Alternative Shift Control

Art by Nikibi.

Alternative Shift Control is an Osaka-based collaboration between musician Shogo Yoshikawa and designer Shinsuke Yamaji, aka Catchpulse. Their [36-56] project presents 56 shirts with prints from 36 artists. Each shirt comes packaged with a hardbound art book profiling the contributors.

We caught up with Yoshikawa to get the lowdown on the raddest T-shirt collab we’ve seen in a long while.

Tokyo Scum Brigade (TSB):

Pulling together 36 artists is no small task. What was your motivation for the project?

Alternative Shift Control (ASC):

We'd managed to amass a large stable of awesome artists and wanted a way to get their names out there. T-shirts seemed like the most accessible option. I mean, everyone wears T-shirts, right? Customers think they're getting clothing when they're actually buying art.

TSB:

Almost like a Trojan Horse for good taste.

ASC:

There's a relationship, but at the same time a disconnect, between art, fashion, and music. A crappy band will have cool T-shirts. Or a band with an awesome sound dresses like dweebs. A high-concept design will lack a message.

All artists put their heart into different areas, so it's rare to find that perfect mix. This project aims to be the complete package.

Art by Shogo Yoshikawa.

TSB:

Your designs range from pop street to B-grade trash. Did you have a specific audience in mind?

ASC:

As long as you like alternative art, I'm sure we have something that caters to your taste. There's plain T-shirts for the street kids and more fashionable cuts for the dressy types.

TSB:

Most participants are Japanese, with the rest from Europe and South America. The lack of artists from the U.S. is almost conspicuous.

ASC:

It's not a conspiracy or anything (laughs). We just don't have any contacts in the States.
Touring Europe with bands and producing zines brought me into contact with artists from all around the world. They make up a majority of the book. The rest are friends of friends, along with anyone who showed up on my internet radar.

TSB:

You guys are based in Osaka. I always hear about the Kanto versus Kansai thing, but I don't know how much I buy into it.

ASC:

For the sake of conversation, let's say that the biggest difference is spontaneity. People in Osaka do their own thing without worrying about the static around them. You have all these free radicals bouncing off each other and there's bound to be a reaction. This uncontrollable energy is our blessing, and our curse (laughs).

TSB:

I think it’s great that you incorporate international artists as well.

ASC:

We want to do more work with foreign talent. Outside of Japan, it feels like people have a different take on art, like it’s more ingrained into the average person’s life. It’s hard to make a name for yourself in Japan, and even harder to make a living as an artist.

Don’t get me wrong, I really love Japan, but the scene needs some help. 

TSB:

I think you guys are doing it a service.

ASC:

This project is just the beginning. We plan to keep delivering art for the masses at a reasonable price, in a medium they can understand. Once we build up the momentum, who can say how far we’ll go?


Check out the collection here.

Мишка Tokyo

With such sick, sick colorways and sophisticated parody designs of old toys, horror, comics, punk and metal nonsense it is no surprise that Mishka clothing has become the cornerstone of our wardrobes over the past few years. As if the guys at Mishka didn't think that their majority share of our closet space was enough, they've gone and set up shop in our backyard to make sure that we never wear anything else ever again!

Stop by their new shop at 3-28-5 Jingumae in Harajuku (MAP) to give your fashion sense a heavy dosage of re-agent and stick around to take in the decor, which includes vintage bootleg Madballs, dozens of pink skulls, a Masters of the Universe graveyard and an insane Lovecraftian chandelier!

Behind the counter they've also got a showcase of vinyl toys featuring not only their own in-house figures, but also the creations of local monster molders such as Velocitron. I get the feeling that this place is going to mutate into something far beyond just a clothing store. Only time will tell what the boys at Mishka are plotting for Tokyo.

Galeria de Muerte

The mad butcher at rest.

The gate to Hell has never been so unassuming. Following the Fulchi tradition, this nondescript building in Ueno’s back streets hides Galeria de Muerte, whose activities over the past two years have been surreptitiously spreading the dark miasma that fuels Tokyo’s underground death metal scene.

Venture up its stairs to a grotesque display of the blackest metal art this side of the River Styx. The gallery features art books, framed prints and apparel splattered with designs from the biggest names in the business and raising talent. If that wasn’t enough to sate your inner gore hound, check out their original artwork from Vincent Locke, Ed Repka and others.

Gallery owner Narutoshi Sekine is a true embassadry of evil. During his fifteen years on the scene he has made blood pacts with foreign bands and artists to disseminate death metal throughout Japan. He even started his own record label, Obliteration , because no one on the Japanese side was willing to make a deal with the devil and sign his band, Butcher ABC.

There’s a lot going on for non-metal fans as well. In addition to a killer collection of CDs, art and T-shirts, he is also putting out a charming hand-illustrated travelogue of Mexico written by his wife. The other half of the gallery houses rotating exhibits from artists both inside and outside of Japan whose subjects vary from demonic to demure. Girls Vol. 2, which we mentioned a few post ago, is up now.

Narutoshi himself is a Pandora’s box of information. He is your 'in' to the local scene and touring internationally with his band has widened his influence across the darkest corners of the earth. Galeria de Muerte is far off the beaten track but well worth the search. Just don't expect to be the same person coming out as you were going in.

Thanks to Hanawa-san for putting us on to this place!

*VOIDMARE EDIT*This is the sickest zine I have ever seen. Period. Buy or DIE!

Shigeru Mizuki X Supa Resque Wears

Distributer of oddball import and domestic apparel Supa Resque Wears has teamed up with legendary manga author Shigeru Mizuki to bring us a series of yokai themed tees!
This guy's backstory is more sci-fi than horror. A man abandons his family to escape from his debt, only to be propositioned by a scientist who offers to pick up his tab if the man will have his body converted into an undying vessel for the purpose of deep space exploration. The man agrees, but upon returning home one last time before jettisoning into space, his family flees in terror at the sight of the monster he has become!

Oh, poor Fushigi-Kun! Are your limbs made out of rubber? Clay? Not his most popular character, but classic Shigeru all the same.

Check out their online shop for order information!