LENCOIS october 10th 2006 I meant to write this letter exactly one month ago on my flight from Tokyo to Sao Paulo thinking that I would have more than enough time and peace to write what I felt was a very complex mix of feelings and thoughts that needed to be put in words. Well,that letter was never writen during that 26 hours flight, as one cannot always plan and choose the time and place to do things that must be done. It is now 5 in the afetrnoon, I?m sitting in a peaceful tropical garden under huge palm trees looking at a colorful blend of different types of greens,fruits and flowers glowing under the most beautiful light of the day and listening to the running waters of the waterfall right in front of me. I?m in the historical colonial city of Lencois in the heart of Bahia, the thoughts and feelings which have been on my mind since my arrival in Brazil a month ago in regard of the writing of this letter seem now not as confused and abstract as they seemed only a few days earlier and thinking now about the chain of events that led me to this city I?m glad this turned out to be place whrere these feelings will finally be put down on paper. If you are reading this that means that somewhere along the way our paths have crossed , some kind of artistic , cultural or even spiritual affinity was present and depending on the person that affinity lasted for different lengths of time. Since the idea of this letter is to explain why I have decided to stop producing and selling the L.U.Z. name as a clothing label , I must say that the commercial and financial impact of such decision on the lives of others and of course my own together with a overwhelming feeling of uncertainty towards the future were the greatest cause of much hesitation and insecurity making it one of the hardest decisions of my life. Those negative thoughts and fears seem now very silly to me. I have no formal education and come from a not so privileged background,I do not consider myself and artist and much less a bussiness minded man , which leaves me with the notion that my very simple and even childish passion and fascination with tattoos , in particular with the tattoo culture of japan and the other pacific islands has transformed me into a craftsman. 15 years ago I have started my search with only one thought in my mind , to look for and find my own space in the mysterious and unforgiving universe of tattooing. With much discipline and dedication in a sometimes very arduos path where all my energy and respect are always focused and concentrated on originality , strength , balance and style I have developed my own lines creating a new way of communication between myself and others , and these lines were the lines that one saw printed or embroidered on the garments and accessories sold by LIFEUNDERZEN. Over the years much of my ideas materialised in the form of garments in a very accurate and loyal way to the image I initially saw in my head. But also as a natural consequence of different types of minds working together , many other times that materialisation of my vision never happpened. Those times I did as people say in Japan:” I closed one of my eyes “. And everytime as that eye closed I could not help wondering what would I have achieved as a tattooist had I had such approach towards my own work , by now the tattooing process had set the standards by which I define quality and precision and would not allow me to relate to anyone who’s criteria towards form,balance and style in any field was somewhat irresponsible. The signs of uncompatibility amongst the members of the creative team were obvious and yet the thought of searching for different partners in Japan didn’t seem to me much of a solution , which proved to be true later, and as a consequence the brand’s identity crisis was inevitable. The irony of it all being that in order to continue the label I had to break the #1 rule by which I carry my work as a professional tattooist : “ON THE SEARCH FOR BALANCE AND STYLE ONE MUST KEEP BOTH EYES WIDE OPENED” a dilemma that without all of it’s external implications does not take much thought towards a lucid conclusion. Much of that energy was felt and reflected on the management level of the company , which due to the lack of experience and poor networking was unable to find different alternative routes of production , and somewhere along the way the focus of the bussiness shifted from the apparel line and properly marketing and branding it into using my image and work as a graphic artist on products sold by different companies in Japan in a move that brought some financial gains but at the price of putting the brand on a even more delicate situation , since what I needed most from management in Japan was a team capable of creating the most convinient and productive enviroment in which my ideas for the label could truly develop and flourish. I see this as the break-up of a team and not the death of an idea , for I still as on the first days of the brand have much confidence and believe on my vision and sense of style when it comes to the application of my own designs on clothing. My relationship with fashion will obviously continue for I enjoy the results of a job well done very much, always respecting , admiring and feeling inspired by many talented people whom with style and intelligence have decided not to follow the easy path on this industry. 11 years ago I wrote the word LUZ on my studio’s door and that’s where it will permanently remain for LUZ is not a clothing label but a way of thinking? To everyone in Japan that have through the years supported LUZ in any way I would like to express my deepest gratitude with the thought that our paths might cross again. As the night falls in Lencois I feel more sure than ever that the right thing has been done?such feeling must never be ignored… JUN MATSUI