Akaku x UNDER R's ‘Youth Knows No Boundaries’ Exhibition Brings Five Illustrators to Tokyo
Each artist has also designed a limited T-shirt for the show, sold alongside their original works.
Summary
Five illustrators from ASOBISYSTEM's creator label Akaku are showing and selling original work at UNDER R Tokyo
Each artist designed an exclusive graphic T-shirt for the exhibition, offered in white and black
The show frames its lineup of retro-leaning and manga-rooted styles as a meeting point for art, fashion and Harajuku culture
Akaku and UNDER R are teaming up on “Youth Knows No Boundaries,” an art exhibition running at UNDER R Tokyo from October 9 to October 22. The show brings together five illustrators from Akaku, the creator label run by Japanese culture production company ASOBISYSTEM. Each artist is showing original work for sale alongside a limited T-shirt made for the exhibition.
The merchandise mirrors the lineup. There are five T-shirts, one per artist, each available in white or black. In the product images, each artist’s work is printed in monochrome on the chest, with the black-and-white treatment tying five very different styles together. The shirts were made specifically for the show and join the artists’ original pieces on sale at the venue.
The illustrators share a sense of nostalgia, and each takes it somewhere different. Kayoubi mixes a contemporary edge with the look of 1980s and 1990s illustration, a “new retro” style that has led to apparel collaborations and CD cover commissions. Natsumi Sato works in saturated, 1990s-inspired pop colors and is best known for “peloringirl,” her ongoing series built around a girl sticking out her tongue. The series was collected in her first book, THE VISUAL Natsumi Sato Art Book PELORINGIRL, in June 2024. Her client work includes corporate advertising, album art, merchandise and animated music videos.
The other three push in their own directions. NAKAKI PANTZ has built a following for her portraits of women who come across as strong, cute and self-assured, and her work appears across fashion campaigns, advertising and music video design. Illustrator and manga artist Chiaki Harada turns the gloomy, pent-up feelings everyone carries into brightly colored work that swings between horror, retro and celebratory imagery. She bills herself as an insult-maker for well-behaved kids, and her career spans exhibitions in Japan and abroad, collaboration cafés, apparel and even film appearances. Natsumi Yoshida rounds out the group with gentle, peaceful work in a nostalgic palette, with credits in corporate advertising and collaborations with games and anime.
Akaku is built around drawing. ASOBISYSTEM set it up to represent illustrators, animators, calligraphers and other artists whose work starts with the hand, and it extends beyond management into exhibitions and product development to bring Japanese illustration to audiences at home and overseas. ASOBISYSTEM manages talent that embodies Japanese pop culture and produces music festivals, and it is widely known for launching Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s career. UNDER R, the Ron Herman-affiliated space hosting the show, pitches the exhibition as a place where art, fashion and Harajuku culture overlap.
Youth Knows No Boundaries runs from October 9 to October 22, at UNDER R Tokyo.
