Flash! - Ah-ah, Savior of the Universe!

Well this week I have been given the privilege to post about any old (or new) thing I want. Thank you Professor Fedorowicz. We learned quite a lot in class this week about the Blogging scene as a whole, we even had Garr Reynolds give a presentation on it. After desperately trying to integrate everything I had learned into my two blogs, I had little time to come up with anything amazing this week. Perhaps it is just a bit more quirky than other topics we will explore in this class, but this is the stuff that I am thinking about. I hope you find it as interesting as I do, because at the moment I'm thinking of starting a completely new blog based off of one of my following subjects. This week I present you with GRAFITTI, and HYGENE, in Hirakata. Hey, sounds like fun! It also sounds like a battle between contrasting elements of society. One might say Graffiti sullies a public object, where as someone else might say it breaths artistic life into mundane public objects. The same could be said for cleaning of public space: Cleanliness is godliness, but incessant cleanliness can be a bit too much. Each has its reason, its own pros and cons. Let's get started with the first of the two.
Meet Flash! You may already know him/her from their various tagged locations, in and around Hirakata-shi. Between my roommate and I, Flash is a common name. We often talk of locations we have seen tags, even who we think Flash really is. Since coming to Japan I have quickly learned how to identify a Flash tag, even admire their determination to become well known. Who is Flash really? "Have you seen flash?" Perhaps some select persons know the true identity of our local artist, but the reality is that their fame is not legal. Then why should they be so bold as to self promote their illegal activity? If anything it only increases the chances of getting caught; however that in itself it the answer to the questions. The more bold Flash gets, the more people begin to notice (just as my roommate and I have). It is the perfect marketing strategy, become a well known graffiti artist: become a well known artist. Flash's fame is also the artists Fame. Whether people who know the artist or not, Flash is popular.

Perhaps the best tag I have seen up to date was on the side of a Coke machine outside Gaidai's east gate. It read: "Flash! It Must be tonight!" What ever that meant, that night has since long gone. The tag however, remained there for quite some time. I was lucky enough to see it with my own eyes before it was torn down. Be it a fan or law enforcement that removed "It Must be Tonight!" I do not know. What I do know is that the message was sent to all those with the privilege to have seen it.

In the case that Flash does get caught, I'd assume it would do more good for them than harm. This, I believe, is the M.O. (Modus Operandi) behind Flash's crime. If caught there would be news of this, thus making Flash apart of history and increasing popularity. Though I could not find the sentence for Graffiti in Japan, I'd assume it is a nominal one in comparison to other crimes. After such sentence is served, this could be used for the artist's benefit. It could be the platform needed to land an important job as an artist. Therefore I respect all of what Flash has to offer the world, and find s/he is quite an interesting stranger.



Next on my agenda (and a bit more brief than Flash) is this guy to my right here--------->
This is one of the many respected employees at Kansai Gaidai. He is involved with the custodial duties on and around campus. In this picture one can see that he is raking the leaves. Seems natural enough. The problem is that most of these said leaves have gone elsewhere (most likely in to his colleague’s trash bins). He is at this moment raking the leaves trapped within the Ivy at the Tree's base. "How nice," one might think or "How thorough,” however I think it is a bit excessive and anal. I do not condone this mans actions, but feel he could be put to better use. I have seen this many times around campus before: three women raking the grass into three small piles of leaves, also two men scraping moss out of the grout (and Gaidai has a lot of grout). Therefore have come to the conclusion that Gaidai is either: A) directing its funds into the Anal Retentive Custodial Reformation Act, or B) Hiring too many custodians, leaving a lack of necessary duties to fill a full work day. It is most likely the later, but A) would make for a better argument against Gaidai's usage of its funds.