Tokyo

Jamie: 14th Nov 2005 - 15:26 GMT

i spot a tlp paste-up behind the lamp post

Peter: 14th Nov 2005 - 15:38 GMT

heh jamie, you beat me to it!

www.citynoise.org/search/london_police

mel: 14th Nov 2005 - 19:27 GMT

whats the deal with them all hitting the same spots? obey, neckface, tlp. next thing you know ja will be there

jeeff: 14th Nov 2005 - 19:56 GMT

i don't know about other places, but shibuya is about the only part of tokyo that has a lot of graffiti (shinjuku has some too, but mostly older it seems). shibuya is the most streetwise/chaotic neighbourhood, and home to a lot of semi-legal/illegal activities. in most parts of the city there are so many police boxes and nosy neighbours all around that i think ambitious graffiti would be too difficult, especially for non-japanese who stick out like a sore thumb. tokyo has a population density 3x that of new york, so there's always someone watching. also, most foreigners in tokyo tend to stay in hotesl in the west part of the city core, which includes shinjuku, harajuku, and shibuya.

jeeff: 14th Nov 2005 - 19:58 GMT

i do think there's kind of a 'graffiti circuit' too.

Peter: 14th Nov 2005 - 20:15 GMT

jeeff: a friend of mine just returned from a trip to tokyo, and gave almost the exact same explanation of shibuya/harajuku when we were discussing his travels the other day. im trying to get him to post some photos here...

www.coffeepot.org/blog/archives/2005_11.html#000221

i could envision the "graffiti curcuit" to be similar to any of the more conventional "gallery circuits" or art-show scenes that exist in any major global city... albeit with a very different hierarchy...

...though with a very similar motivation ($, fame, etc).

jeeff: 14th Nov 2005 - 20:55 GMT

agreed. yeah, get your friend to post! i want more tokyo photos!

Peter: 14th Nov 2005 - 21:33 GMT

totally. we met for drinks friday night, and his stories were great- i cant wait to see the photos!