This Japanese nail artist wants his ‘clothes to be functional but my nails totally the opposite!’
This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…
From catching carp to creating not-so typical manis, Tomoya Nakagawa is the local fisherman turned hottest nail artist in the world for artists the likes of Björk and Kiko Mizuhara.
Courtesy of @tomonyan55
NAME TOMOYA NAKAGAWA
AGE N/A
LOCATION Japan… for now!
STAR SIGN Taurus
Phoebe Shardlow: Hey Tomoya, how are you and what have you been up to today?
Tomoya Nakagawa: Hello! Well I recently saw a UFO flying around at night with my best friend. It was unbelievably quick and then vanished suddenly.
PS: I read that until very recently you were working as a fisherman - how did you suddenly make that switch from fishing to nails?
TN: I quit my job as a fisherman and moved to New York where my partner lived, and started working at a sushi restaurant in the city as I can fillet fish. My partner was a nail artist and I helped with his work during my spare time. I found it very fun, so I ended up creating my own nail designs. I have moved back to Japan now however, and sometimes go to an island to do fishing as a job - both jobs are so much fun for me.
PS: Have you found any transferable skills from fishing you can apply to nail art?
TN: When I was working as a fisherman, I lived on a small island surrounded by beautiful nature. I spent every day watching beautiful creatures closely in the water, so I believe that inspired a lot of my creations. During the summer I get in the water and get abalones and catch yellowtails and blowfishes in the winter. I can see so many different creatures depending on the season which is so special for me. It’s so beautiful in the water! Once when I was in the water, I was surrounded by a large number of silver-striped round herrings, I reckon it was about 10,000 of them. At the time the sunlight was reflecting off the water and fish, creating sparkles in all directions - that made me feel like I was in space.
PS: Who would your dream client be?
TN: I would say CARDI B and RIHANNA!
PS: What’s been the hardest look of yours to create?
TN: There isn’t any actually - every look of mine is not so difficult!
PS: Would you rather arms for legs or legs for arms?
TN: Definitely arms for legs.
PS: If they made a movie of your life - who would you want to play you?
TN: If that really happens, I would like it to be a cartoon written by Maestro Osamu Tezuka.
PS: Which finger is your favourite?
TN: Every finger.
PS: What would your dream material to work with be?
TN: Materials that no one has ever used - I am still always looking for that!
PS: Where do you find your inspiration?
TN: I can find it in everyday life but I tend to find it when I go traveling or having a chat with my partner and friends.
PS: What’s in the future for you?
TN: I am really into nail art at the moment but I have a lot of jobs that I would like to do. I would like to try to compose music, I want to always be able to express my feelings. I have a plan to leave Japan in the near future, there’s so many cities that I would like to live in; LA, Berlin, Shanghai… to name a few.
PS: How are you spending your ideal Friday night?
TN: Playing games and karaoke with my partner and friends at home would be my favourite, these days.
PS: What’s more important to you - fashion or function?
TN: I want clothes to be functional but my nails to be totally opposite!
