Following last week's Ancient Circles T-Shirt, the second installment of our original T-shirt series is a blockbuster collaboration with the one and only TACOMA FUJI RECORDS.
Based on the concept of a fictional record label, Tacoma Fuji Records is known to those in the know—particularly among music, outdoor, and craft beer enthusiasts. When I took a long shot and asked their founder, Nabe-san, to create a T-shirt inspired by Circles, he accepted without hesitation, and TACOMA FUJI meets CIRCLES was finally born!
To mark this release, Nabe-san sent us a heartfelt message, which we have included below.
Message from NABE
"If you're looking for breakfast in Nagoya, Early Birds is the place to go. It's right next to Circles." I didn't really have a grasp on the situation in Nagoya back then, so I think I probably first heard the name "Circles" from Imoto-san when I was holding my first Tumbleweed pop-up. Since the area around Tumbleweed is quite something (a major entertainment district), it wasn't until a few years after that conversation, in 2018, that I learned about a side of Nagoya outside of that neighborhood. I met Niwa-kun from Kakuozan Larder, who was selling T-shirts by Ryohei Kazumi (who I work with at Tacoma Fuji) at Mori, Michi, Ichiba. Then, while I was staying over alone at Bikelore to help with the setup, Inocchi from Welldone invited me to a party he was having with Mr. Tanaka, the representative of Circles, and things really shifted into high gear from there. The following year there was the legendary night at Koganeya. Looking back, even though I had no prior connection to the place, Nishihara-chan's HAPPY HOUR—which she somehow ended up helping with during our pop-up—was born, Inocchi opened his brick-and-mortar store POT where I got to do a pop-up, and I became good friends with Niwa-kun and his wife.
The standard routine for a hungover morning is a forced wake-up call with an Early Birds hot sandwich. It’s comforting to chat idly about the previous night’s heavy drinking with Yanack, Yuya-kun, Tomoyan, and the others at Circles while Keita-kun cooks. It might be a coincidence, but everyone I meet in Nagoya is a good person.
Another thing that’s comforting is the rhythm of the people in Nagoya. Whenever I meet Kantoku or Naoka-san, who pop up out of nowhere wherever I am and talk to me as if we’ve been together forever, I realize I’ve really arrived in Nagoya. It was last year that Mr. Tanaka, the representative of Circles, asked me, "Feel free to do whatever you want; I want you to create a Circles T-shirt based on your own interpretation, Nabe-san." At first, I thought of them as "a big bike shop with a lot of staff," but spending time in Nagoya helps you understand a little more. I think the essence of Circles is community. There are many different people with various jobs, living in the same city, each living at their own pace. I’ve never been good at belonging to anything, but somehow, Circles is different. I can see the beauty in that community.
The T-Shirts Circles feature artwork by James Ulmer showing diverse people supporting each other to form a circle. This reflects the gratitude from Tacoma Fuji to everyone involved with Circles. To be clear, it’s a very good T-shirt. Thanks in advance.
Available in two colors: ICE GRAY and WHITE. The soft yet thick original body is incredibly comfortable to wear.
If we could see the residents of this lovable land of Nagoya—where we were born and raised—all wearing these T-shirts and smiling while out for a potter, that would be the best!
【CIRCLES ORIGINAL】
TACOMA FUJI RECORDS meets Circles T-Shirt
Designed by James Ulmer
Color : ICE GRAY / WHITE
Size : S〜XL
Price : 6,380 yen (tax included)
James Ulmer
Artist, based in Queens, New York.
Major solo exhibitions include "PLAY ORBIT" (Marvins Gardens, Brooklyn), and group exhibitions include "Good Pictures" (Deitch Projects, New York), "Peanuts" (Eighteen Gallery, Copenhagen), and "A Being in the World" (Salon 94, New York). He holds a BFA in Illustration & Design from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
In 2020, he designed the album cover for Nagoya-born artist mei ehara.
http://www.jamesulmer.com
These are sold exclusively through Circles and the Tacoma Fuji website, and sales will begin this Saturday, June 12th, at 8:00 PM.
Additionally, we are planning a pre-sale at the Tacoma Fuji booth at Mori, Michi, Ichiba in Gamagori this weekend—earlier than anywhere else! If you are planning to attend, please stop by the Tacoma Fuji booth and take a look. And to all the cyclists planning to Bike To the event, we especially, especially look forward to seeing you there!!!
