I want to share what I genuinely think about Takashi Murakami’s “Superflat.”
As a fellow Japanese artist, I deeply respect someone who created a concept sharp enough to pierce the world and continued to shape culture.
People might look at the term “Super Dekoboko” and wonder if it is a rip off.
The truth is, I did borrow the sound of the word “super,” but the borrowing ends there.
The content and structure are completely different.
Respect for the Way He Lived
Murakami left Japan in the 1990s, a harsh era in many ways.
He entered a world with stronger discrimination, little information, and no meaningful connections.
He fought entirely on his own to reach New York and claim success.
And he did it while being deeply disliked by Japanese people.
Inside Japan’s art world he faced hostility from every direction.
He still forced the world to acknowledge him.
That act itself is extraordinary regardless of anyone’s opinion of his work.
Why Couldn’t Japan Cheer for Him?
Japan should have celebrated him the way it celebrates Shohei Ohtani when he succeeds overseas.
A simple “He did it” would have been enough.
Instead, jealousy and labels came first.
Japan never fully acknowledged what Murakami achieved, and to me that is a domestic problem, not his fault.
What Super Dekoboko Actually Means
I am not trying to attack Superflat, nor compete with it.
Murakami deals with culture as a whole, while my focus is on material, the body, lived distortion, and the human condition in the tech era.
My paintings are uneven.
My life has been uneven.
My styles have been uneven.
Those layers simply stacked together and produced the term “Super Dekoboko.”
I have no intention of picking a fight with Murakami.
If anything, I respect him as someone who endured total isolation and still won.
I borrowed the word “super.”
The content is my own uneven path.
That is all it ever meant.