The Kintsugi Life: Finding Beauty in Your Brokenness with Shinjiro Tanaka

I'm sitting down with my friend and fellow dancer Shinjiro Tanaka — a Tokyo-based visual artist whose work asks a question most of us spend our whole lives avoiding: what do we do with the broken parts? Recorded live in his atelier here in Tokyo, this conversation traces how Shin moved from advertising suits to New York streets, from graphic design to live painting in the subway at Grand Central, and ultimately to his recent series Broken, Yet Still Golden — rooted in the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where broken things are repaired with gold and become more beautiful for it. He shares openly about the hard chapters that shaped his work and why he believes our scars aren't something to hide — they're what make us original. This one is for anyone who has ever wondered if what broke them might also be what makes them.

[03:06] — Shin explains the concept behind Broken but Still Golden: inspired by Kintsugi, the Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with gold, he created work that treats scars not as flaws but as what makes us original.

[05:19] — I reflect on the pressure to be perfect and perform, and why the Kintsugi philosophy feels so radical — that you can become more beautiful and strong precisely because of what you've been through.

[07:29] — Shin gets honest about the tension of being a self-taught, free-spirited artist in Japan, where art culture is conservative, creativity is often taught through copying, and opportunity is hard to find outside the mainstream.

[11:53] — He describes the life he left behind: three and a half years in a suit at Japan's largest advertising agency, working from 7:30am until 3am with clients — and the moment the 2011 earthquake made him realize he was living inside a very small world.

[23:11] — Shin opens up about the hardest year of his life and how it became the direct source material for his most recent body of work.

[24:06] — He shares how painting and dancing saved him: when he creates, he stops thinking entirely, releases everything — positive and negative — and finds his way back to himself.

[25:37] — Shin describes his artistic philosophy: his paintings look joyful and colorful from a distance, but up close reveal struggle, texture, and hidden detail — because life is never just one thing.

[29:39] — I reflect on what his work is really about: when we can accept both the light and dark in ourselves, we can accept it in others too — and that's where real compassion begins.

Shinjiro Tanaka is a Tokyo-based artist working across murals, painting, installation, live painting, and video — his practice shaped as much by street dance and improvisation as by any formal training. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Tokyo, he studied economics at Keio University before the 2011 earthquake became a turning point that led him to reconsider everything. He later moved to New York, where time at Parsons and deep immersion in street dance, music, and diverse creative communities deepened what he calls a sense of hazama — existing between worlds, between order and impulse, between Japan and abroad. His recent series Broken, Yet Still Golden explores the traces of value and dignity that remain within brokenness and vulnerability — the gold lines in his work symbolizing not just repair, but the quiet act of continuing to exist, imperfectly. In 2026, he participated in Springbeast Festival in Stockholm, one of Northern Europe's largest graffiti and public art festivals.

• Website: shinjirotanaka.com

From the Ashes is part of The Vibrant Visionary — a space for people who are tired of pretending they're fine and hungry for a more honest way of living.

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Valerie Hwang Beck is a Vitality & Vision Mentor, Ayurvedic Practitioner, and founder of The Vibrant Visionary. Her work is for people who feel disconnected or discouraged yet long for a life that feels aligned, meaningful, and true. Valerie supports those who've been knocked down by life but still desire to create boldly. Through From the Ashes, she hosts conversations that prioritize honesty over performance, inquiry over dogma, and evolution over easy answers.

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