The Japanese, they are a Koi people: The art of Yoske Nishiumi

From Design Boom

"'koi' in japnese has a number of diverse meanings: 'falling in love', 'come here','ancient way', 'intensive',
'with purpose' and ... 'carp'. fittingly it's also the name of the ongoing projects from yoske nishiumi.
the über cool creative movement 'koi klub' boasts a collection of work, which includes art pieces,
sneaker designs, a magazine and a free monthly club-night - from which the iniative began.

designboom caught up with the berlin-based japanese
designer and asked him to shed some light on his activities which he calls 'koi klub'.


background:
after working at an american company in tokyo
for 8 years (to be more specific, selling shaving razors!),
I left japan to travel for a while, which eventually brought
me to berlin in 2000, where I have stayed since. for me
berlin is an amazing city where you define people not by
where they live or the company they work for, but by who
they are as a person - the music they listen to, food they
eat and other interests...I have a strong feeling that this is the the biggest influence
on my work."