It’s been almost 3 years since the announcement that JR East was investing 5 billion yen to create a luxury sleeper train. Yesterday, that train was unveiled at a ceremony in Tokyo. Dubbed the Train Suite Shikishima, it was designed by Ken Okuyama, a Japanese industrial designer and the only non-Italian to have designed a Ferrari.
Konstella is a new brand of stylish carrying cases made by Japanese steel company Toyo Steel. The Osaka-based manufacturer specializes in utilitarian lightweight steel products like tool boxes and casters. So in some ways it’s surprising that something so stylish would come out of a company whose bread and butter is humble workday objects. But Toyo Steel actually has a history of utilizing their seamless engineering to merge the worlds of style and utility.
Drawing on their kissaten coffee shop culture, Japan has risen to become one of the coffee capitals of the world. And it’s in these hole-in-the-wall shops where slow coffee culture evolved. Coffee brewing was always ceremonious – coffee grounds were weighed and ground while cups were warmed – and never something to be rushed.
Shopping streets all over Japan used to have their own yaoya: dedicated grocers that had special relationships with farmers and knew everything there was to know about the fruits and vegetables they stocked. They were fiercely utilitarian with an emphasis only on the quality of the products.
When I discovered METAFIVE my first question was, how does a star-studded supergroup like this even find time to get together? It’s headed by Yukihiro Takahashi, a musician and producer formerly of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) and Sadistic Mika Band.
the new Onagawa train station
On March 11, 2011, a powerful tsunami triggered by the Tohoku Earthquake swept away Onagawa Station and the train tracks on the Ishinomaki Line. Six years later, the new station is a symbol of pride for local citizens.
all images courtesy the artist
Toshiaki Hicosaka’s latest project comes at a timely moment. During a 2-month residency in 2016 the Japanese artist created daily newspaper sketches of ocean waves in a tribute to Japan’s first newspaper, but also to journalistic democracy and knowledge.
The Big Book is precisely that – a children’s story that unfolds into a gigantic single sheet, revealing a beautiful illustration of something central to the story. The redesigned children’s fairytale adds another dimension of interactivity to storytelling, allowing kids read a story with their eyes, ears and whole body.
It’s common in origami for the folding paper to have traditional Japanese patterns printed on them. But when they’re carved in with a laser-cutter, it adds a whole new dynamic to paper cranes, or any other creation you’re looking to fold.
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