¡°Why did you come to Japan?¡± This is a question that most non-Japanese living here are accustomed to being asked habitually.
I¡¯m not very fond of this inquiry, so I tend to answer it glibly. Imagine my surprise, then, when I sit down (via Skype) with an acquaintance of mine, an Osaka-based faux-finish artist and entrepreneur named Roler Miles, and it¡¯s the first question to pop out of my mouth. I¡¯m glad it did, though, because his answer, though lengthy (a good 15 minutes long), pretty much told me everything I needed to know about the man¡¯s experience here, which could be summed up in two words: ¡°artist¡± and ¡°father.¡±
His answer revealed a man¡¯s fascinating transition, from defacing walls and vandalizing subways as a graffiti artist in New York to running a thriving spray-paint business, teaching Japanese students to express themselves through art and leading a team of artists creating authentic-looking faux-historical materials at Universal Studios Japan¡¯s new Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Though I tend to attribute my drive and ambition to the values acquired back in the Brooklyn we both grew up in, Miles, now 50, says: ¡°It ain¡¯t where you¡¯re from, Baye. It¡¯s where you¡¯re at!¡±
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