Tokyo Police Believe Banksy Visited City and Left ‘Umbrella Rat’ Graffiti

Tokyo officials believe that anonymous controversial British artist Banksy paid a visit to the city after a graffiti resembling his style of work was spotted at a monorail station in Japan.

The work in question, which was posted online by the Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, is the famous “Umbrella Rat” painting which shows a rat holding an umbrella in one hand and a suitcase in the other.

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Government officials have known about the existence of the graffiti for some time now. However, it was only until recently when the public started paying attention to it after a resident informed them that the artwork was a creation by Banksy.

It is still unclear when the graffiti, which was found on a door near the Hinode monorail station in central Tokyo, was first created, according to BBC.

After the discovery, government official Koji Sugiyama told AFP that the door has now been removed and placed in storage to prevent any damage. Despite the precautionary measures, officials are still trying to verify if the artwork is indeed by Banksy, and they are apparently finding it difficult to check its authenticity, admitting that they don’t “know if there’s an expert in Japan.”

Regardless, Koike, in her tweet, called the artwork Banksy’s gift to the city.

Featured Image via Twitter / ecoyuri

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