'Talk of Japanese contemporary art and everyone inevitably thinks of the pop-culture fantasies of Takashi Murakami, along with Yoshitomo Nara and others connected to Murakami's "Superflat" movement. Meanwhile, Japan has stumbled through a series of economic, social and ecological crises since the collapse of its “Bubble” economy in the early 1990s. How did Murakami, Nara and "Superflat" rise to become the dominant artistic vision of Japan today? What lies behind their images of a childish and decadent society unable to face up to reality? Before and After Superflat tells the true story of the Japanese art world since 1990, its struggle to find a voice amidst Japan's decline and the rise of China, and the responses of other artists, less well known outside, who offer alternative visions of its troubled present and future.' (From book band)