Josh Agle, a.k.a. Shag, Artist

I went to Japan for the first time. I went with my brother Piet and Billy Shire, who owns the Wacko store in L.A. I wanted to see the two sides of Japan that interest me. The frenetic pop culture side [is] what we did in Tokyo. Shibuya is where all the kids go to be hip and hang out. It’s like Melrose Avenue but kicked up. I loved it. We went to Kyoto. That was the other side of Japanese culture, the ancient imperial state of Japan. Our host was a Japanese pop star. He arranged a traditional geisha dinner for us. We had 15 courses with breaks where they sang and danced. That was one of the most memorable experiences [of] my life.

Discovery: I wanted to buy a bunch of that plastic food. I’ve seen it in restaurants here. The restaurant supply district in Tokyo is called Kappabashi [Kitchen Town]. A few stores there, that’s all they specialize in.