The forecast read: Chance of Rain… bullshit! It rained for 10 of the 12 days I spent in Tokyo. The odds did not favor me: I was still nursing a fractured foot and endowed with very little knowledge of the Japanese language. By all accounts this trip should not have happened. Just arriving in Tokyo was a chore, as a vicious Tropical Storm rolled through the Pacific and threatened to strand me in Manila for an extra week. To say nothing of the overzealous customs agents at Narita who turned my luggage upside down looking for contraband. No drugs, just slaps!

In what was disguised as a coffee tour of Tokyo, Nite Owl slaps quickly multiplied across the city. While most of my time was spent shuttling between Harajuku and Shibuya, no district was neglected. Hopping between Temples, museums and sushi spots, sake was downed and whiskey glasses were emptied. Part time tourist, full time slapper! From Ginza to Ebisu, Akihabara to Tsukiji, Shibuya to Shinagawa: the streets and alleys between the Ku’s or Districts are now the new habitat of a colorful Owl from Oakland, California. Competing with the colors of the native Sakura blossoms during Hanami is not easy, but I made my mark and added more color to the streets of Tokyo.

For a society that is character conscious, the streets of Tokyo were desperately lacking that Kawaii factor. Aside from some epic Invader pieces the Tokyo streetscape consists of 2 colored fills, western handstyles and endless stickers. It’s no different than Oakland, NYC or Berlin. The streets read like a who’s who of international bombers. The 246 crew, BTM, D30, WGE, SMART crew, AF, 24K, BNE, MQ and so on… Japanese Kanji is conspicuously missing from the streetscape.

All the big names of the street art scene have made their marks here… DFace, Invader, Obey, Bigfoot, Buffmonster, The London Police and the list goes on . . . I was psyched to take my place in the Tokyo streetscape.

and of course I brought a few friends along with me…

Ramen, uber fresh Sushi, Nikka Whiskey’s, artisan coffee and seasonal mochi is how i filled my time in between slaps and posters!

Like the 17 flavors of Kit Kat which can only be found in Japan, the owl brought an army of character slaps and debuted a few new pieces on the Tokyo streets. I did my best to add some Kawaii to the streets of Tokyo. The Seppuku – Oru, based on the Ako Incident of Japanese History (the 47 Ronin) and a Gojira – Oru, inspired by hundreds of hours of viewing Godzilla movies found a fitting home in Tokyo.

Tokyo itself is quite surreal. Complete visual and sensory overload. The overwhelming sense of Order despite the endless crowds of humans. It’s like waking up in a Super Mario Brothers game taking place inside Disneyland crossed with a living Fetish museum. Fun all around, but trying to stand out in a crowd here…whoa. No small feat. No worries, I have color and cuteness on my side! I’m putting Hello Kitty on notice…F@$K your steez. the Oru is coming !!!

ha, the Oru is here !!! After throwing up close to 4,000 slaps I confidently feel like I am now one of the Tokyo Slap Stars !!!

Can’t get enough of Nite Owl? See his art in the SF Bay Area Nite Owl. Check out his photographs on Fatcap. Follow him on Instagram. You can buy some Nite Owl art, prints, stickers and occasional one off items like decks and cards at Chopsticks Urban Art