How to turn 100,000 yen for 15 yen

Most of us who grew up in Japan love the flavor of umaibo. Nostalgic cylindrical cornmeal snacks found throughout the country are well known for their flavor and affordability. In fact, after its launch in 1979, Umaibo has maintained a price of 10 yen per ic for over 40 years and caused huge anger when it raised the price to 12 yen in 2022, and then increased it by 15 yen in 2024.

Just kidding – Umabo is actually a concept art work created by New York contemporary artist Tomokazu Matsuyama, who is currently holding his first large-scale solo exhibition in Tokyo until May 11 at the gallery in Azabudai Hills. As a satellite project for the exhibition, Matsuyama is performing with what he calls the “Tribute+” with a variety of iconic Japanese brands in various industries, including the limited edition Issey Miyake Clotsing, Be@rbrick Fiefines and of course the exclusive Umaibo.

Of these, only 50 nobles umaibo existed, increasing their mystery and demand. ¥100,000 (¥110,000) Taxed – “Modern Art Flavor” umaibo is 10,000 times the 10 yen blueprint. The craziest part is that you can’t actually eat Umabo because it’s wrapped in an airtight acrylic box. exist interview On March 7, Matsuyama explained that he created the work to make artwork more accessible to the public through national snacks.

©2025 Tomokazu Matsuyama Studio, LLC.

About Tomokazu Matsuyama

Matsuyama is the man behind the most luxurious Umaibo of all time, and is a world-renowned contemporary Japanese artist. Born in GIFU County in 1976, he moved to the United States in 2002 and is currently in his studio in Brooklyn, New York. He focused mainly on painting, sculpture, installation and large-scale public works. Masushan’s colorful works combine Japanese, Chinese and European paintings with popular culture elements, with modern and timeless sensitivity.

Response to the modern art flavor umaibo

Unlike the controversial $6.24 million purchase of artwork “Comedian” (2019) last year, this is Maurizio Cattelan’s pipe tapered bananas, Matsuyama’s umaibo sold out. On March 8, the first day of the exhibition, Azabudai Hills Gallery announced the purchase of all 50 umaibo “Modern Art Flavor”. Since the competition was so intense, the gallery moved to the lottery system, which meant that only selected buyers could even try to buy Umabo.

Online discussions on the topic vary, from entertaining to incredible. A Japanese X user question“Is there caviar or truffle in it?” Yukiya HagiharaIn fact, they bought the mouth-watering Umabo artwork, which he speculated was not even flavoured at all. While Umabo’s artistic value is controversial, it certainly succeeds in buzzing people and makes everyone suddenly desire to pinch on a modest snack.

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