Changing The World, One Tag At A Time

I started taking pictures of work by the street artist known as 281_Antinuke a couple of years ago because I thought it was beautiful. Now I shoot it because I think it’s the voice of young Japanese saying to their society: we don’t want prosperity at the price of environmental destruction.

While the government tries to distract people with the 2020 Olympics and talk of reviving the economy, street artists like 281_Antinuke are out there reminding people that the radiation coming from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that melted down in the wake of the 3/11 tsunami and become the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, still isn’t contained.

They say it takes seven exposures to an idea for people to take notice. 281_Antinuke’s art is quietly ratcheting up the public’s awareness meter, one piece of graffiti at a time.

Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.