Artist: Shintaro Miyake

Born in 1970, Shintaro Miyake’s arrival coincided with a turning point in Japan’s history—a moment when the fervor of political movements had started to wane. As the Osaka Expo’70 marked the dawning of rapid economic growth and rampant consumerism, it also paved the way for a new wave of visual culture, where manga, anime, and gaming began to rise and reshape the fabric of Japanese society. Like many of his generation, Miyake grew up immersed in this vibrant visual culture. His works, featuring characters with oversized oval heads, slender limbs, and an innocent, manga-inspired style, immediately evoke the Otaku subculture, which has left a lasting imprint not only on Japan but across all of East Asia. Some might regard this as nothing more than an individualistic cultural phenomenon born within a particular subculture, where disillusioned youth, tired of societal politics, retreat into the world of fiction, severing the connection between virtual imagery and real life to create a spiritual utopia. But in a world wholly alienated by consumerism, all is estranged. The city, swollen by economic prosperity, becomes a sprawling, untamable beast. People from all walks of life are swept up in a relentless race for survival and status. In this indifferent, profit-driven expanse, true human connection dissolves into mere abstraction. Yet Miyake’s whimsical, endearing visual language offers a soothing antidote to societal disconnection, providing a gentle respite in an otherwise indifferent world.

Miyake is not an artist who simply absorbs subcultural influences, nor is he a passive observer. His sustained artistic practice is an ongoing process of shaping his own reality, where creation becomes an active means of engagement. Through this, his visual language takes form— one that not only depicts reality, but also reconstructs it.

Like many children of his generation, Miyake grew up surrounded by the steady stream of imagery broadcast on television, where films left a lasting impression on him. He would recreate scenes from his favorite movies through drawings or three-dimensional paper models, “it was to transform stimuli received from the outside world, using his own techniques, into a form of communication with others based on shared amazement and empathy.”(1) Miyake’s curiosity knows no bounds— painting, music, film, food, urban landscapes, sports, games, and the world at large all captivate him. Over time, these influences have woven themselves into his artistic vocabulary, serving as both material and inspiration. At its core, his art is a manifestation of his inner sensibility.

In 1992, Miyake enrolled in the Printmaking program at Tama Art University, where he studied copperplate printing. The process involved chemical treatments, large-scale machinery, and a precise sequence of steps, all of which felt restrictive to his creative approach. Gravitating toward greater immediacy and fluidity, he eventually abandoned the medium. For Miyake, artistic practice has always been inseparable from the pursuit of freedom.

Before studying printmaking, Miyake trained in oil painting, yet neither medium offered the sense of freedom he sought. During his university years, he found himself creatively adrift. It was during this period of uncertainty that he came across a book on folk art—an encounter that left a profound impact. For the first time, he realized that art could exist beyond technical and formal constraints. “Even now, that revelation remains the foundation of my practice, allowing me to create with complete freedom.”

Miyake was also deeply influenced by the Japanese avant-garde artist Genpei Akasegawa. In 1972, while strolling through Yotsuya with Shinbō Minami and Tetsuo Matsuda, Akasegawa came across a staircase that served no practical function. Fascinated by its existence, they recognized it as “a kind of autonomous artistic presence, reminiscent of works from the Mono-ha movement.” (Akasegawa) This moment of recognition later inspire Akasegawa to establish what he called Roadway Observation Study, a practice dedicated to observing and appreciating the overlooked aesthetics of the urban landscape. It highlights unnoticed elements of the city—buildings or their fragments, signs, billboards, and posters that rarely draw attention. As Miyake puts it, “Roadway Observation Study is not a form of art intentionally created by the artist, but rather the act of allowing neglected forms to exist as artworks in their own right. It does not approach art from the creator’s perspective, but from that of the observer, recognizing these objects as art simply by perceiving them as such. That made me question whether the artist’s perspective is really all that interesting. It is something I have been pondering for a long time.” Such a question strikes at the very core of what it means to create art.

Miyake’s pursuit of freedom and his persistent questioning of art have shaped the way he approaches creation. As Kenjiro Hosaka, director of Shiga Museum of Art, observes, “All of this art seeks a place parallel to - and completely separate from - the mainstream, while standing in subtle opposition to the value system underpinning the mainstream.”(2) This tension runs through his practice—on one side, a sense of playfulness, innocence, and boundless energy; on the other, a sharp awareness of social convention, always probing, questioning, and critiquing it. From early pieces such as SWEET SAN (2002), Life of Rabbit (2001), and HOPE: do hope for the future (2003) to later exhibitions like “Egypt – Path to Civilization” (2008) and “I Found Myself in the Traveling Carnival” (2019), Miyake’s work consistently reflects this duality. As he once remarked, “My work could be described as ‘kawaii,’ but within that kawaii aesthetic lurks something unsettling, even eerie.”

This duality gives Miyake’s art a sense of lightness, allowing it to move effortlessly across different modes of expression, themes, and cultural influences. It grants him the freedom to paint whatever he wishes, to create on his own terms, at any given moment. Art serves, in part, as a way for artists to articulate their complex, inseparable bond with the world. At the heart of this process lies the artist’s own lived experience— an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Miyake is no exception. His solo exhibition at Perrotin Shanghai incorporates a rich array of Chinese mythological themes, a choice informed by his personal encounters with Chinese culture, while his works retain a distinctly manga-inspired aesthetic.

Miyake’s fascination with Chinese culture began early. In high school, he immersed himself in Sangokushi, Mitsuteru Yokoyama’s sweeping 60-volume manga epic. During university, manga once again became a gateway, this time leading him to Confucianism and Daoism. Later, captivated by the Fujian earthen buildings he had glimpsed on television, he longed to see them with his own eyes—a dream he finally realized ten years ago. More recently, after playing Black Myth: Wukong, he developed an interest in Journey to the West and went on to read the classic in full. Miyake’s engagement with Chinese culture has been varied and unstructured, yet it has become a rich foundation for his imagination to unfold.

Art seeks to uncover the treasures of the spiritual world hidden within our experiences. Without the spark of imagination, raw materials—be they reality, history, culture, or mythology—remain inert, unable to reveal their profound and layered meanings. What Miyake does is to cultivate an imaginative space between his personal experiences and these myths and traditions, allowing them to emerge in fresh and unexpected ways. “Although my inspiration comes from Chinese culture and mythology, as the creation progressed, I felt that the works themselves evolved, becoming more introspective.” In Miyake’s work, we can see how elements of Chinese myths and traditions start as faint sparks, gradually growing into flames that fuse with his experiences, emotions, and thoughts. It gives rise to a world that feels both fresh and familiar, at once unexpected and beautiful.

In Miyake’s hands, various elements take on exaggerated forms, allowing each image to open a window into another imaginative space. As in ancient myths, nothing—be it human, animal, architecture, or space—remains fixed; every body, every appearance shifts, morphing in unexpected ways to convey a mix of humor, eccentricity, playfulness, and deep empathy. This world is not one of absolutes, but of symbols, metaphors, and suggestions. Every image points both to a familiar experience and to a hidden world. These varying forms carry rich layers of meaning, evoking the complexities of ancient myth and tradition in a contemporary context. The gallery space these works inhabit carries a ritualistic quality, guiding us down a hidden path—an invitation to rediscover spirituality in a world increasingly marked by disconnection and distance.

Stepping into Miyake’s artistic world is like venturing into a jungle where myth and adventure merge, where fantasy and danger collide. His manga-inspired figures, both whimsical and peculiar, tender and bizarre, draw us in, urging us to linger and feel the emotions they carry. Each image encourages us to absorb its nuances, to ponder what is unfamiliar or awe-inspiring, and to uncover the richness that lies hidden within. In this realm, we walk alongside Miyake, lost in the enchantment of this mysterious wilderness, delving into its secrets and marvels.

Text by Lin Ye
Translated by Lingxuan Tang

(1) Kenjiro Hosaka, “Shintaro Miyake: New Approaches,” ‘THE ARTWORKS OF SHINTARO MIYAKE: I AM HERE,’ Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, 2018.
(2) ibid.