村上隆さんのインスタグラム写真 - (村上隆Instagram)「I went to visit Hiddy @hiddy728 , who has an office in Uraharajuku, at his studio to discuss a new sofubi (soft vinyl) figure project. Hobby figures in Japan have been refined over time within the territory of otaku, and I have been digging deep into the Japanese otaku culture for the past 30 years in order to repeatedly research the premise of and implement strong formative creation. The results have been the bishojo (beautiful girl) figure sculptures and shokugan toys I have been developing over the years. Shokugan is a strange thing: an elaborate small toy figure that comes included in a pack of chewing gums that’s sold for JPY300 (roughly USD3). The product is considered and distributed as food, and the figure comes included as a bonus—in theory, for free. The reason why it was possible to offer such products at such an affordable price was because 20 years or so ago, manufacturing was extremely cheap in China. Back then, at the center of otaku figure culture was Kaiyodo @kaiyodo_pr , a company based in Osaka, the big city in western Japan two and a half hours from Tokyo by bullet train, and I used to work with the company’s executive manager Mr. Shuichi Miyawaki @sennmusann to develop my figures. I was recently introduced to Hiddy by Porter’s Mr. Matsubara @porter_yoshida_co.official , and I am now embarking on a journey to learn the history of sofubi in Uraharajuku. Hiddy has been singularly focused on sofubi in Uraharajuku since its early days. The theme of our collaboration will likely be my encounter with its history. translation: @tabi_the_fat」11月23日 0時41分