Though he would go on to earn a Ph.D. in Nihonga (1993), he gradually became disillusioned with its insular, highly political world and started to explore more contemporary artistic styles, media, and strategies.

After returning to Japan, he would develop the core concepts behind his artistic practice and begin exhibiting regularly at major galleries and institutions across Europe and America.

In 2000, Murakami published his "Superflat" theory in the catalogue for a group exhibition of the same name that he curated for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Superflat also served as a commentary on postwar Japanese society in which, Murakami argues, differences in social class and popular taste have 'flattened,' producing a culture with little distinction between 'high' and 'low'.

These helped introduce Japan's lesser-known creative culture overseas and such curatorial projects would become an integral part of Murakami's multifaceted artistic practice.

[1] In the past decade, Murakami's curatorship expanded to include Kazunori Hamana, Yuji Uedaa, and Otani Workshop at Blum & Poe, New York (2016) and Juxtapox x Superflat at Vancouver Art Gallery (2016).

In accordance with the Superflat concept, Murakami's practice involves repackaging elements usually considered "low" or subcultural and presenting them in the "high-art" market.

His model inherits the atelier system which has long existed in Japanese painting, printmaking and sculpture and is common to anime and manga enterprises, such as Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli.

In 2001, Hiropon Factory was incorporated as Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.[8] In 2002, at the invitation of designer Marc Jacobs, Murakami began his long-lasting collaboration with the fashion brand Louis Vuitton.

Though he had previously collaborated with fashion designers such as Issey Miyake Men by Naoki Takizawa, his work with Louis Vuitton made him widely known for blurring the line between 'high art' and commercialism.

[13]Murakami has also collaborated with a wide range of creators and industries in Japan, a prominent example being the image characters he created for the press relations campaign of the major urban real estate development Roppongi Hills.

"[14] Murakami and McG directed short Akihabara Majokko Princess, where Kirsten Dunst sings a cover of The Vapors' 1980 song "Turning Japanese".

[18] The same year, Murakami's anime-inspired illustrations from his first film Jellyfish Eyes,[19] also adorned a T-shirt by Billionaire Boys Club, the brand co-founded by Pharrell and Nigo.

[22] The video opens with an animated version of Eilish, dressed in a neon-green shirt and shorts, eventually morphing into a spider-like monster that wreaks havoc on a miniature city.

In June 2024, Murakami collaborated with k-pop group NewJeans to create exclusive merchandise and album designs for their Japanese debut single "Supernatural".

Sarah Thornton tracks the early stages of the exhibition's planning, including in-depth curatorial meetings between Murakami and prominent museum figures, in Seven Days in the Art World.

[32] In September 2010 Murakami became the third contemporary artist, and first Japanese, to exhibit at the Palace of Versailles in France, filling 15 rooms and the park with his sculptures, paintings, a decorative carpet, and lamps.

Jellyfish Eyes (originally titled "Me me me no kurage)[37]) is a live-action movie featuring CGI characters designed by Murakami called Friend.

It has been noted for its use of color, incorporation of motifs from Japanese traditional and popular culture, flat/glossy surfaces, and content that could be described at once as "cute", "psychedelic", or "satirical".

[40] The concept of the smiling flowers was revealed in an interview to be "evoked repressed, contradictory emotions and collective trauma of Japanese locals triggered by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings back in 1945."

His artistic style and motifs (cute [kawaii]/disturbing anime-esque characters rendered in bright colors, flat and highly glossy surfaces, life-size sculptures of anime figurines) derived from this strategy.

[42] Hiropon (1997), satirical sculpture, standing a bit over 7 feet tall, of an anime character with oversized lactating breasts whose milk stream forms a jump rope made of fiberglass, sold for $427,500 at Christie's auction house in May 2002.

[47] In May 2008, My Lonesome Cowboy (1998), an anime-inspired sculpture of a masturbating boy whose semen stream forms a lasso, sold for $15.2 million at Sotheby's, making it his most highly valued piece.

The name "Kaikai Kiki" (カイカイキキ) which means "brave, strong and sensitive", was borrowed from a critic in the late 17th century who used it to describe the paintings of Eitoku Kano.

Kaikai Kiki Gallery has held exhibitions not only for the artists under its management but also international names such as Mark Grotjahn and Friedrich Kunath.

[52] The company and its galleries represent a number of prominent international artists including Takashi Murakami, KAWS, Mark Grotjahn, Anselm Reyle, Matthew Monahan, Seonna Hong, Aya Takano, Chiho Aoshima, ob, Mr., Fantasista Utamaro, Virgil Abloh, Michael Rikio Ming Hee Ho, Kazumi Nakamura, Otani Workshop, Yūji Ueda, Chinatsu Ban, Rei Sato, and Friedrich Kunath.