the new “Power Lounge” that just opened in Haneda Airport
If you’ve ever traveled through Haneda Airport you’ll know that it’s one of the most enjoyable travel experiences – clean, carefree and utterly traveler-friendly. So just when I thought Haneda couldn’t get any better, they’ve begun adding revamped Power Lounges, the first of which opened last month.
all photos courtesy @jin_ishiiJK
“It’s like an aurora of the seas.” That was the impression many lucky nighttime beach-goers had last night in Japan when a large bloom of Noctiluca scintillans, commonly known as sea sparkle, invaded the shore of Yuigahama, a beach in Japan’s coastal city of Kamakura.
Japanese industrial designer Yuma Kano has created a steel bicycle stand that’s shaped like a bicycle. At 362mm wide and 219mm high (roughly 14 x 8.5 inches) the bicycle-shaped stand can be drilled into the ground creating an adorable, easy-to identify parking area.
I don’t own a single item from Comme Des Garcons, Rei Kawakubo’s fashion label that means “like some boys” in French. I’ve been inside the Aoyama flagship store a handful of times but always felt out of place. But I just went to the Costume Institute’s spring 2017 exhibition on Rei Kawakubo, which opened today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and now I really want to go shopping.
Kiyohiko Azuma is a manga artist perhaps best known for his series Yotsuba&! about the naïve 5-year old Yotsuba who humorously stumbles her way through life. Stylistically, Yotsuba is always drawn more cartoonishly while her surroundings take on a different, more realistic look. And the astounding level of detail that can go in to some of Azuma’s backgrounds can render them as standalone works of art.
screenshots from the film “The Birthplace of Soy Sauce”
Soy Sauce is said to have originated in China and then brought over to Japan by a Buddhist monk who settled down in current-day Wakayama Prefecture in 1254. Using the abundance of clear, spring water from the town of Yuasa he began producing a type of miso that he had learned about on his travels that had been used to preserve vegetables. A byproduct from this process – a liquid that collected in the barrels of the miso paste – was soy sauce. And this is how the town of Yuasa became the birthplace of Soy Sauce.
the “Trunk” model (258,000 yen). All photos courtesy Ishinokura Shoten
When the makers of the live-action remake of Kiki’s Delivery Service needed bicycles for the film they turned to one man: Nobuyuki Tani. The self-proclaimed cycle artist, after a stint at SONY designing cassette players, telephones, TVs and audio devices, left his job to take over his father’s small bicycle business. There he made a name for himself designing custom bicycles and is now the proprietor of Cycle Boy, where he claims to be Japan’s only maker of customized casual bikes.
Japan’s Setouchi inland sea has become quite the tourist destination thanks to its beautiful scenery, fresh seafood and vibrant art scene. But if island hopping isn’t your thing and you prefer a more laid back style of sightseeing, consider Guntu, a new floating hotel that will begin operating within Japan’s inland sea in September, 2017.
Gate at Yoshikien, Nara, Japan
Marc Peter Keane in an American landscape architect who spent almost 20 years in Kyoto practicing landscape design. In fact, he was the first foreigner to receive a working visa as a landscape architect. Now back stateside, Keane maintains an office in upstate New York where he designs Japanese gardens for both public and private spaces. It’s hard to think of a better person to serve as a personal guide through 100 of Japan’s Finest Gardens.
There are books on the wall, a table in the middle of the room, a plant, maybe a floor lamp or two. But something doesn’t feel right in this room, like it’s a set. Suddenly, a gigantic hand reaches into the frame, revealing that the room was indeed a set built entirely in miniature form. The chopping board is maybe the size of a pinky; the knife slightly smaller. This is the world of Japanese miniature enthusiast and YouTuber ‘Joken’ aka AAAJoken, or triple-A Joken.
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