Post Apocalyptic Tokyo in Lithograph

May 10, 2007 1:03 PM

Hisaharu Motoda’s “Neo-Ruins” series of lithographs depict the cityscape of a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, where familiar streets lie deserted, the buildings are crumbling and weeds grow from the broken pavement. More here, here & here.
posted by jonson (39 comments total)

Nice! I <3 post-apocolyptic stuff!
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:23 PM on May 10, 2007

I think this guy also did the landscaping for the previous owner of my house.
posted by GuyZero at 1:23 PM on May 10, 2007

a country who national psyche has been scarred by the destructive blast of atomic weaponry from decades ago;now, one of its citizens is inspired to make photgraphs of an imagined destroyed metropolis...

go figure.........
posted by duality at 1:25 PM on May 10, 2007

To be really post-apocalyptic, needs more water, and more Costner (with ear gills).
posted by adamms222 at 1:25 PM on May 10, 2007

hi, i am teh dumb. i've always wondered what a lithograph is. someone help me out?
posted by shmegegge at 1:25 PM on May 10, 2007

AKIRA! TESUO! AKIIIIRA! TEEETSUUUUOOO! (repeat till explodo)
posted by Artw at 1:26 PM on May 10, 2007

Cool post.
posted by justkevin at 1:44 PM on May 10, 2007

Neat!
posted by jason's_planet at 1:46 PM on May 10, 2007

Artw: My thoughts exactly. Although it's important to note that the shouting goes on for a full ten minutes or so.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 1:48 PM on May 10, 2007

Oh sure that's an original thing to do to Tokyo.
posted by grobstein at 2:02 PM on May 10, 2007

Photoshop collage mastery at its finest.

There's a lot of concept artists that do this stuff all the time, though. Sadly, someone else usually owns the image so we don't get to sell lithos...
posted by zoogleplex at 2:05 PM on May 10, 2007

Artw: My thoughts exactly. Although it's important to note that the shouting goes on for a full ten minutes or so.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 1:48 PM on May 10 [+]
[!]

actually it's KANNEEEEEDA, TETSUUUOOOOOOO. and they are firing lasers and/or turning into a giant ectoplasmic baby... that's got to count for something
posted by geos at 2:08 PM on May 10, 2007

duality, some people are quite capable of addressing the past through art. Who better to do just as you say than 'one of its citizens?'
posted by NationalKato at 2:09 PM on May 10, 2007

geos - You are of course correct.

Also technically it's NEO Tokyo that's about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E.
posted by Artw at 2:23 PM on May 10, 2007

a country who national psyche has been scarred by the destructive blast of atomic weaponry from decades ago;now, one of its citizens is inspired to make photgraphs of an imagined destroyed metropolis...

You must be one of the two or three people in the world who's managed not to have any exposure to Japanese pop culture during those decades...
posted by George_Spiggott at 2:24 PM on May 10, 2007

Very cool.
posted by Smedleyman at 2:41 PM on May 10, 2007

Rather depressing, no?
posted by adamgreenfield at 2:51 PM on May 10, 2007

...although, if there was any justice in the world, all Philippe Starcks would end this way.
posted by adamgreenfield at 2:56 PM on May 10, 2007

Reminds me a lot of the cover of Midnight Oil's album, Red Sails in the Sunset, which I believe was also painted by a Japanese artist. It was quite controversial back then.
posted by Flashman at 3:00 PM on May 10, 2007

If someone did this for, say, New York City, they'd probably be called a terrorist. As it is, this is damn cool.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 3:21 PM on May 10, 2007

so no joy on the lithograph explanation, huh?
posted by shmegegge at 3:25 PM on May 10, 2007

shmegegge - try this.
posted by jonson at 3:27 PM on May 10, 2007

i'm a jerk. thanks.
posted by shmegegge at 3:28 PM on May 10, 2007

no lucite chair for you, adamgreenfield. but, yeah.
posted by lazymonster at 3:32 PM on May 10, 2007

If someone did this for, say, New York City, they'd probably be called a terrorist.

You want to be reading DMZ.
posted by Artw at 3:37 PM on May 10, 2007

Pretty much looks like my nightly dreams.
posted by sourwookie at 3:38 PM on May 10, 2007

Though the images are too small to appreciate fully, they are obviously awesome. I'm always fascinated by post-apocalyptic imagery, too. I blame Reagan. Growing up, I was genuinely afraid that nutjob was going to off us all.

And yeah, the first thing that went thru my mind when seeing the FPP was, "KANEEDAAAAA!"
posted by effwerd at 3:38 PM on May 10, 2007

It's amazing how ingrained the "Neo-Tokyo" meme is in Japan. We've got a lot of post-holocaust fanciers in the US, but I don't think any US city has been destroyed and rebuilt in fiction as much as Tokyo has.
posted by jiawen at 3:39 PM on May 10, 2007

It would be heaps better if I could drag my mouse across them and see the destruction from dawn to dusk. I'm sure you could do it with flash
posted by mattoxic at 3:58 PM on May 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

> If someone did this for, say, New York City, they'd probably be called a terrorist.

If someone did it for Detroit they'd be called a photorealist.
posted by jfuller at 4:10 PM on May 10, 2007 [3 favorites]

For some reason, this reminded me of an Saki story which described a painter who only painted images of London landmarks in ruins, with various large apes playing in the wreckage.
posted by pandaharma at 4:46 PM on May 10, 2007

Oh my. These places are so familiar (I was surprised to see humble little Ameyoko there, too. It's my neighborhood shopping zone for cheap cheese, coffee, etc., and not especially famous as Tokyo locales go) and I must say seeing these images is a bit unsettling.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:08 PM on May 10, 2007

Oh, these are so obviously fake — Hello Kitty will survive any apocalypse.
posted by rob511 at 5:49 PM on May 10, 2007

The photographs kind of made me mad, I suppose because there was the implicit threat of violence to Tokyo. I thought it was a little mean-spirited and hopeless.

Which isn't a bad thing, if what these creations are can be classified as art. But these photoshopped images aren't really art...more like the artist was showing off his impressive technique.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:42 PM on May 10, 2007

I like post-apocalyptic art, and these would really knock my socks of if I was familiar with Tokyo. Anyone want to do one of Oslo, Norway? ;)
posted by Harald74 at 3:37 AM on May 11, 2007

Spooky. I've been to all of those places many times, so seeing them in a destroyed, abandoned state is just plain disconcerting, regardless of the fact that they're not real.

Reminds me of the pictures taken of post-bombardment Hiroshima, in a way.
posted by armage at 4:40 AM on May 11, 2007

These photos aren't necessarily about a post-apocalyptic Tokyo. They could be a metaphor for other types of destruction & decline that the artist sees in the city.

KoKoRyu - if an artist, showing off their impressive technique, doesn't produce art, what do they produce?
posted by algreer at 6:23 AM on May 11, 2007

These photos aren't necessarily about a post-apocalyptic Tokyo.

Post-earthquake, perhaps? Keep in mind the place is kinda famous for 'em.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:47 AM on May 11, 2007

I guess they forgot to save the Cheerleader.... Oops.
posted by Debaser626 at 8:56 AM on May 11, 2007