It finally happened: I cashed out my air miles to take a long overdue trip to Japan. The trip was a last minute decision and a few friends that had visited Japan earlier in the year helped set my mind at ease with their wonderful tips on hotels, trains, restaurants, and more. Not speaking Japanese and hearing that locals don’t care to speak English was true. The most important phrase I used was “arigato gozaimasu” (that means “thank you”): being as shy as I am, I didn’t feel comfortable using it until my last days in Tokyo. Bowing was beyond helpful as a gesture of respect.
My trip started in Okayama, San Jose’s sister city. For anyone local reading this, that’s facts. Landing in Okayama was intentional since my plan was to visit the Island of Naoshima. Art is always on the radar when I travel, and this was a must see place as an artist exploring large scale sculpture. As a curator with a dream of a sculpture garden in San Jose someday, it was the perfect place to research outside of Storm King in the States. My friends recommended renting a bike all day for $15 usd to get around the island, and it was money well spent. At moments it felt like I had the island to myself with a fantastic coastal view, listening to the ocean and seeing the waves crash while breathing some fresh air from all the greenery surrounding the island. I can’t forget to mention the endless amount of hawks that blessed the sky the whole day.
The museums are works of art themselves; architecturally eye-catching bunkers finished with concrete and minimalistic aesthetic with some of the most world renown artists like Yayoi Kusama, Claude Monet, James Turrell, and Tadao Ando. One of the biggest draws would be the Yayoi Kusama yellow pumpkin that had been washed away by a storm and back in its original location posing for thousands of selfies a week. The ferry ride back to the train station didn’t disappoint with a magical sunset that evening before my arrival back at the hotel.
Osaka was next, where I met up with my friend Kosk, a film maker that I met during the Hawaii Walls inaugural mural festival. Later we had the opportunity to really get to know one another at Guam Walls. He’s also been producing videos for Japan Walls. Reconnecting with him was definitely a treat and having a local show this foreigner around was so helpful—he even designed a map for my trip to Naoshima via DM’s. We made sure to check off the main attractions like Osaka Castle Park, eating at Tamatsukuri Motomachi, Tennoji a staple hometown food next to a JR station (if you’re on public transit it’s Osaka Castle Park a block away from the stop). We also checked out Naniwa, aka Hitachi Tower, where iconic photo opportutunities are available. The businesses have the most amazing artistic facades. We even got to walk around to see many murals and public art projects happening throughout the city’s Tombori Riverwalk .
Kyoto is a short train ride away from Osaka. Even though I got lost on my first experience of taking a local Metro line, my friend Yuriko guided me via Facetime to make sure I’d make it to the final destination. We explored some of Kyoto’s amazing and very popular temples, and shrines: Yasaka Shrine, Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine, Kiyomizu-dera Temple day and night. It’s interesting learning how locals do not venture to many of the sites tourists visit. It had been ten years since she visited one of the sites on my bucket list. There was a moment of fulfillment when a less traveled path presented itself, and if you know me at all I’ll always gamble on taking a path less attractive or recognized by tourists. Let me tell you, the risk paid off! We had a nature walk that led to meditation shrines and buddhists practicing ceremony. Another highlight was learning Yuriko had never explored a one hour hike trail that is immersed in nature, less populated and close to zero tourists taking this path. We had the space to ourselves until we reached the very top to see the city view, where we sat down to have ice cream and watched more hawks. On the way down from our hike, the Tori Gates were readily available for photo ops without thousands of people in our photos. I highly recommend taking the unknown path, just look to the right as you enter the monument!
After visiting some temples, Yuriko, knowing me well and a massive art lover herself, looked up some museums. She stumbled upon the recently opened “Icons of Urban Art” MUCA Exhibition at the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art. It was an impressive private collection showing Bansky’s Ariel sculpture formerly displayed in Dismaland, Kaws’ vintage bus stop posters from earlier in his career, Barry McGee’s “Twister One”, and works by Swoon, Vhils, Shepard Farey, OsGemeos, JR, and Shadow Man. The installation was very well put together featuring some of the world's most prolific Graffiti street artists. We ended the day with Okonomiyaki and walking around the old city, where the ambiance of architecture and lighting is the ultimate.
The next day Kosk and I linked up again to visit Kobe and tour some of the Japan Walls mural sites located in Rock Island. Some of these murals were painted by Sam Rodriguez, Kevin Lyons, OneQ, Brendan the Blob, and several others. It was great to see San Jose Walls alumni Jet Martinez contribute his work in a far away place from home. Seeing the impact and vibrancy contributed from artists rooted in different places of the world was refreshing and a great reminder of why these festivals are so important in order to share cultures from many corners of the world. Later that evening, we toured many local mural projects, Semba mural park in Osaka that have been-–in my opinion-–inspired by the momentum of the Japan Walls event.
Visiting with dear friends from Kyoto and Osaka was the highlight of my trip. Having the opportunity to visit a foreign place with locals was nice, considering my first days were solo adventures. The next morning, a three hour bullet train journey awaited to take me to Tokyo, and the JR pass purchased online and shipped to my house got me to all my destinations (with the exception of a local metro to Kyoto). I linked up with friends visiting from the Bay Area who were there on a business trip to run a booth at the Tokyo Book Fair and showcase at the RVCA Tokyo International Artist Program Gallery curated by Matt Bajda. Rob and Mari were so kind to share about their trip that it inspired me to decide on Japan for the two week adventure, and knowing I’d see them there was just as exciting as being in a new place. We linked up, took public transit, walked everywhere, explored the Shibuya area after dropping off their artwork at the Gallery where I’d see more familiar Bay Area Artists. It was surreal and it made the world feel small. We continued touristing to several landmarks, 3D Jumbotrons, Godzilla heads the size of billboards, three story art supply stores, and not to mention the yummy bowls of ramen!
During these long walks, we were all photographing the sites, including the people layered in their winter wardrobes. Seeing my friends interact with people and snapping photos all day was so inspiring, and further motivated me to do the same. My Tokyo trip seemed short since there was not enough time to visit with all the friends I’ve made over the years. I’m looking forward to going back to spend more time connecting.
On my last night in Japan, I coordinated a dinner to meet up with a group of friends. Misato is a Native Japanese art and ramen connoisseur and calligraphy artist currently living in Tokyo. We met 20 years ago during her visit to the States. Reaching out to her about my trip was a must, she was also extremely supportive. She invited her friend Tomo to join us, another wonderful person that I feel fortunate to have met. I coordinated a dinner gathering of friends since it was my last night in Tokyo and it would be easier to see everyone that way. We shared about each other's lives, work, and had endless conversations about art projects. Joining us was Rob, Mari, and Simone Legno, creator of Tokidoki. After several kampai’s and bar bites we all walked over to RVCA for the opening reception of Super Friends . It was a packed show with artists from everywhere hanging out in and outside the venue alley drinking Pabst beer and eating tacos. There were several other people who I met in San Jose in attendance, like photographer Hot Fudge and Graffiti writer Minto. There was an afterparty hosted by Neckface the same night, but I unfortunately could not attend. The subways stop running at midnight, and I still needed to pack to get ready for the second part of my journey to Doha Qatar.
My lodging of choice was Apa Hotel & Resort; pretty much located in every major city with several locations available with one night notice (reservations were readily available, luckily). Roppongi Hills was my home for a few days in Tokyo, and access to prefectures were fairly simple to navigate via Apple Maps. Lawson’s or 7-11 are hubs for gourmet Japanese snacks and great if you’re on a budget. Toy shops are made up of entire neighborhood blocks. Everyone is looking at their phone using it for navigation. Even locals do it, and that itself made me feel at ease. I was always mindful not to be in the way and stepping aside rather than wandering in the middle of the walkways worked out just fine.
Hopefully this essay paints a picture that’s engraved in my memory forever. Japan will continue to be a truly special place for me to visit, and returning is on a timer. Continuing to cherish the people that made this trip so special is on my priority list of things to do on a regular basis.