anybody know the origin of street art ?

im doing an art project on different cultures, and i was looking at some japanese stuff and i saw this really cool picture and it said it was japanese street art. i then thought about doing a whole thing on street art, but i dont which cultures to look at to find it or where it originated. help please ?

oh and, im not talking like, writing your name in fancy letters on a wall with some spray paint, im talking things like this:

http://io-noi-aldo.sonance.net/blogpix/a_japanese_art.jpg

http://favianna.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/tokyo_street_art_and_funky_stuff_30.jpg

http://www.newciv.org/pic/nl/artpic/10/1718/MainImage.jpg

http://weblog.evasee.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/BANKSY%20AGAIN.jpg

http://www.banksy.co.uk/outdoors/images/newfullsize/june06/girl-tv.jpg

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2. Why do some UK cities embrace street art and others oppose it?
3. Your opinions on street art??
4. What are the percentages of where people do street art (grafitti, wall art, etc.)?
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Tagged as: aldo, art project, banksy, different cultures, fancy letters, favianna, funky stuff, girl tv, images, japanese art, japanese street, photos, sonance, Street Art, tokyo street