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Gokuraku Onsen (Paradise Hot Spring)

Artist:	Junko Mizuno
Exhibition:	GOKURAKU : Paradise by Katsuya Terada, Rockin'Jelly Bean, Junko Mizuno
Art Width:	14.0" (35.56 cm)
Art Height:	18.0" (45.72 cm)
Frame Width:	24.0" (60.96 cm)
Frame Height:	20.0" (50.8 cm)
Medium:	Acrylic on aquabord
Features:	Framed
Year:	2025

Artwork

This piece — along with Jellybean’s “激突! Midnight Navigator” — was inspired by Japan’s fascinating
culture of elaborately decorated trucks, known as Dekotora, which have been around since the 1970s.

You can read more about them here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dekotora

And if you do an image search for “dekotora,” you’ll see tons of amazing trucks!

They’ve become so iconic that one even appeared in the Tokyo Paralympics opening ceremony:
https://youtu.be/POfygLWysaw?feature=shared

Even Beyoncé was photographed and filmed riding one during a promotional campaign in Japan:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Fd7kzxoY2/

I’ve always wanted to create a series of my own decorated truck paintings.
Last year, I made my first one for a group show in Amsterdam:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10232330047936671&set=a.3579274123367