an edible rock and mineral specimen meal that was offered last year
Usaginonedoko is a Kyoto shop, café and lodge whose purpose is to convey the sculptural beauty of mother nature. Their shop is like a little museum where you’ll find natural artifacts and specimens scattered among their signature sola cubes of plants and minerals encapsulated in resin.
from trains, noodles, sushi and strawberries, everyone gets in on Valentine’s Day in Japan
Depending on where you live, maybe couldn’t care less about Valentine’s Day. In some European countries, it’s just a day the flower shops are decorated with hearts trying to persuade you to buy flowers.
Not so in Japan where, if you are romantically inclined, it’s one of the most important days of the year, on par with even Christmas. Chocolate as a food associated with passion and romance is rooted in Mesoamerican history. But Richard Cadbury is largely credited with the commercialization and gift-giving aspect of Valentine’s.
the co-working space MTRL Kyoto (photos courtesy Fumihiko Sano)
Need an hour, a day, or even longer to work on a creative project, or make a presentation to a client? If you’re based in Kyoto you’re in luck because just the space exists. MTRL Kyoto is a co-working space that packs laser cutters, 3D printers and other tools, as well as meeting rooms that seat 10, 30 and 40 people.
For 40 years an old government building had remained vacant. Originally built in 1927, the Western-style concrete space had been used as a garage and administration office until it closed in the mid-1970s. But last year a group of young craftsmen decided to revitalize the space and turn it into a café that would also function as an outlet for showcasing the work of young Japanese craftsmanship.
intestines (left), cabbage (middle) and moldy bready (right) are just some of the things that have inspired fashion designer Hironori Yasuda
Don’t call it fashion. At least that’s what Hironori Yasuda will tell you if you ask him about his label CUNE, which he started in 1994. If anything, they’re “barely clothes,” he says.
Yasuda isn’t swayed by trends. He makes what he wants, and each season he picks a seemingly arbitrary theme, one that typically has no place in the world of fashion, and designs his entire collection around it. He doesn’t think about who would wear his clothes, or how they would wear them. In fact, he even says “you don’t have to buy them.” But with two stores in Tokyo, one in Fukuoka and a thriving online shop, people seem to like his bizarre creations.
photo by Carolina Miranda/ LA Times
Japanese art collective Chim↑Pom, known for their provocative, politically-charged artwork, has built a tree house along the U.S.-Mexico border. It was built in a private backyard in Tijuana’s Colonia Libertad neighborhood and offers views of the border separating Mexico from the United States
left: Tokuijn Yoshioka | right: Mika Aoki
If you’re a fan of the sparkly and shiny, and you live in Tokyo, you’re in luck. Two (unrelated) exhibitions that opened in January are bringing a prismatic shine and a microscopic sparkle to Tokyo. And they’re just 10 minutes apart.
The Watanabes have about as much in common with the popular Japanese surname as the English band The Smiths have with, well, Smith. The 80s English band once said “[The Smiths] was the most ordinary name and I thought it was time that the ordinary folk of the world showed their faces.” And it’s with a similar dedication that British brothers Duncan and Selwyn Walsh decided to form the Watanabes and establish Japan as both their base and muse.
a 700-year old camphor tree pokes its head out of Kayashima Station (photo by Kosaku Mimura/Nikkei)
In the Northeast suburbs of central Osaka stands a curious train station unlike any other. Kayashima Station features a rectangular hole cut into the roof of the elevated platform and, from inside, a giant tree pokes its head out like a stalk of broccoli. It’s almost like a railway version of Laputa.
Japanese Aquarium Drops 2026 Version of Flowchart Illustrating Their Penguin Relationships. This Year There’s an English Version.
Tokyo is Gearing Up for an Art-Filled Fall. And the Entire City is Here for It
Winners of the 2026 Kokuyo Design Awards
Diego by the River
Good Design Award 2011 | lifestyle category
