Ishihara, Art and Red-Light Districts

[Mulboyne]

TMG: Message to the citizens of Tokyo

...We found that there were many assets left in vain in Tokyo...Our first step was to create the "Wonderwall" gallery, which utilizes the empty space of the long corridor that leads from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government office to the Assembly building...The next step was to renovate an unused building behind Juntendo Hospital in the Ochanomizu or Suidobashi area to create the "Tokyo Wonder Site"...Contemporary art originates from bizarre works, like something coming out of the red-light districts...In addition to supporting more artists in Tokyo and Japan, we would like to see more young promising artists come to Japan from around the world...The living quarters for United Nations University employees, located in Aoyama (Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku), is virtually unoccupied now...This facility will be used by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government so young artists brought in from around the world can engage wholeheartedly in the creation of new works...If you have artist friends or acquaintances, either in Japan or abroad, please encourage them to come on over to Tokyo!

Well, Toulouse-Lautrec lived in a brothel.

[Charles]

I suspect that "red-light district" bit is a reference to ukiyo-e. But I don't care about it enough to find the original Japanese text.

Anyway, "encouraging" artists to come to Tokyo is all well and good, but it's not going to happen unless someone forks over some MONEY. Encouragement and fine words won't pay for paint and canvas.

[Mulboyne]

[Charles]

[Greji]

[Charles]

[Greji]

Oh lovely. It's not "lower class" but "underclass."

With Blinky its as you say, hard to tell! I think that to him the two are synonymous. Everything is below his values when giving his speeches.

One of the things I observed and liked about Japan is that artists are exalted and aren't generally considered an underclass of degenerates, like they are perceived in the US. But it appears I could be wrong about that.

I think they only become exalted in the culture in Japan if someone of merit recognizes them. The upper or ruling class in the old days, or something to mark them as international nowadays. Otherwise, they get a free pass and are otherwise generally un-noticed outside of their peers!

[Buraku]

Japanese Art Community Pixiv Clarifies New Terms of Service, Will Begin Taking Action Against Artists Who “Repeatedly Neglect Requests To Modify Their Works”

https://boundingintocomics.com/2022/12/ ... eir-works/

they would be cracking down on uploads subjectively deemed “offensive to public order and morals”