What we do
We are a boutique Japan-located art, animation, and illustration agency based on good vibes and helping to make positive, memorable and unique cross-cultural creations. Expanding horizons and bringing some Japanese depth, flair and history to Western art concepts is what we’re all about - originally working out of Oxford University, we saw how blocked off the creative outlets for Japanese artists were on an international level - language and cultural differences and distances were stopping these people getting their art out there on a bigger stage. Not only that, it was limiting their development and future pathways - one of the most satisfying aspects of this job has been seeing how much our clients and creators have learnt from working together, and how much creative energy a fresh perspective can unleash.
So we took our knowledge of Japanese language, culture, history, society and - most importantly - the network of Japanese illustrators and animators we’ve built up, and we got those creative outlets pumping, those cross-cultural projects off the ground and flying high in the sky. We’ve done all sorts so far, artworks with all kinds of different feels, looks, processes and uses; but we’re always on the lookout for more, because we know each new project is different; each new project is a learning opportunity, a chance to bring us and our team closer together, and an opportunity that allows us to breathe life into something beautiful that may never have otherwise existed.
How we do it
We do this by knowing our artists, their backgrounds, interests, creative processes, and motivations - what makes them tick, and why they’ve put their life into creating artwork for others. All creators are unique, but we’ve found certain commonalities to Japanese artists; they set themselves the highest standards in their work, and appreciate a similar quality in their clients’ creative direction. They like their time/workflow planning and punctuality to be reciprocated, and their art direction - no matter how “loose” or how “hands-on” - to be communicated clearly and precisely, as they will communicate back with you. And they love working with creatives from different backgrounds and cultures. The chance to create unique cross-cultural art is a huge motivation, and is at the very core of what we do.
We keep a small team of artists, illustrators and animators precisely for these reasons - we prioritise quality over quantity, every project we take on deserves our full attention. We’ve always been happy to reach out to other Japanese freelance artists if asked to by a client, and it’s always worked out great. We can’t quite guarantee that it will, as we won’t have the bond you get from successfully navigating projects together that exists with our team of creators. Still, we always trust in the levels of care, professionalism, and pride in their work that we have seen every day here in Japan for the last 20 years. That trust hasn’t let us down yet.