Google is celebrating the first day of summer and the summer solstice with a new Doodle created by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. The Doodle, which is called First Day of Summer, entwines flowery bursts around the gaping mouths heads that represent the Japanese anime style. When users click on the Doodle, which replaces the Google logo on the search engine’s homepage today, they are re-directed to links about the summer solstice.

The summer solstice falls on June 21 every year. It marks when the Earth’s axial tilt is most inclined towards the sun, which occurs at 5:16 pm UTC. The solstice also marks the longest day in the northern hemisphere.

Murakami became interested in Japanese anime and manga after he originally started studying Nihonga, Japanese-style painting. He has since created his own style of anime called Superflat, which he describes as the joining of Pop and otaku.

The artist’s work, which often commands high selling prices, is known for its appropriation of high art forms, including sculpture. He combines the art with themes from pop culture and mass media. Besides his Superflat paintings, in which he combines flat graphic imagery and colors to create patterned images, Murakami also creates contemporary 30 feet sculptures.

Click Here for more Google Doodles from our favorite search engine Google.com.

Written by: Karen Benardello