Japan's Master Of Grillz: Meet Tetsuya Akiyama

‘Quality is the one thing. You’ve got to take time to make it look good.’

These are some of the wise words by Eddie Plein, a visionary whose name is set in stone for his creations of the removable gold front teeth, now widely known as the grill. A Suriname immigrant whose family settled in Brooklyn during the 1980s, he is credited for creating grills for the hip-hop GOATs including Run DMC, Flava Flav, and even a young Jay Z. Although Eddie’s business has now been passed down to his brother, his legacy lives on with grills being given a second life as a bold statement for the fashion-forward.

Early grill models created by Eddie Plein.
Credit

Mouth bling is heavily associated with hip-hop; a culture that heightened its presence during the late 1980s to early 1990s as artists from the genre started gracing the covers of mainstream magazines, topping Billboard charts with #1 singles. Surprisingly by then, the genre had already sailed across seas, taking Japan by storm.

NAS on the cover of blast fka front magazine, one of the first ever printed works dedicated to hip-hop culture in Japan founded in 1994.

So what happens when you mix a culture defined by low-waisted jeans, adidas superstars and paisley printed bandanas wrapped on foreheads with the Japanese? Before we know it, this births a new cultural movement. A 2.0 of sorts with early adopters of the genre such as Hiroshi Fujiwara and Takagi Kan founding record label ‘major force’ producing albums for hip-hop artists, magazines such as ‘blast’ showing up in newsstands and clubs blasting hip-hop music like ‘The Bridge’ in Yokohama and ‘INKSTICK’in Shibaura open up their doors for the public to enjoy. Along with this new wave, came grill culture. 

Logo for influential record label, major force founded in 1988 by members, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Takagi Kan, Toshiyo Nakanishi, Kudo Masayuki and Gota Yashiki

Takagi Kan and Kudo Masayuki, early adopters of the genre
Credit

Grill culture became popularized in the States, with hip-hop icons rocking grills as not only a fashion statement but as a status symbol, a flash of bling worth thousands in the subtlest and most pointless of places. Now, grills can be seen worn by artists of many genres, including our favorite icons from popular culture to the front cover of coveted fashion magazines and red carpet events.

Most of the time, artists that flaunt these seemingly bejeweled mouthpieces are the ones getting the most attention, but what about the people behind the works, creating the masterpieces that cover the mouths belonging to the ones that make it onto these VIP guestlists? Like Eddie Plein, a spotlight needs to be shined on the ones putting in the countless hours to create the so-called mouth bling.

Slick Rick on the front cover of SOURCE Magazine rocking gold teeth

Nelly’s viral music video ‘Grillz

Tyler the Creator on the front cover of the Wall Street Journal

There is one particular individual involved in all of the aforementioned. That individual’s name is Tetsuya Akiyama. Tetsuya-san founded Grillz Jewelz in 2003; a hidden gem of a store along the quaint streets of Okachimachi station in Taio-ward and has been tailor-making grillz for almost two decades now. His clientele includes an impressive array of not only Japanese artists including KOHH, Okamoto Reiji, and LEX but world-renowned rappers such as A$AP Rocky, A$AP Bari and Snoop Dogg.

All store images taken by @ifucktokyo

Although there seems to be a clear demand for the product, Grillz Jewelz remains to be the only grill maker in the country. A master as well as holding a monopoly over the craft, Akiyama-san however, did not have any prior experience nor any training regarding grill making. Starting out as a craftsman for fine jewellery mostly for womenswear, he became familiar with the item after seeing them in SOURCE, one of the oldest American hip-hop magazines that featured early advertisements for grills. After realizing there was a market for grills in Japan and combining his skills in fine jewellery-making with his love for hip-hop culture, he opened up his first shop.

APAP Rocky’s grill infused with real flowers

We had an opportunity to have a chat with the man himself whilst hand-picking the perfect grill in his store.

HI AKIYAMA-SAN, BEFORE YOU STARTED MAKING GRILLS, YOU WERE A CRAFTSMAN FOR FINE JEWELRY. CAN YOU TELL US WHY YOU DECIDED TO MAKE THE TRANSITION TO GRILL MAKING AND HOW IT ALL STARTED?

Yeah, before making grills, I was making accessories for womenswear, something completely different to the world of grills. I always loved hip-hop culture and had a lot of friends in the scene. I realized that a lot of them were custom making their grills overseas, even flying across the country to get their hands on them. That’s when I thought it would be better if I made them within the country so they could be more easily accessible. That’s how the idea came about.

YOU HAD PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF JEWELRY MAKING BUT DID ANYONE TEACH YOU HOW TO CREATE GRILLS?

Since there was no one else making grills in the country at the time, I actually taught myself how to make them [laughs]. I just bought a couple of pairs from the States, looked at them carefully, and tried to replicate them as best as I could. The process of making the grills is the exactly same as anywhere else. First creating the mold, then the waxing and casting in the gold. 

SINCE YOU DID HAVE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF JEWELRY MAKING, WERE YOU ALWAYS CONFIDENT THAT YOU WOULD SUCCEED?

No never, I thought it wasn’t going to last for very long. I actually started making grills in my apartment that was also a studio at the time and selling them online for around 2 years. It was only when a customer wanted to see a sample up close in person, that I decided to make the leap of creating a physical store in Okachimachi. But I was never confident that it was going to be an actual business that would last this long. It was all a step-by-step process. 

Tetsuya-san holding up Eddie Plein’s memoir and one of his favorite grill pieces

Eddie Plein’s memoir, MOUTH FULL OF GOLD

IN THE PAST YOU HAVE CREATED UNIQUE GRILLS, INCORPORATING OPALS INTO THEM FOR KOHH AND INFUSING REAL FLOWERS INTO GRILLS FOR ASAP ROCKY. ARE THERE OTHER GRILLS HAVE THAT LEFT AN IMPRESSION ON YOU? 

The ones mentioned are the most memorable. I created grills for Okamoto Reiji that looked very rustic. They weren’t really, but design-wise he wanted them to look worn down and old so that’s the kind of aesthetic it turned out to be and that was pretty cool.

Okamoto Reiji’s rustic looking grills

KOHH’S opal encrusted grill

WHAT IS THE AVERAGE CLIENTELE FOR YOUR GRILLS?

Recently I have been getting requests from artists of all genres of music. What started out as something from hip hop culture has now branched out into different scenes and now rock musicians have started to wear them so it’s not just requested from one crowd. There are fewer female clients compared to males though. There are a lot of female artists rocking grills overseas, but in Japan, it is still very male-heavy.

JP the Wavy, rocking dog tags created by GRILLZ JEWELZ

KOHH on the cover of Grillz Jewelz annual calendar

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A REQUEST TO CREATE A GRILL THAT YOU THOUGHT YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO PULL OFF?

We usually don’t like to turn down our clients and say no to them so we try to give it a shot every time. I once had a client request someone to hand draw on the grills so that was quite hard. In the end, I had an artist draw on the grills by hand and the client ended up liking it so, in a sense, we try our best to negotiate with our clients to make something similar to what they envisioned. 

WE SEE SOME RELATIONS BETWEEN, JAPAN AND HIP-HOP CULTURE IN REGARDS TO FASHION WITH URA-HARA TAKING INSPIRATION FROM AMERICAN VINTAGE CLOTHING AND NOW BEING WORN BY HIP-HOP ARTISTS AS STREET FASHION IN THE STATES. BUT ARE THERE TIES BETWEEN HIP-HOP MUSIC AND JAPAN?

That’s quite a tricky question because the message behind the lyrics differs according to the country. What hip-hop artists rap about in the States is completely different from what artists in Japan rap about here. So exterior wise, it is very similar to how they dress and what they put on but laws are different, the environment and their backgrounds are different so in terms of that, Japanese hip-hop has a world of its own and is not a complete replica of the hip-hop culture in the States. What is fascinating is that grills have been a staple item in the culture from the start which I think is quite nice.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR GRILL CULTURE DO YOU THINK?

Well to be completely honest, I don’t want it to become a trend bigger than it is right now. Grills are special compared to just a necklace or a piece of jewelry as they are custom made, fit for only the one individual who ordered them. So in a sense, it would be a bummer if it became something easily wearable as any other jewelry.

YOU WERE ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO BRING GRILL CULTURE TO JAPAN. YOU MUST’VE HAD YOUR FAIR SHARE OF ADVERSITIES. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WANTING TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS OR BREAK INTO A COMPLETELY NEW MARKET? 

Hmmm, I would say try not to have another stream of income if you are wanting to make it as an artist. If you do, you end up depending on it too much, wanting to make a living off of it. So even if it might be more difficult financially, it’s important to pull through. Also continuing to do something for a long time takes a lot of effort and don’t expect yourself to gain instant fame. It will likely take at least ten years, obviously, some people make it in a shorter amount of time, but you have to be willing to put in the effort for a long time.

LAST QUESTION; WHERE IS YOUR GO-TO SPOT IN OKACHIMACHI DO YOU RECKON?

Okachimachi isn’t a hip place so there isn’t much here but the ramen at Tomishiro is very good [laughs]. Served with a light and salty broth, always a sound choice.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME!

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Photography by Mayu Uchida

About The Author:
OL [Office Lady] in the day, sabukaru member by night, Ayana is a Japanese writer tackling controversial and oftentimes misunderstood social topics in the realms of modern-day Nippon.