Takashi Murakami Reveals Company Faces Bankruptcy Amid COVID-19

Not long ago, HYPEBEAST got a glimpse into how Takashi Murakami has been navigating the time of coronavirus in our recent how-to video. Apart from creating unseen coffee filter art, those following the acclaimed Japanese artist on his Instagram account may have encountered his series of home cooking videos that he captures to keep himself busy amid the stressful circumstances caused by the health crisis. Murakami recently shared a new video on social media, revealing the impacts of COVID-19 on his career and projects.

In the 15-minute clip, Murakami mentions that his Tokyo-based gallery and arts organization, Kaikai Kiki, is facing bankruptcy and that a number of his projects have been cancelled following the pandemic. One of his key endeavors that has been terminated is the production of his sci-fi feature film, Jellyfish Eyes Part 2: Mahashankh. “For nine long years, I had persevered! It was a film that was to realize my childish dreams!” said Murakami. “The enormous budget I poured into this project, as well as my tenacious persistence, put a constant and tremendous stress on my company’s operation for the past nine years. But at the same time, I was able to endure various hardships because I had this project.”

Murakami went on to discuss the film’s transition into a series of videos that will focus on the discontinuation of Jellyfish Eyes Part 2. “I don’t know how many episodes the series will end up being, but a series it will be, so please come along with me on this journey for a little while,” he added.

Although Murakami has terminated his feature film’s production, the artist continues to maintain a busy work calendar with his involvement in Kanye West and Kid Cud’s anticipated KIDS SEE GHOSTS animated show as the franchise’s director. Watch the full confessional video below and stay tuned for updates on Murakami’s upcoming video series.

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This spring, I streamed a series of cooking show of a sort on Instagram Live. I’m sure those who watched them were utterly confused, but I was trying to buoy my own thoroughly sunken feelings through these streamings. With the sudden swoop of COVID-19 pandemic, my company faced bankruptcy and I had to give up on a number of projects, the most symbolic of which being the production of my sci-fi feature film, Jellyfish Eyes Part 2: Mahashankh. For nine long years, I had persevered! It was a film that was to realize my childish dreams! The enormous budget I poured into this project, as well as my tenacious persistence, put a constant and tremendous stress on my company’s operation for the past nine years. But at the same time, I was able to endure various hardships because I had this project. Faced with the current predicament, however, I was persuaded by both my business consultant and tax attorney that I must, simply must try and drastically reduce our business tax by filing the film’s production cost as tax-exempt expenditure. To that end, I am going to produce and release a series of videos to publicly announce the discontinuation of the film’s production. (To be clear, this is an entirely legitimate procedure—I’m not trying to evade tax!) These videos will be released against the backdrop of our struggle to avoid an economic catastrophe, but perhaps it may have a cathartic effect on the viewers/my followers to see the story of stupid Murakami’s failure. Long story short, I’m a silly human being for whom the moment of bliss is when I am thinking my truly childish sci-fi thoughts. I don’t know how many episodes the series will end up being, but a series it will be, so please come along with me on this journey for a little while.

A post shared by Takashi Murakami (@takashipom) on Jun 30, 2020 at 8:02am PDT