Joy Joy Karaoke, Nagoya (click image to view large)
In Japan’s major cities, prefabricated concrete buildings with postmodern touches are everywhere. Twenty-five years after the real estate bubble burst, all those arches and appliques are looking pretty shabby. Some landlords have tried to spruce the buildings up with a coat of colourful paint.
The owners of Joy Joy Karaoke in Nagoya have painted the walls and windows alike with a burgundy-dipped roller. In Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, a soft-edged tower has been softened even more by a mint paint job. Christine remarked that this building looked like some science fiction space cruiser hovering over the city.
These aren’t the sort of buildings most people notice, but I thought they’d be fun to draw.
Mint building, Shinjuku, Tokyo (click image to view large)