Apr 30 (Japan Today) - It’s often said that the four pillars of hip hop culture are rap, DJing, break dance, and graffiti, the last of which is easily the most controversial, challenging concepts of public space, freedom of expression, and the very nature of what defines “art.”
It’s only something like graffiti where one practitioner gets their work photographed with the governor of Tokyo while another goes to jail. And then we have the curious case of Masashi Sawada.
Witnesses saw Sawada tagging a train door of a Yamanote Line train car at about 2 a.m. on March 25 and notified police. Later on, more markings were found on the walls of Ikebukuro Station and security cameras confirmed he was the one who made them. The cost of cleaning the train door alone is said to be roughly 80,000 yen.
The 42-year-old was said to have been on the way home from watching a concert and was intoxicated while writing on the surfaces with yellow spray paint. Some reports also interestingly refer to him as a “self-proclaimed rapper” which seems like a bit of an unnecessary dig at the guy. ...continue reading
