going to toda to ...

toda11 toda2 toda3 toda4 toda5 toda6 toda8 toda9 toda10 toda1 toda7 i wrote an email to mr. YUSUKE KANEKO to see if i could visit his workshop & see how he works as his signage arts are so beautiful. he was like come come but i live all the way in toda which is like an hour away from tokyo & you can meet the team i work with too. off i went! two wrong train rides & one long walk to the wrong direction later, kaneko san had to drive to the train station to pick me up & i was getting annoyed already & saying to myself "this better be fuckin' worth it!" it turned out kaneko works with other artistes that have made works which stole my heart before. SHUNTARO TAKEUCHI's drawings have been gracing pages of the legendary HUGE magazine for so many years impressively & KAZUMA MIKAMI illustrates for my favorite rag POPEYE; in real life, he looks like one of this characters! the icing on the cake would be meeting MASATO HAYAFUNE of WOODPECKER FILM; he illustrates & directs claymation; the video here shows how whimsical his teamwork is. these folks, who went way back in art school, all cram into this little house to make magic happen with countless cigarette butts & emptied iced coffee cans lying around everywhere; most importantly, they create amazing things with their own hands as well as a buttload of childlike sense of wonder. hats off & respect! since all my new friends barely speak a word of english, i wanna give a special thanks to HIROYUKI HORIKOSHI for being there & doing the translation. i sincerely wish these young men the best & unlimited supply of creative juices. we need more people like these - people who create more than they tweet