The kawaii characters and icons of Japan's most renowned pop artist travel from January 8 to 28, 2025, on two historic trams provided by the public transportation company ATM to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Louis Vuitton x Murakami Collection. Both vehicles are clad in the kaleidoscopic Multicolor Monogram.

The first tram, departing from Piazza Castello, is a traveling cinema. Its exterior showcases the iconic Multicolor print, while the interiors are painted blue—one of the artist’s most frequently used colors—and furnished with plush cushions that feature elements beloved by Takashi Murakami, such as flowers. The “hana” flowers are a key beauty canon of Japan’s floating aesthetic.

Cinema is one of Murakami’s favorite mediums. The preview of Jellyfish Eyes in Milan provided me, back in 2014, the opportunity to interview him exactly ten years ago, during the presentation of his Arhat series at Palazzo Reale, a monumental work rooted in Buddhist cultures, showcased thanks to Gagosian. Murakami self-produced his major film/manifesto, coming close to bankruptcy for this "animated cinematic masterpiece," an evident homage to Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, to otaku culture, and to the beauty of childhood imagery that permeates his works as both a poetic and stylistic hallmark. It also pays homage to Pokémon, a true institution in Japan.

Onboard, visitors can view videos and images illustrating the artist's fantastical world: his "superflat" production and two animes created specifically for Louis Vuitton, one in 2003 (the year of the collection's first launch) and another in 2009. These masterpieces of artistic marketing narrate the origins of the brand, set in a psychedelic, visionary dream where the brand itself acts as a co-star—never invasively or boastfully.

The second tram, departing from Piazza Fontana, is transformed into a literary café, with kawaii interiors and accessories, tables adorned with multicolored monograms, and servings of Japanese sweets that are never as sweet as we would expect. There is also a reading nook stocked with catalogs and volumes dedicated to the artist and the Maison's history, and a bar corner offering bubble tea in super cool cups and cakes. This concept aligns with a project Murakami and his team created in Tokyo, the Café Zingaro, where Murakami designed two works for the shutters and oversees the artistic direction and coordinated image. The café hosts exhibitions and events and offers sought-after merchandise, becoming a cult destination for tourists and japanpop enthusiasts worldwide. 

In Japan, food is not just aesthetic; it is a cultural identity. The presentation and aesthetics of a dish are integral to the meal itself, often consumed publicly during cultural events, such as kabuki theater or the pleasure districts of Edo (now Tokyo), where sushi—a finger food meant to be eaten standing up—was born to save time during immersive experiences of art, music, culture, and geishas.

To complete this multidisciplinary and itinerant work of art and happening, highly contemporary in its synergy between art and business culture, two custom “LV Hands” logo canopies, created by the artist in the early 2000s, can be found at the termini in Piazza Castello and Piazza Fontana.

In Japanese cultures and arts, from 1633 under Shogun Tokugawa until Commodore Perry’s forced opening of Japan’s trade gates in Yokohama in 1853, there was no concept of fine art. Applied arts were recognized as high-level art with equal cultural value, accessible to the masses through everyday objects and serial prints. Naturally, this blurred the lines between art and fashion, as seen with kimonos (literally “artworks to wear”). This synergy was intrinsic to the culture and philosophy of a people aesthetically enlightened in their pursuit of beauty as an integral product substance, not just form.

Murakami's Factory, Kaikai Kiki, which employs top artistic talents, young designers, and technicians from Japan's leading universities and art scenes, worked diligently on the Louis Vuitton x Murakami project, now celebrating the reissue of the initial collection that marked the start and benchmark of their collaboration. Shortly after, another Japanese pop art star, Yayoi Kusama, followed suit.

The project includes new, unprecedented creations that celebrate the fascination French culture has always had with Japanese pop art—already loved and deeply present in the works of Monet, Degas, Gauguin, and all the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Murakami, a natural heir to the great artistic revolution of figures like Hokusai, Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, and Utamaro, is internationally acclaimed for his multicolored subjects and collaborations with global brands such as Off-White and Nike. His work is also championed by the renowned collector Perrotin, his exclusive European representative with the Paris gallery of the same name and the Pinault Collection.

Cover Image: Louis Vuitton X Takashi Murakami Tram. Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.