Great article at Pingmag: http://pingmag.jp/2007/08/30/gaffer-tape-guide/

“For our previous films, we did many interviews and so often people didn’t have any clear concept or idea behind what they created. However, when we asked Mr. Sato why he drew his Kanji characters in such stylized, rounded shapes, he answered: ‘This soft look makes people feel better while walking around a busy station.’ What a wonderful idea! Also, I think his kanji characters look friendly because of their unevenness. As they are all handmade, they don’t look like perfect printed characters. Maybe that’s why they feel so familiar and are easy to read. They feel so warm…,”

Make sure you watch the youtube video embedded there.

I love this guy. Even more on Click Opera:

It all began when members of a collective called Trio4 noticed the tape lettering, and its unusual gothic forms, in temporary signage at Shinjuku station back in 2003. These kids — members of the Koenji Shiroto no Ran or Amateur Revolution group I blogged about back in June — had been casting about for something to make a documentary about, and these letters seemed to be the perfect subject. At first, Sato-San proved a reluctant folk hero. ”In the beginning,” Trio4’s Hikaru Yamashita told Pingmag, “Mr. Sato wasn’t friendly at all. Later, he told me that me approaching him seemed kind of troublesome… However, he was much nicer in our second meeting. He agreed to do an interview and to demonstrate his skills on our live show”.

Little by little the young hipsters upped the charmingly gap-toothed old man’s cultural capital with their curation. “Skills” became street smart “skillz”, which eventually became “art” and — the final apotheosis! — goods marketing.