Takashi Murakami is a Japanese artist born in 1962 in Tokyo. He grew up in a family that early on instilled in him the importance of art and expression, his own culture, and also many Western ideas. His mother designed textiles (Schjeldahl) and he has a younger brother who is also an artist (Frick). When Murakami was young, his parents would give him assignments. He would have to attend art exhibitions and then write essays to be submitted to his parents. If he did not do this, he would be punished with no dinner (Schjeldahl). As a teen, he was greatly influenced by Manga and Anime, including Space Battleship Yamato and the surreal worlds they created and maintained.