As we wind down our 17th (!) year of blogging, we embark on our annual exercise of ranking our most popular posts based on viewership. It’s always fun and interesting to see what captivated readers the most. Japan began 2024 on a rough note as a large earthquake wreaked havoc on the Noto region. But spirits improved as Shohei Otani and numerous Japanese athletes in the Olympics displayed sportsmanship and athletic excellence, encouraging the Japanese Kanji Proficiency Society to proclaim 金 (gold) as the kanji of the year.
Japan is also undergoing an unprecedented surge in global interest and tourism, which is bringing a new set of challenges. But as Japan plans to host the World Expo in Osaka next year, we’re confident the country will emerge stronger and and healthier than before. And now, on to our top 10!
10. Plushie Disappointments
Coming in at 10th place was a tiny pop-up exhibition we covered in October, staged by the artist Makosun, who creates handmade, plushie disappointments. An onigiri smushed at the bottom of your bag. Water splashing off a spoon. Burnt toast. Life is full of small disappointments. But Makosun helped us see the humor in it all.
9. Harakado
This year marked the opening of Harajuku’s newest development Harakado. Designed by architect Akihisa Hirata and seemingly just another flashy shopping mall, Harakado differentiates itself on the inside, which is occupied by an unusual selection of non-profit spaces and low-margin businesses from public hot baths to a free magazine library.
8. Puddle
Simple and common acts of nature often inspire brilliant design. Such is the case with “Puddle,” a series of flower vessels that mimic a puddle of water. Using properties of transparency and surface tension, these whimsical vessels, created by Japanese design duo YOY, were our 8th most-popular post.
7. Stationery Awards
Early civilizations had it all figured out. At least according to the Kokuyo Design Awards, arguably Japan’s most-influential stationery design award, which this year asked designers to look to the past for inspiration.
6. Kohei Ohmori’s Hyper-Realistic Drawings
Our readers and ourselves were equally in awe at Kohei Ohmori’s hyper realistic composition of a metallic bolt and nut using just pencils. The 30-year old artist, who has publicly discussed his struggles with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), has managed to overcome what is often perceived as a weakness and harness his incredibly capability for focus, which culminated in a solo exhibition this year.
5. Jimi Halloween
Our coverage of Jimi Halloween, which has become a tradition here at casa Spoon & Tamago, continues to be popular. And it feels like Japan’s take on Halloween, which calls for costumes so mundane they have to be explained, truly went global this year. We even had a friend from a Boston-based design company contact us to let us know that their company Halloween party was “jimi” themed.
4. Tamiya’s New Flagship Store
Tamiya, perhaps the most recognized brand name in the modeling industry, opened a new flagship facility this year in the Shimbashi Toranomon area of Tokyo. Dubbed the Tamiya Plamodel Factory, the shiny new store was our 4th most-popular post.
3. Arimasuton Bldg
Almost 15 years ago, on a tiny plot of land in eastern Tokyo, a young architect named Keisuke Oka began to construct a tower of concrete entirely by hand. Located just a short walk from Mita Station, the Arimaston Building (蟻鱒鳶ル) is an intricate, organic structure whose uniqueness has earned it the nickname, the “Gaudi of Mita” after Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí. It was finally completed just last month.
2. Tokyo Toilet Tour
The movie Perfect Days, directed by Wim Wenders, revolves around the life of a toilet janitor in Tokyo who goes around cleaning a number of stylish toilets in Tokyo. The film was released in 2023 but reached broader audiences this year, which perhaps contributed to the popularity of this article we wrote about a tour that offers to take participants to see each toilet.
1. The 2531 Sato-san Problem
Coming in at 1st place is this doomsday article sounding the alarm bell for a looming crisis: by the year 2531, everyone in Japan will have the surname Sato. Obviously tongue-in-cheek, we covered professor Hiroshi Yoshida’s argument to amend a law that mandates married couples share the same surname. If not, Sato, already Japan’s most common surname, could become the only name in Japan: a phenomenon Professor Yoshida has dubbed the “2531 Sato-san Problem.”
That does it for this year’s wrap-up! Thank you to all our readers, old and new. We hope everyone has a lovely new year and we look forward to bringing you more stories from Japan in 2025. Here’s to another year of blogging!
