Hi and welcome!

That's the thing, Urban art hasn't really taken off here yet.
Everyone is familiar with Murakami's work and I will look into outlets and release times but am working on finding the new up and coming artists. Also I have a contact for Aiko and will let everyone know when she puts through some new work over here.
Otherwise I will keep everyone posted on what's going on in Japan.

Welcome Tokyojeff, I love Murakami's work but am yet to take the plunge.

hey tokyo jeff
shame you didnt post this when i was in tokyo
do you know the artist REZEON
saw his stuff up all over tokyo and would love a print
any help much appreciated

Greetings & Salutations tokyojeff

welcome to the bored ;D

Can anyone recommend any good Japanese street artists?

Its weird we dont hear more of good japanese graff artists. the show that was at stolenspace was pretty rubbish i thought. but with such great japanese manga/anime out there, you'd expect to see more good japanese street artists around.

whats that gotta do with anything?

So's Australia dude but we've heard of Anthony Lister.

Theres the internet.

Check out the book RackGaki
www.amazon.co.uk/RackGaki-Ryo-Sanada/dp/1856695042/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196186936&sr=1-1
Comes with a really good DVD about the Japanese scene.

If you're in Tokyo check out the Design Festa Gallery in Harajuku and the surrounding area. www.designfesta.com/02_en/00_g_e/ - If your an artist you can hire rooms and put on your own exhibition while sleeping in the exhibition space (cheap way of organising an exhibition in Tokyo for all you budding artists)

and ....... I'm sure most of us have heard of a certain artist called Antony Micallef ....think he spent a fair whle working in Japan !

i know there was a thread about this before but here are some links. i have a friend headed over to japan this weekend. ill see what he can find out as well.
www.theghettotokyo.com/

www.designfesta.com/index.html

www.original-fake.com/

Design Festa is fantastic - always something new.

If you're looking for street art - Yokohama Wall - beneath the railway tracks - ask a local - its on the opposite side of the tracks to the massive Skyscraper complex (sorry don't know the name!)

For Murakami try the Mori Museum in Roppongi Hills
www.mori.art.museum/eng/index.html They have signed prints available in their shop - usually unusual (but expensive) last time I went they were printed on round and oval paper!

depends on what you are planning to do in Tokyo, but i'd say staying near Shinjuku is probably the best bet. the Narita express takes you right to Shinjuku station. lots of things to check out within walking distance. easy train and subway access to hit up Shibuya, Harajuku, Akihabara, Shimokitazawa, Koenji, etc or hop on the Shinkansen and head further away to Fuji, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka.

the biggest downside to Shinjuku is the price of hotels. though i don't know that any part of Tokyo has anything that would be considered cheap - unless you want to stay in a "Capsule Hotel".

i haven't heard of that hotel, but looking at their website it looks like a decent enough place and the prices are pretty good too! be prepared to have the rooms be pretty small though and if you've seen Lost in Translation, that shower setup is pretty typical. but who cares about the room?!? you will be in TOKYO!!!

location wise it is definitely close to the station. hopefully not too close!! the west side of the station is a bit mellower than the east side (home of the red light district) and i have stayed over there before. it's sort of a nice break from the madness eventhough you are still right in the middle of it. in fact, that is one of the cool things about tokyo - you can go from a crowded, noisy, neon drenched street to a quiet alley with a temple just like that. and fortunately the streets can be confusing enough that things like that just happen!

i'm supposed to go visit some friends over there sometime before Feb, but unfortunately work seems intent on sabotaging those plans....