This&That
Mural Rookies Project
Pentel × Mural Rookies Project
Mural Rookies Project is an initiative that gives artists who have never worked on an architectural-scale mural the opportunity to create their very first one. Launched in 2024 under Pentel’s vision of “bringing art into everyday life,” the project is based in Nihonbashi and aims to nurture the next generation of mural artists and help them take their work to audiences in Japan and around the world.
The project brings together BnA, which operates art hotels in Nihonbashi that combine art with the experience of staying in a hotel, and TokyoDex, which launched the original Mural Rookies Project in 2020 and connects artists with society and businesses through art. Through hands-on mural-making experience, the project supports the development of emerging artists’ skills and careers.
Mural Artists
Kurara Abe
Born in Tokyo, Kurara Abe has been working as an artist since 2018. She develops paintings from images she crops out of the world around her — fashion models walking a runway, landscapes, fictional accident scenes. Alongside her work on canvas, she produces video and performs digital painting at live venues. She currently continues her practice while working at a video production company.
"I'm so happy to be part of this project! I'm already looking forward to researching the place, the neighborhood and the people as I develop my plan. This is my first mural, so I'm nervous — but I'll do my best to create something that really interacts with its surroundings."
SARU1
Based in Otaru, Hokkaido, SARU1 began working in earnest in 2020. He moves across painting, animation, murals, textiles and three-dimensional work. His practice currently centers on two bodies of work: PEOPLE, which travels between two timescales — seven million years of humanity and a single eighty-year life — to explore how we perceive; and POOOOL, which deals with the invisible inner world of memory and emotion.
"At the scale of a wall, the same motif I'd normally put on a canvas or a piece of merch reads completely differently. I'm really curious to find out what my drawings start saying once they get that big. I'm coming down from Hokkaido, so I'll be doing my best not to lose to the heat."
Venue
Sakura Tona
Born in Chiba and a graduate of the Oil Painting course at Tokyo University of the Arts, Sakura Tona uses decorative motifs and a wide, vivid palette to search for a universal image of utopia in the present day. She painted murals in restaurants and bars while still a student, and is drawn to public expression that sits naturally within cities and the movement of people through them. Painting remains the core of her practice, though she is now also working in design.
"I've made relatively large works before, but there was always a limit to what my studio could accommodate. The wall for this project is enormous, and I feel that what I learn from it will be just as large. I'll keep aiming for stronger work and stay committed to it right through to the end."
Another
Venue
Moji8Fresh!
Moji8Fresh! works mainly in graphics for fashion brands and musicians, and illustration for children's educational materials. His output spans a wide range of roles and projects — GARDELiON driver, THEX breaker, NUEZZZ sleep keeper, TiMEMAXERAS architect, Bucket Squad captain. Style radar currently recalibrating. Lost at sea on the 100-record voyage. Likes cats, mice and octopuses. Call him Mojipachi.
"I'm truly grateful for this rare opportunity. I want to take the sounds and rhythms that fill the city but can't be seen, turn them into color and line, and paint a mural that resonates on the viewer's own planet and locks in."
Mentor
Tadaomi Shibuya
Born in 1973 in Yokohama. Graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Design, Product Design Program within the Three-Dimensional Design major. Armed with a distinctive worldview built through linear reconstruction, he works as an artist/illustrator across borders. His collaborations with global brands include the GIVENCHY emblem (2008) and visuals for the NIKE AIR JORDAN CP3.IV (2011). In recent years he has also taken part in a range of projects, including developing Japan's national team uniform with MIZUNO (2021). He exhibits both in Japan and abroad, developing expression that crosses genres. Since 2025, he has served as a mentor for the Pentel Mural Rookies Project.
Mural map
