Japanese Art: A look back at 2006
 

Most Tokyoites, even affluent ones, do not have homes with expansive dining rooms, a temperature and humidity regulated basement and an attic storage space. Heck, most people in Tokyo don't even have wall space. And so the successful Japanese artists continue to be those who can sell their work overseas.

Japanese arts superstar Takashi Murakami knows this all too well. His book "Geijutsu Kigyoron" (perhaps best translated as the "The Artist's Entrepreneurial Primer") was a best-seller last year. In it, Murakami proudly, like a master thief boasting about "how I did it," maps out the formula he has used to seduce the Western collector.

Source: Japan Times - 2006 Art

so where does it leave young artist to aspire to?