Congrats to manga artist Umezu Kazuo! This afternoon, the Tokyo District Court dismissed the lawsuit several of his neighbors brought against him for painting his Kichijoji home in the trademark Umezz red-and-white stripes (dubbed "Makoto Chan House," as seen in the video above). In a city of patchwork suburbs filled with some of the most random architecture I've ever seen, it's hard to imagine anyone successfully arguing that this building truly represents a public nuisance.
That's great news. I live in Kichijoji, and always take new people by this fun looking house. There are 4 or 5 unique architectural buildings on that street, so the whole lawsuit made no sense.
Posted by: Brian | January 28, 2009 at 07:15 PM
Who knows why they actually filed it, but the whole case always smacked of bored people trying to shake down a famous guy for some cash.
Posted by: MattAlt | January 28, 2009 at 07:44 PM
I hope so, Matt, cause the alternative -- people _want_ their streets to be boring -- is too bleak and depressing.
Posted by: Leonardo Boiko | January 29, 2009 at 12:44 AM
I could understand not wanting tourists clogging their neighborhood, but c'mon...who wouldn't be happy/proud to have that dude living down the street?
It might be a little weird, but it's not like it's a Painted Lady (Ladies?).
Posted by: Bernie | January 31, 2009 at 09:32 AM
Now you can own your own Makoto Chan House (apparently officially named "Umezz House"):
http://umezz.com/mt/archives/001345.html
Posted by: MattAlt | February 18, 2009 at 01:59 PM