The Fantastic Retro Surrealism of Masashi Anraku's World

Nagoya has been home to one of Japan's most vibrant art scenes since the sixties, so it comes as no surprise that this historic port is also home to "Oekaki Tai" (The Picture Drawing Corp), an art collective of clowns and illustrators led by Masashi Anraku, an award-winning, bearded member of the International Society of Caricature Artists who majored in Chinese literature and seriously considered becoming Chinese himself.

Good thing he didn't because his absence would have been a great loss to not only Japan's art scene in general, but to a number of major TV stations, magazines, and even storefronts, where his talent for phenomenally funny illustrations has found a happy home.

Among his many works, his pièce de résistance has to be his retro collection that evokes the early years of the Showa era, a simpler, more optimistic time when the country was experiencing rapid economic growth and when Kamen Rider and Ultraman ruled the airwaves. Caricatural in style, his drawings are imbued with an old-fashioned vintage aesthetic, featuring fantastic scenes such as dancing goldfish, pandas getting ready to rumble in a boxing ring, a giant cow robot called "cowenselor," and a woman slurping udon noodles while bathing in a giant bowl of the same herself.

His booth at the 2013 Tokyo International Book Fair had many of his dazzling works on display, and was co-hosted by a delightful clown, who was waxing philosophical about a coiling piece of turd in her hand. Just a few paces behind her, amid the marvelous clutter of Anraku's works, a huge signboard said Clown, with bold brushstorkes of katakana and kanji forming the wordplay, "Kura Un" or "Clown Luck."

I certainly felt lucky stumbling upon Anraku's magical world and his clown helper. And guess what? You can get lucky too. Anraku's collective "Oekaki Tai" (The Picture Drawing Corp) is available for parties and events. Its team of artists will draw caricatures of you and your guests while a bunch of clowns will see to it that your event is filled with as much wonder and belly laughs as Anraku's works themselves.