JUN INAGAWA Archives - TOKION https://tokion.jp/en/tag/jun-inagawa/ Tue, 02 May 2023 02:44:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2 https://image.tokion.jp/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/cropped-logo-square-nb-32x32.png JUN INAGAWA Archives - TOKION https://tokion.jp/en/tag/jun-inagawa/ 32 32 A Brand New World of Otaku Created by “NEIGHBORHOOD” and JUN INAGAWA https://tokion.jp/en/2023/05/02/neighborhood-x-jun-inagawa/ Tue, 02 May 2023 09:00:00 +0000 https://tokion.jp/?p=183174 The collaboration between " NEIGHBORHOOD" creative director Shinsuke Takizawa and up-and-coming artist JUN INAGAWA opens up a doorway into a new culture.

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The collaboration collection by “NEIGHBORHOOD,” the globally renowned brand from Japan helmed by Shinsuke Takizawa and JUN INAGAWA, an artist, illustrator, and cartoonist, has been launched. This second collection includes figures, T-shirts, and incense featuring magical girls from Magical Destroyers, an anime series created by JUN INAGAWA.

What is the message contained in the products created by these two men, who are deeply immersed in the culture they have discovered and continue to give shape to their ideas through fashion and art, after hitting it off with each other? This would be the most powerful collaboration that will make the scene even more fascinating in the future.

JUN INAGAWA
JUN INAGAWA was born in 1999 in Tokyo, Japan. In 2012, he moved to San Diego, U.S.A. His drawings gradually gained recognition from the players of street culture, such as skateboarding and hip-hop scenes, in LA, leading to an offer for collaboration from A$AP ROCKY. After returning to Japan in 2018, he has been active as an up-and-coming artist with his unique style that connects anime and street culture. He has collaborated with apparel brands, provided artwork to music artists, and is also active as a DJ. Currently, he hosts a monthly party called “MAD MAGIC ORCHESTRA.” On April 7, Magical Destroyers (TBS and its affiliated TV stations), the TV anime series based on INAGAWA’s original story, for which he is also in charge of illustrating, was started. He also started a 3-piece electro band, Flog3.
Instagram:@madmagicorchestra

Shinsuke Takizawa
Creative director of NEIGHBORHOOD Shinsuke Takizawa was born in 1967. After working at FILE RECORDS inc. as a record label manager for MAJOR FORCE, he started NEIGHBORHOOD, a brand inspired by motorcycle culture and military style, in 1994. It has become a globally recognized brand representing Japan from Harajuku, with stores throughout Japan and Asia and distributors in Europe, Asia, the U.S., Australia, and other countries, demonstrating its enduring popularity. In March 2023, the brand opened a new store in Taiwan.
https://www.neighborhood.jp
Instagram:@neighborhood_official
Instagram:@sin_takizawa

His story and mindset were just interesting and surprising.

–First of all, JUN, please tell us how you came to know about NEIGBORHOOD.

JUN INAGAWA (JUN): A very good friend of mine, who is like an uncle to me, has always loved NEIGBORHOOD. Although he is not related to me by blood, he has been like a mentor who taught me about the culture.

Shinsuke Takizawa (Takizawa): Wait! You are not related to him by blood!?I thought he was your real uncle (laughs).

JUN: We are so close that I keep calling him “uncle.” He’s called “NORI,” and he’s been closer to me than my parents since I was little, and he’s the one who taught me about culture other than anime. I saw him wearing NEIGHBORHOOD’s T-shirts and accessories, and I had been interested in what it was about since I was a little kid. So I bought some incense the first time I went to the Harajuku store. I loved the smell of the incense when I entered the store. I used to go to the store before it was renovated, but I didn’t even know the word “Ura-Hara (the common name given to the network of smaller Harajuku backstreets)” back then. That was when I was about 18 years old, right after returning from America.

Takizawa: You came to our collection with that “uncle” guy. We met for the first time, and that was four or five years ago, I think. That’s when I heard about you and learned you were an artist.

–I first learned about the close relationship between JUN and NEIGHBORHOOD through “HUMUNGUS,” an event held during the COVID pandemic. Takizawa-san, were you interested in the youth culture that JUN was involved in?

Takizawa: I’m not particularly fond of anime, but I found his story and mindset interesting and very surprising. If he were just one of those young artists, I would not have connected with him, but we could get together probably because he knew the culture of, say Ura-Harajuku. My daughter is 20 years old this year, so JUN is like a son to me (laughs).

JUN: He told me that his daughter likes anime. I didn’t have much of a preconceived idea about Takizawa-san. It could have been different if I had been a big fan of him for like ten years, but I was happy to have conversations with him casually even though I was supposed to treat him with greater respect because he was much older than me.

Takizawa: What is interesting about him is that he not only draws animation but also creates his own pieces of work, and he hung out with A$AP ROCKY when he was in the US. And yet, he also has a deep knowledge of Ura-Hara culture. It’s all a mystery. I’m like, “What the hell is this boy?”

JUN: I have answered this question in every interview, but people don’t seem to understand it. I don’t know how to tell them either. To put it simply, I was just one of those anime geeks, but I got hooked on skate videos that my uncle taught me. My anime-style drawings of skateboarders who belonged to the community around Supreme and Fucking Awesome went viral on Social Networking Sites, leading to getting to know A$AP Bari and then to a collaboration with VLONE. But at the time, I knew nothing about A$AP ROCKY, Bari, or hip-hop. The only music I knew was anime songs and Mr. Children. But then I started working with them.

Takizawa: So you were not particularly interested in hip-hop?

JUN: Well, I was interested in people who were doing hip-hop. I wondered why they were interested in hip-hop, drinking outside, skating, and having fun. When I talked to them, I learned that some were from disadvantaged families and had various reasons for getting together. All these things led me to meet Takizawa-san after coming back to Tokyo. That was when I was 18 years old.

Takizawa: When we were 18, we had a lot of input from the people around us. Back then, I met Hiroshi (Fujiwara) in Tokyo and learned about various club music, so I guess people reach the stage of input at the age of 18.

New cultural trends are born out of rebellious spirit.

JUN: When I returned to Tokyo and met all the people I’m working with now, I was in a state where I could accept anything. I took inspiration from various things and digested them in my mind. Until I turned 20, I took in everything, digested it all, and tried to make my works out of the chaos. So in the early stages of my career, I would paint on the walls, and it was a mess. When I was around 18 or 19, I was rebelling against something; I don’t know why though.

Takizawa: That’s one of those things you want to do when you get to that age. You want to be passionate about something and do what you want to do, even if it means making imaginary enemies.

JUN: That’s when I started making the kind of animations that are on TV now. So my way of thinking was changing quickly. I was 19 years old when I made the animation being broadcast currently, so this work is from a very long time ago. And I did my first collaboration with NEIGHBORHOOD in 2020, right?

-Takizawa-san, was it you who asked for a collaboration?

Takizawa: I’m not sure. It was like, “Let’s do something!” but I don’t remember in detail. We just came up with the idea when having a normal conversation.

JUN: I also like the “Let’s do something” attitude as an extension of something else. What often happens to me is that even if someone says, “Let’s do something!,” nothing happens. I have decided to remove myself from such people. They are not interested in me. Conversely, those who support me and think I am an interesting person will definitely make something happen, making me believe that I’ve found a missing piece of the puzzle.

Takizawa: On top of that, he was kind enough to create a helmet with a story and gave it to me as a gift, and although he is as young as my child, we have a relatively collegial relationship.

–In terms of what can be associated with helmets, Takizawa-san’s and JUN’s ideas may have something in common.

Takizawa: As far as I’m concerned, helmets reminds me of the band The Timers.

JUN: Come to think of it, Takizawa-san mentioned The Timers. I was also very interested in what the club scene was like when he was younger. So he told me many stories about when he was my age. Then, when I was 18, I saw The Timers’ PV and thought, “This is it!”.

Takizawa: One wouldn’t usually think so even if one sees The Timers’ music video at the age of 18 (laughs).

JUN: I guess I saw a video of them singing a song that included words banned on TV. That looked absolutely cool. Punk is an attitude, not a fashion. And I thought, “They are doing punk properly.” There are a lot of people in punk fashion now. But I’m like, “That’s not punk!”. More specifically, their attitude is not punk. I didn’t expect much, but The Timers were a very proper and extreme punk band. That’s how I fell in love with Japanese punk and started digging Malcolm McLaren and other foreign bands.

Magical Girl and UZI, inspired by ATARI TEENAGE RIOT

–Please tell us about the figures you created together for this project.

Takizawa: I really wanted to make an incense burner, but this time I decided to make a figure. At first, I was going to make one with a UZI (Israeli machine pistol) attached to its head, from which incense smoke would come out, but this was impossible due to structural problems. However, the finished product was very satisfactory, more delicate, and heavier than the one made of ceramics. This is the second time I have collaborated with Jun, but the first time we have made a three-dimensional piece from a two-dimensional work. So it was a big step forward. We also made T-shirts and incense. I like the fact that UZI is on the figure’s head.

JUN: I have never drawn a magical girl with UZI on her head before. I put it on her head because I found an Atari Teenage Riot T-shirt with a UZI printed on the back, and I drew it as it was. Then I watched ATARI’s videos and learned that they had previously worked with NEIGHBORHOOD.

–I remember that when NEIGHBORHOOD held a show as part of Fashion Week in the past, the show was a live performance of Atari Teenage Riot instead of a runway show. That way of launching the collection was just so surprising.

Takizawa: That was not a fashion show! (Laughs.) Instead of having a runway, the members of the band were wearing our clothes during the show. The people who came to see the show must have expected a runway, so when it started, they were like, “What the hell is this?” 

JUN: That’s sick! But I kind of understand why Takizawa-san wanted to have a live show instead of a runway when doing a fashion show. When I do a project, I also feel like I want to destroy it. Of course, I still stick to my common sense, though.

Takizawa: I tried to destroy the idea of a runway show by showing “DESTROY FASHION” on the LCD monitor. So it’s also lovely to hear that JUN sampled this UZI from ATARI.

JUN: It would also be nice if the flags bounced out of the UZIs! (laughs).

Takizawa: (laughs).

JUN: Aside from inspirations from Atari, this twin-tail hair was derived initially from an anime I created. I drew this girl when I collaborated with NEIGHBORHOOD for the first time. She had purple hair and UZI. This time, the brand made this girl into a three-dimensional figure.

As for making a piece of art, I am not familiar with contemporary art, and I have lived my life without being exposed to the world of art. Visual art requires experience, money, and space. And I have a problem with capitalism. In other words, I’m not too fond of the idea that art is only about what can make money. That’s why I like communicating with people through my feelings and emotion, like when I made the helmet and gave it to Takizawa-san. I like to draw pictures, so when I meet people, I always draw their portraits, but I sometimes get told that this lowers the value of my work of art. But I like how it can get through speedily to people, just like when one draws graffiti vigorously on a wall.

Takizawa: That is very artistic in a true sense.

JUN: (Looking at the works displayed in the press room) Whose work is this?

Takizawa: Kostas (Seremetis).

JUN: I have always thought this piece was cool and wondered who it was by. We are going to do a pop-up to mark the launch of the collaboration, and I’m thinking of painting my first Kostas-inspired canvas work at that time. I have never painted on canvas, but I decided to try painting something of this size. Takizawa-san was also the one who allowed me to do that.

Takizawa: Yeah, you should try painting that.

JUN: I thought drawing something just by following my impulse would be okay. I would like to rent an ample space in the NEIGHBORHOOD and try it out. I am still exploring and challenging various things, so I don’t have anything that can introduce myself, like, “This is JUN INAGAWA!”

Takizawa: But, as can be seen from your music and DJing, you have been absorbing plenty of things and changing drastically over the past few years.

Passing on culture through crossovers transcending generations and genres

In terms of JUN’s DJ, I saw your DJ set the other day, and that was insanely cool. It was like an improvisational live show, using all the equipment available.

JUN: If I had four CDJs in front of me, I would use them all. And if a mixer has this many functions, let’s use them all. Then, instead of using them randomly, I would think about how I could make the best use of them. I learned this from watching the Chemical Brothers live. What is interesting about our generation is that the Chemical Brothers’ songs are anthems for Takizawa-san’s generation. Older DJs are too embarrassed to play their songs, but we found them through digging in our case so we can play them without hesitation. We play them because we think they are really cool. This kind of music needs to be passed on more and more to us, the younger generation.

Takizawa: I think this is one of the charms of JUN; he can be a good hub between the older and younger generations. His communication skills are very high, and it is necessary for him to play such a role.

JUN: Perhaps, my initially vague ideas have gradually crystallized. As I continue to create, I slowly understand what I like. That goes for the same with DJ; if you are an artist who paints while DJing or a model who also DJs, you are often looked down upon. Often, they can only DJ in front of their own people, but they are not allowed to DJ with what we call “real” DJs.

But I wanted to perform with people like Shinichi Osawa and Takkyu Ishino. I don’t want to call myself a DJ until I reach that level. Now, I devote much time to practicing DJ instead of drawing pictures, and I will work on it more seriously. I’m sure that DJing and making art will finally be interconnected. For example, in anime, you create a story comprising an introduction, development, turn, and conclusion. You also create this kind of structure and development when you perform in front of an audience.

Takizawa: As for DJs, do you carefully prepare your set before playing? 

JUN: I create a story in advance; I think of the one-night event as one story, I make a story, and then I book DJs accordingly. For example, the protagonist wakes up in the woods, and the story begins there. In that case, we book a DJ who can produce a forest-like sound. The story then goes as follows: the protagonist finds a UFO placed outside the forest, the UFO abducts and takes him to another planet, where he dances in a club, and so on. After creating such a story, I come up with and book another DJ. It’s a lot of fun to do that all night long.

Takizawa: Oh, so you create a concrete story for each event. It would be great if you could connect your generation with the older generation in that way. The younger generations have their own great things, and it is interesting to cross them together.

–Takizawa-san, in another interview published the other day, you talked about passing the culture onto the next generation. Is collaboration with the new generation of artists one of them?

Takizawa: Yeah. Each generation and genre has its own culture already established there, and it is acceptable to develop it in a completely different context. However, I think going back and forth between eras and cross them is even more important. It shouldn’t be that difficult if we have a collegial relationship where we can respect each other at the root.

JUN: My interactions with Takizawa-san were simple, which was great. I just enjoyed it. He gladly accepted my request when I asked him to make costumes for the band (Flog3).

Takizawa: It was just a spontaneous decision to say, “Let’s make costumes” (laughs). It would be great if I made the costumes and they wore them and performed on stage.

–Takizawa-san, how about starting a music label with NEIGHBORHOOD?

Takizawa: Yeah, that sounds nice. I want to do something related to music since the name of the incense (“Pacific”) that JUN has been buying for himself for a long time is also named after the British band 808 State.

JUN: Oh I didn’t know that! That’s what I like about NEIGHBORHOOD. That’s what makes me fall in love with it so much.

Takizawa: Nowadays, the younger generation is digging the Harajuku fashion of the 1990s, right? We were also digging up what the older generation had done, which is very interesting.

JUN: It must be a loop. I always talk about this in my interviews, but when we talk about anime, motorcycles, fashion, music, or anything else, everyone’s eyes sparkle when they talk about what they like. It’s just that the genres are different, but everyone has a passion, and everyone is a serious otaku. We all share the same energy for the things we love. That is why I always use the word “otaku.

Photography Takaki Iwata
Edit Shuichi Aizawa
Translation Shinichiro Sato

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Defining “otaku” with 21-year-old artist JUN INAGAWA https://tokion.jp/en/2020/12/25/defining-otaku-with-jun-inagawa/ Fri, 25 Dec 2020 06:00:47 +0000 https://tokion.jp/?p=14723 JUN INAGAWA, a young and exciting artist taking the music and fashion scene by storm, illustrates the modern-day otaku.

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With his unique take on manga illustration, JUN INAGAWA works across a variety of fields; from collaborating with brands and artists to hosting solo exhibitions and partaking in other projects. Chances are, you have come across his manga or illustrations online at least once. He is unapologetic about his otaku-culture aesthetic. However, his work has a distinct taste from manga associated with Akihabara, which is usually attached to the otaku archetype. The 21-year-old artist is currently based in Tokyo but spent his teenage years living in San Diego. During his time there, he developed a close relationship with the skate culture in Los Angeles and first became interested in drawing manga. What is JUN’s understanding of otakus, and what shaped him to be the artist he is today? We got down to the root of it all.

“Devoting myself to what I like”

――You’re very active as an illustrator and manga artist, as seen in your numerous collaborations with different streetwear brands. I was personally surprised to see you teaming up with Neighborhood. You’re currently 21 years old, and it has been a few years since you’ve been based here in Tokyo. What do you think about where you are today?

JUN INAGAWA (Hereinafter JUN): To be honest, I haven’t been capable of keeping up with everything. It doesn’t feel like I worked with Neighborhood. Like, “did I actually collaborate with them?” I would go to their store to purchase their incense chambers, and luckily enough, I got introduced to Takizawa-san (the CEO of Neighborhood). He said, “let’s do something together,” and one thing led to another. In the beginning, I was worried if I was the right fit for them because they had never released products with anime girls on them before. But when I handed my design to them, Takizawa-san liked it, partially because of his daughter’s love for anime. The timing was just right. The experience was so valuable for me, and I am so grateful. I’ve collaborated with other brands too, but again, it feels surreal. All I do is draw in my room and send the data from my computer to the other person, so it never feels like, “I did it!” Even if people compliment me, I can only reply with “huh, really?” (laughs).

――You’re truly one of the most prominent young artists in Tokyo right now.

JUN: Really? When I think of the current generation, I think of people like YouthQuake, tokyovitamin, and Creative Drug Store. I bet they’re going to become legendary in Tokyo, but it’s nice because they do what they do without considering that. They would make music or whatever they wanted with their friends, and then the older generation and other people in the scene started taking an interest in them. That’s how they became well known, yeah? In my case, you can say collaborating with Neighborhood and designing the artwork for BiSH helped me get my name out there. I think we’re going to see more and more people express themselves authentically. Also, I don’t draw because I want to be popular in the scene; I’m just devoting myself to what I like. I have my universe, and my art and thoughts exist in said universe. Even if someone asks me to create something, I never compromise my artistic universe and my standards. I only work with brands and artists I know about well and sincerely think are cool.

Drawing girls who are honest with themselves

――There are quite a few girls in your artwork and collaborations. The magical girls (an anime and manga category of young girls who use magic to overcome conflict) you frequently post on your Instagram represent you well as an artist. Do they have a backstory or background?

JUN: There’s no specific backstory or anything, but you know how most people depict magical girls as these powerful and perfect ideals? I started drawing them because I thought it was better to have magical girls who possess a more human quality and are true to themselves. Before long, these characters were smoking and doing drugs. Whenever I would watch anime featuring magical girls with a strong sense of doing what’s right for others, I would assume weird things about them: “it doesn’t matter if they’re cute because they do bad things in the dark.” So, I decided to draw magical girls with their bad side out in the open. It’s not like I have a message I want to convey through these characters. Nothing deep. I’ve always enjoyed watching anime with girl protagonists and drawing girls, so it’s just an extension of that.

――What anime and manga have you grown up consuming?

JUN: In terms of magical girls, Puella Magi Madoka Magica was popular during my time. Additionally, there’s an anime called Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan, which is a bit grotesque. This anime is similar to my worldbuilding. I wanted to draw these cute but violent girls who listen to and act on their instincts. Which explains why the magical girls I draw are true to themselves. I have never thought about this so intensely before (laughs).

――When did you start liking anime and manga?

JUN: I started liking them from elementary school, but I got into anime and manga in middle school. I especially loved the manga series, Kissxsis. When I first read it, something knocked me awake like, “this is it!” I got infatuated from that point onwards. I discovered what sort of fictional world I liked after reading Hayate the Combat Butler, and my obsession grew more. I read through the famous ones like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, CLANNAD, and Angel Beats!

――You read countless manga that were adapted to anime.

JUN: Yeah. The first manga series I started buying periodically was Attack on Titan. I started buying it when I was around 13, but it wasn’t everyone’s go-to manga to read back then. It’s comforting to know I can still buy and read the series even now that I’m over 20 years old. I began getting into the dark fantasy genre afterward, like Tokyo Ghoul. I’ve consumed countless anime and manga, so once I start talking about my favorites, it’s endless. Love Hina is good too! An older person recommended it to me. I also love Kengo Hanazawa’s Ressentiment and Boys on the Run. Boys on the Run was made into a movie, and I love Kazunobu Mineta (actor and frontman of Ging Nang Boyz), who was in it.

Big inspirations: Ging Nang Boyz and The Mad Capsule Markets

――You just mentioned Kazunobu Mineta, and you have Ging Nang Boyz and The Mad Capsule Markets merchandise and records everywhere in your room. I’m surprised by the amount of merch you have since The Mad Capsule Markets disbanded and are from another era (laughs).

JUN: I found out about The Mad Capsule Markets two, three years ago. I used to listen to hip hop and anime songs, but I discovered Japanese rock music through The Mad Capsule Markets. I got into Blue Hearts, then Ging Nang Boyz. Right now, I’m listening to Green Day and Oasis, and other bands that inspired Ging Nang Boyz. I love The Mad Capsule Markets and listen to them a lot.

――The Mad Capsule Markets were active when festivals like Air Jam were big. What do you like about the band?

JUN: You know how doing something you’re not supposed to do makes you feel good? I felt excited whenever I listened to music that was considered inappropriate. Also, their early music and later music sound quite different; their diverse range amazes me. My favorite album of theirs is 4 Plugs (1996), and I listen to “KAMI-UTA” and “S・H・O・D・O・K・U” a lot. No one can watch The Mad Capsule Markets play live anymore, but I saw AA= live, which is Takeshi Ueda’s project. It was so impactful.

――The Mad Capsule Markets, AA=, and Ging Nang Boyz all sound vastly different from each other.

JUN: True. There might not be many people that like both Ging Nang Boyz and The Mad Capsule Markets. When I came across Kimi to Boku no Dai 3ji Taisen-teki Renai Kakumei (2005), I felt impacted in a way I had never experienced before. Songs like “Ano Musume Ni 1 Miri Demo Chokkai Kaketara Korosu” and “Ano Ko Wa Ayanami Rei Ga Suki” off of DOOR (2005) are so unique to them. I got hooked on the band, and then Kazunobu Mineta shortly after; I watched the movies and TV series he was in and read all his interviews. I even went further and visited his family business, Mineta Denki, in Yamagata prefecture.

――That’s a testament to how much you like him (laughs).

JUN: In the store, there’s a section dedicated to Kazunobu Mineta, and I wrote in this notebook they had, where people could write their message to him (laughs). I have the receipt from when I shopped there alongside GOING STEADY’s Seishunjidai poster in a picture frame.

――Another vital part of your background is the streetwear and skate culture in Los Angeles. When you were there, you collaborated with VLONE and were friends with A$AP Rocky and skaters connected to Supreme.

JUN: Yeah, that’s a part of my roots too. I liked Fucking Awesome and would draw pictures of Supreme’s skate crew and post them on Instagram. One day Na-Kel Smith contacted me saying, “this is cool, can I have it?” Then, Sean Pablo’s brand, PARADISE.NYC, reached out to me and we started making clothes together. I think it was at that point when I began to connect with a lot of other people.

If you love and care about something, that makes you an otaku

――Akiba Post, which is also written here on this shirt, is a phrase I see on your social media a lot recently. Is it your brand?

JUN: Nope, Akiba Post is the name of a newspaper I’m trying to create. It’s an Akihabara version of the New York Post, hence the name. I’m thinking of making a newspaper about Akihabara in the year 2030. This newspaper is actually in my manga too. The newspaper my characters read is the Akiba Post. I want these two worlds to collide, so I’m planning on drawing Akihabara-related events set in the future. Once it’s complete, I want to release it in a zine-like format. What you see on my page is a foreshadow.

――It’s rare to see someone making connections in the skate scene while making waves in the fashion scene by pushing Akihabara’s otaku culture into the foreground. What does otaku mean to you?

JUN: For me, otaku isn’t a label, but a lifestyle. If you have something you can obsess over, then I think that makes you an otaku. For a while, I used to post illustrations that were a mix of anime, hip hop, and streetwear aesthetics. In other words, it was a fusion of moe (often used in otaku circles, this term expresses affection towards something cute) and streetwear aesthetics, but people often misunderstand where I’m coming from. What I’m doing is drawing the things I genuinely like; the mix of different subcultures is unintentional. It just so happens that it ends up looking like I purposefully combined anime, hip hop, and streetwear aesthetics. People traditionally ascribe the Moe Moe or Akihabara category to Japanese otakus, but I feel like my perception of anime and manga differ from them.

The dream is to get involved with Kazunobu Mineta

――It seems to me, the city of Akihabara plays an integral role in your worldbuilding. Do you like Akihabara?

JUN: I do. Akihabara is different from other cities. I can’t believe it exists in Japan. The people, lifestyle, and the way the city operates are so different. I’ve always liked going there because it’s like going to another country. Recently, because some parts have turned touristy, Akihabara has become more mainstream. But it still has its own magic. Even regarding fashion, I feel like the movement was born precisely due to its location. For instance, New Balance sneakers have become a staple because of the long hours they spend walking around. Meaning, there is a logical reason behind the clothes they choose to wear. They put on practical clothes that make sense with their lifestyle without caring about trends or other people. Otaku culture nurtured in Akihabara is extremely interesting, and I like the overall vibe there.

――Do you have any illustrations or art you want to draw?

JUN: Akiba Post, which I mentioned before, is one. I would also like to make collages too, not just drawings. I love Weirdo Dave’s zine, “Fuck This Life.” It’s cool. If I could use old anime materials and create a collage using only anime girls, that would be so fun. In terms of drawing, I’m working on something inspired by The Timers’ artwork.

――Lastly, could you talk about your goals and aspirations?

JUN: I want to get involved with Ging Nang Boyz, no matter how that looks like. Well, I am too intimidated to create their album artwork. I can even clean for them or send their artwork date to a printing service (laughs). That’s how much I look up to Mineta-san. It would be a dream if I could do something with him.

――That’s love. What would you do if you got asked to have a chat with him?

JUN: Naturally, I would love to do it, but I would get way too nervous and freeze up. It doesn’t have to be that scale! For real, I want to help them send whatever material they need to print out. It’s all I want to do (laughs). If I can do something like that, I will cry from happiness.

JUN INAGAWA
JUN INAGAWA was born in 1999, in Tokyo. He moved to San Diego in 2012 and returned to Tokyo in 2018. As an artist, he collaborates with brands, produces artwork for musicians, and is molding a new kind of otaku.
Instagram:@jun.inagawa
https://www.instagram.com/jun.inagawa/

Photography Hidetoshi Narita
Translation Lena-Grace Suda

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