a still from Sputniko!’s new film “Tamaki’s Crush” on view at Teshima
According to ancient East-Asian mythology, the Red String of Fate was an invisible cord that tied those meant to be together. The concept, similar to the western idea of a soulmate, has surfaced numerous times in Japanese anime and mange, and is now the subject of multimedia artist Sputniko!’s latest work, which opens this weekend along with the 2016 Setouchi Triennale.
the 4 artists tasked with creating the world’s smallest bento
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A watchmaker, a surgeon, a chef and a diorama artist are sitting around together. Each is a master of their trade and together, they’re attempting to create the world’s smallest bento. One that fits inside a wristwatch yet is packed with all the vitamins and nutrients that a busy worker needs to get through the day.
“Beef or Beef” by Ayako Fudamoto | images courtesy the artist
“What looks like spaghetti Bolognese and keeps fresh on the shelf for 50 years?” asked the NYT in 1985. Japanese realistic fake food samples, of course, which have become almost as famous as the country’s delectable cuisine itself. Artists have taken aim at the ubiquitous samples that sit outside restaurants, creating jewelry and smartphone cases. But none have gone the lengths of Ayako Fudamoto, a Kyoto-based artist who is currently in the midst of her first solo exhibition.
all photos courtesy the artist
The 2016 Setouchi Triennale officially kicks off in just 3 days on March 20, 2016. Now in its 3rd incarnation, the massive art festival, held across 12 islands, will include 68 new works by world-renowned artists, designers and architects. One of those is painter Oscar Oiwa, the Brazilian-born Japanese artist known for his large-scale paintings. Oiwa will present “Oiwa Island 2,” an immersive painting created on an inflatably vinyl dome.
Tadafusa’s new hand-forged knife showroom is like a shrine for the blade | all photos by Takumi Ota
The Ikarashi River that ran through the town of Sanjo in Niigata prefecture was known as the raging river for its constant flooding. Taking pity on the farmers, in the early 1600s an Edo government official traveled to the region bringing with him skilled blacksmiths to teach the farmers how to make hand-forged nails to supplement their income.
As new forging techniques were introduced, specialized blacksmiths and their products started seeing more demand. The river that once brought havoc now brought merchants and 400 years later Sanjo is known as a “Blacksmith Town.” It’s here that Tadafusa, an esteemed manufacturer of hand-forged knives, has opened a shrine-like showroom.
side-by-side comparisons reveal the level of detail and accuracy that went into the film “The Garden of Words”
The Garden of Words (言の葉の庭) is a luscious animated film made in 2013 by Makoto Shinkai. Much of the story is set in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden where, on rainy mornings, the protagonist continues to mysteriously run in to an older woman.
theatrical release poster
Tokyo and its park are beautifully portrayed throughout the film as rain and gardens prove to be reoccurring motifs. What’s also stunning is the attention to detail that Shinkai takes in recreating his picturesque version of Tokyo. But the film’s accuracy wasn’t fully appreciated until a series of stills from the film were compared to actual photographs.
A series of side-by-side comparisons (the top image is a still from the film while the bottom is a photograph) reveal the extent to which Shinkai and his team went to accurately depict Tokyo. Even small details like lettering on signs, antennas on top of buildings and the curvature of tree branches were accurately recreated.
the new BnA Hotel in Koenji
The Bed & Art Project (BnA) is an ambitious initiative aimed at creating a new ecosystem of hospitality that supports artists by offering their art as lodging. The project kicked off last year with 2 proof-of-concept rooms first in Ikebukuro and Kyoto, which are still available through Airbnb.
Taking their concept a step further, the group has recently launched their first hotel in Tokyo’s western suburb of Koenji.
a rendering of Kazuyo Sejima’s next-gen bullet train
In a press release issued overnight in Japan, Seibu Group announced plans for a new Limited Express train that would be designed by Kazuyo Sejima. Working with the train operator’s design team, the architect – one half of the Pritzker-winning studio SANAA – has proposed a concept for Seibu’s “Red Arrow” series that would be one with the environment, melding into the background as it travels through city and countryside.
photos courtesy omocoro
Selfie sticks have quickly become the must-have accessory for tourists. They’re everywhere now: often obnoxious, sometimes dangerous. Japan has even taken measures to ban selfie sticks in certain areas. But for one Japanese enthusiast it was embarrassment and self-consciousness that kept him from using a selfie stick.
So he did what any self-respecting creator/engineer would do. He made selfie arms.
If the word kimono makes you think old, stuffy, traditional and expensive then you haven’t met Yoshihide Hirayama. Although based in the Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto, Hirayama is shaping up to become the Andy Warhol of kimonos. With an eye for design and modernism, he’s stirring up the kimono world much in the same way that that Warhol brought profound change to the art industry.
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Album cover for Mister Children’s Supermarket Fantasy by Chie Morimoto
