fumihiro hayashi

unpublished photos from purple fashion magazine #7 spring/summer 2007 by Chikashi Suzuki

AKA CHARLIE BROWN

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by OLIVIER ZAHM

 

I couldn’t dedicate an issue to Tokyo and Japan without paying tribute to my friend Fumihiro Hayashi, better known as “Charlie Brown.” In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he opened the door to Tokyo’s art, underground scene, and nightlife for Purple. 

Fumihiro Hayashi was the founder and editor-in-chief of the iconic Japanese magazine DUNE, which he created with no money but an unbridled energy for the alternative and avant-garde. The first issue of DUNE in 1993 featured Japanese actress Rie Miyazawa on the cover, while the 33rd and final issue in 2008 showcased the emerging actress Rinko Kikuchi. Beyond his publishing activities, Hayashi was such an iconic Tokyo figure that he appeared as himself in films like Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (2003) and…