Yusuke Toda was born in 1962 and was largely inspired creatively by the 1980s. The 1980s were an era of growing global capitalism, political upheaval, worldwide mass media, wealth discrepancies and distinctive music and fashion, characterised by hip hop and electronic pop music. This had a heavy impact on the generation of artists growing up during this era.

The fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the 1980s signified the end of the Cold War, yet the era was also distinguished by the African Famine. During this time leading art movements included Neo Geo, The Pictures Generation and Neo-Expressionism, which took a particular hold in Germany, France and Italy. Artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Jörg Immendorf, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel were key artists working during this period, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, who established the street art and graffiti movements, which quickly gained recognition.