When did you first start thinking of "owning" a piece of art?

After graduating from high school with a degree in design, I went to an apparel technical school. After working part-time at a design company, I got a job at a publishing company in Osaka that mainly deals with fashion.
I learned everything from basic sketches to graphic design, and I had many opportunities to encounter art, but I think I became aware of art through apparel. Unlike paintings and objects, apparels are mass-produced and related to our daily lives, so I'm not sure if I should distinguish this genre from art. But those clothes that tailors put soul into, down to a single stitch, were a work of art for me. I even spent tens of thousands of dollars on clothes I wouldn't (or couldn't) wear and displayed them in my room. It's silly to think about it now, but when I think back to myself being satisfied with the fact of owning them, they were art to me.

What was the first brand you recognized as a work of art then?

The British brand "maharishi" is a great brand for embroidery. As you can see in the picture, the design reminds of tattoos. I also like the way they do it on sloppy pants, Yankee-like silhouettes. Even though the designer is British, it was quite refreshing as they look imported backwards.
"SAMPLESS" got me with its graffiti. I met the brand when I was 19. Mostly wearables, but they are one-of-a-kind silk-screened pieces (I think they were), so it’s categorized as art. They have a collage-like style and strange and completely incomprehensible concept. There was a select shop in Osaka that handles the brand, but after they closed permanently, I had to mail order them all the way from a record shop in Tokyo. They sold out so quickly that I almost couldn't buy them... There are many pieces that I still want to buy. In fact, I want them all.

How do you enjoy the art you own?

I own one, but if I was asked "do you enjoy them?, then I don't think I do. I enjoy art until the moment I encounter it, rather than after it becomes my property. The moment I run into the art is the moment I enjoy it the most.
When I was around 19, when I first met “SAMPLESS,” I started going to clubs with friends from technical school and I became obsessed with art and artists in the underground scenes.
The flyers from "POWWOW" party in particular was always a shock to me, that every time me and my friends find them, we would get super excited like "this is sick, so sick." Looking back on it now, I think it was the worldview and similar taste to "SAMPLESS" that made it possible for me to discover. The accumulated sensations lead me to encounter new artists and works. I enjoy building up those senses.
Having said that, I do have a few favorites on display! More recently, there's Shingo Minamida. He draws a variety of landscapes from nature to cities, but they all have a nostalgic, vaporwave-like quality to them. I am displaying his snow mountain painting in my restaurant, but it doesn’t feel like a restaurant, in a good way. I like the atmosphere of isolation, not fitting in the image of where you eat. Other than that, a poor old (incomplete?) piece I brought back from Sri Lanka. I display this also for the same reason.

Do you think there’s a difference between seeing an exhibition or art in real life and online?

Of course there is. First of all, you can't feel the texture through the screen. Paintings, of course, or even photographs, give different impressions depending on the roughness and delicacy that can only be expressed by looking at the actual size of the object. Even more so if it's a three-dimensional piece.

What kind of artwork would you like to own in the future?

I’m interested in a brand (artist?) called "LAND" that the Tokushima indigo dyeing group "BUAISOU" had a collaboration with. The artwork on the fabric is really cool, with a pattern that reminds me of the Ainu. Their jacket was great too, and I liked the playlist they made on Spotify, so I thought it’s a perfect match. I will continue following them.

What does “Owned Art (the art you own)” mean to you?

It's just a record of greed! Sometimes I end up paying tens of thousands of dollars, or just pick up a branch or a rock. I just wanted them at the time. It is not like something that makes my life better or calmer, in any way. I don’t think I can't be friends with people who say things like that.

Do you have any advice for people considering buying art?

If you miss out on a purchase, you will most likely never be able to buy one.