photos by Masashi Mizowaki and Takaharu Yagi
Spending the night in jail is usually not a good thing. Unless of course you’re staying in Japan’s Nara Prison, a historic red-brick structure built in 1908 with western archways and onion domes that lend an air of castle more than incarceration. The prison shut down in 2017 but is being preserved for its architectural and historic significance. The renovated structure will reopen in 2026 as a hotel.
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Japan takes Christmas very seriously, but in a commercial sense rather than a religious sense. Which is perhaps why, each year, we find some very interesting, unorthodox Christmas trees. So each year we make a point of cataloguing our favorite trees. This year we expanded our scope to include not just Tokyo but Osaka as well. From hand-knitted trees and hinoki wooden trees to trees made from 1000 prisms, here are the ones the wowed us the most.
And a reminder that these are all up until December 25, 2025 but after that they’ll be gone.
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this year’s fall foliage creation featured Crayon Shinchan | all images courtesy hamacream
Over a decade ago a high school art teacher in Nara asked himself the question, what are some free activities that would inspire students to take an interest in art? The answer lay at his feet: the vibrant colors of the fall foliage that had fallen to the ground. So he picked up a broomstick and got to work.
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Straphangers are mourning today after JR East announced that their beloved mascot, the Suica penguin, will retire after 25 years of serving as the iconic face of IC cards. The penguin was designed by picture book author and illustrator Chiharu Sakazaki and was modeled after the Adelie penguin, which lives in Antarctica.
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Family Mart, one of Japan’s largest conbini operators with over 15,000 stores across the country, has aggressive goals to reduce food waste. And an unexpected strategy were a series of adorable, teary-eyed stickers that the company launched in March 2025.
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On New Year’s Day 2024, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Ishikawa Prefecture’s Noto Peninsula. The death toll reached 245 and 76,144 housing units were damaged. Many residents were displaced amid the harsh winter cold, with approximately 15,000 seeking refuge.
Architect Shigeru Ban (previously) responded with a plan for 9 buildings that would house 166 households. They were constructed without the use of nails or any adhesives, and the first batch of 30 households were delivered in just under 3 months.
Recognized for their quality, speed and sustainability, the project was recently awarded the Good Design Grand Award — the highest honour of the Good Design Award 2025, presented by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion.
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“This Sucks” by Poshichi | all images used with permission
Poshichi is a Japanese artist creating nihonga-style images of daily life. The digitally-rendered, anachronistic artworks often feature the artist’s cat in playful, humorous settings that are, at times, quiet and reflective while other times whimsical and even surreal. We spoke with the artist about their background, art style and, importantly, their cat.
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If you wandered the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion at Expo 2025 and felt like you’d stepped into a retro sci-fi spa, you weren’t imagining things. One of the talk-of-the-fair exhibits is a futuristic bathing pod — billed as a “Future Human Washing Machine” — that promises to wash and dry a person in roughly 15 minutes using ultra-fine bubbles, sensors and AI to adjust temperature, pressure and even the visuals you see while inside. The project is presented by Science Co., Ltd. and has been promoted as a modern reimagining of a very similar idea first seen at the 1970 World Expo in Osaka.
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straw sculptures on display at the 2025 Wara Art Festival
Autumn is officially upon us. It’s the season of shorter days, brighter moons and bountiful harvests. Niigata prefecture, in Northern Japan, is known for its rice paddies and rice production. Around this time of year the rice harvest becomes a big deal, as well as the tons of rice straw, or wara, that is leftover. It can be plowed down as soil improver, fed to livestock, or even woven into decorative ornaments.
But before any of that, for the past 11 years Uwasekigata Park has hosted a Wara Art Festival by teaming up with art students to create creatures, both real and mythical, from rice straw.
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芸術の秋 (geijutsu no aki) — “autumn, the season for art.” In Japan, fall symbolizes freshness and new endeavors. And with the country’s record-breaking summer heat finally losing steam, we’ve found ourselves with a renewed enthusiasm to pick up our bags and encounter artistic inspiration. If you’re like us and want to travel Japan but not sure where to go, let art guide you. Here are 5 art exhibitions (and destinations) worth travelling for.
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Kirie Artist Carves Playful Narratives Into Tree Leaves
Japan’s Best Designer Christmas Trees of 2025
Every Fall This High School Art Teacher in Nara Sweeps Fallen Leaves into Ephemeral Art
You’ll Soon Be Able to Stay in One of Japan’s Most Beautifully Designed Prisons
Detailed Survey Drawings of Tokyo Hotel Rooms by Kei Endo
