Japan's godfather of art? Billionaire rings in new era

TOKYO - With a single post on Instagram, Yusaku Maezawa announced not only his purchase of an $110.5 million Basquiat masterpiece, and his place in auction history, but arguably signaled a new era for art in Japan.

The price, a record for the artist, is reminiscent of 1980s Japan, when corporate big-spenders splashed out on Impressionist art - along with foreign property and businesses - in an asset-buying spree.

But Maezawa, whose company operates Zozotown, Japan's largest online fashion mall, insists he is just an "ordinary collector" - despite his estimated $3.5 billion bank balance. His purchases are born out of love and driven by gut instinct, rather than the instructions of any art adviser.