Ronin living art studio3/17/2023 ![]() But if your work wasn’t as good as the original piece, you could be excommunicated from the graffiti world. We’d all compete with each other to get up.” “If you thought a piece on the wall was inferior to yours, you would draw over it. I was careful because some people start jogging around 4am During that time, graffiti writers were increasing and some crews were being born. I bombed places from 2 to 4am, making my presence known to other graff artists. ![]() “I would prowl around town at 12am looking for a good place to paint. Art by Chob-ONE // Photo by Naomi ‘Milk’ Oguriyama In Japanese culture, it is frowned upon to break the rules, and especially to break the law. He worked out of sight at night, and was asleep when people started to wake up. He lived the opposite life of ordinary people. I liked that atmosphere, where I knew everyone and we liked the same things.”Ĭhob told me that he always had a guilty conscience when he indulged in graffiti and spent days doing street art. When I walked the town, I would often run into friends coincidentally. Bar Melt was our favorite, and we would see dancers, rappers, and people who were interested in street culture. He was called the “Resident of Sankaku-Koen.” Sankaku-Koen, a concrete park shaped like a triangle (in Japanese, Sankuku means triangle.) Due to being in the center of America-mura, it was the place where people used to meet and hang out.Ĭhob reflected, “I was in America-mura every night. Artist Chob-ONE in his studio // Photo by Naomi ‘Milk’ OguriyamaĮvery time I went to America-mura, he was there. Through these connections, he got a chance to do live painting in clubs, like Neo, where we had met. Sometimes Chob would go to places where WA2 was drawing. Chob remembered when WA2 would see his graff and chide him, saying “That’s poor!” From then on, WA2 advised Chob’s graffiti, giving him tips and helping him learn. WA2 was a graffiti writer responsible for driving the Japanese art scene. One day, he went to a shop he’d read about that sold spray cans and graffiti paraphernalia. He often practiced drawing on the paper of a comic called “JUMP,” while on the train going to America-mura. He learned about graffiti by absorbing the information he gathered from hip-hop and music magazines. In the beginning, I was just killing time.” Art by Chob-ONE // Photo by Naomi ‘Milk’ Oguriyama Out of the four, I was most interested in graffiti. The four elements of hip-hop are MCing, DJing, breakdancing and graffiti, but there was almost no one doing graffiti. “At the time, hip-hop music was flowing into Japan, and the most popular style was hardcore hip-hop mixtapes. He smiled innocently, as if he was still young. For me, I was okay to just have fun, living in the moment.” But I soon realized that I had no talent for dancing.” “ I wasn’t good at. We would go to clubs - back then there were no regulations like there are now. I started dancing with friends and listening to a lot of Hip-Hop music. For me, I was okay to just have fun, living in the moment. “No, my grade for drawing in school was 3 (equivalent to an American ‘C’) and I wasn’t good at it. And then we started to talk about his story. It’d been a long time since we’d met, so we talked about what life’s been like and our common friends. Chob’s tattoos are a major source of his self-identity. The first time we met, he’d been dressed in baggy, oversized clothes, a classic Westside b-boy style now he has blonde hair and is covered in tattoos, all of which he designed himself. ![]() The interior design is constructed in an industrial style, with aging doors and artistic walls painted by Chob’s friend. On the side, he has continued his graffiti.Ĭhob’s office is in Ebisu. He has worked with Avex management, Universal Music, Being, Sony Music, and other famous clients. However, his main work is designing CD jackets for famous musicians. which makes advertisements for companies, artists and so on. Now he serves as a director for a Japanese company called POC Co., Ltd. Later, he moved to Tokyo to work as a graphic designer. He joined several live graffiti performance events, practicing in front of an audience. Artist Chob-ONE in his studio // Photo by Naomi ‘Milk’ Oguriyamaīorn in Osaka, CHOB-ONE started graffiti art as a teenager. I never expected that we would meet again as interviewer and artist. We handed out flyers together – I was a dancer and he did live painting. CHOB-ONE and I joined as organizing member for an event named “Conquest,” held by a common friend. There were many kinds of parties and dance events. It was the 2000s, during the golden age of Hip-Hop in the Minami area of Osaka, better known as ‘America-mura’ for its namesake influence. When I met him for the first time, I was a student enthusiastic about dancing. CHOB-ONE is a graffiti writer and graphic designer based in Japan.
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