Iro Ken comes from a family of comedians. His parents are a comedian duo and his brother is also a comedian. Perhaps that explains why so many of his hand-made paper mobiles are imbued with playfulness and humor.
Iro Ken comes from a family of comedians. His parents are a comedian duo and his brother is also a comedian. Perhaps that explains why so many of his hand-made paper mobiles are imbued with playfulness and humor.
Welcome to the Court House | all photos by Toshiyuki Yano
All you avid sports fans out there won’t believe what this Japanese family did to their home, inspired by their love of basketball. If you were to take a stroll through the Shimojima area, a coastal neighborhood in Shizuoka, you might spot this “court house”, designed by the architects at Koizumi Sekkei. If you were lucky enough to befriend the family that lives there, you might get invited to step inside for a peek.
TeamLab’s immersive, digital wedding reception of flowers and butterflies | photo courtesy Chinzanso Hotel
Watch out florists. Flowers are an integral part of weddings and a huge business for florists. But now Japan’s acclaimed tech collective TeamLab wants to ‘disrupt,’ if you will, that industry by replacing real flowers with their immersive digital floral environments they’ve become known for.
“I heard about Ippon Matsu Beer from one of my customers,” said Shoji Kobatake, the proprietor of a brew pub in Tokyo. He was referring to the charity initiative inspired by the “miracle pine” that remained standing among 70,000 other trees that were tragically washed away by the tsunami on March 11, 2011. Inspired by that symbol of hope, New York-based designer Kota Kobayashi embarked on a project to raise money for victims by selling his home-made beer to friends and acquaintances. “I was honestly moved by the fact that they are doing what they can to help people that are so far away from them,” said Kobatake.
A stone memorial constructed in remembrance of lives lost during the 2011 earthquake. (all photos by Koji Fujii/Nacasa & Partners )
All over the country, lives sputtered, flickered, and went out. Japan will never forget March 11, 2011, when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami left the country devastated.
Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture was one of those hit the hardest. As the quake tremors hit the city, waves over 10 meters (33 ft) high surged up from the nearby Kitakamigawa River, killing more than 3,000 people and razing 20,000 homes. Reconstruction has been slow during the last five years, with governmental officials misappropriating restoration funds to push whaling and tourism instead of rebuilding the Ishinomaki community.
What exactly is kawaii? During the Heian period the author and poet Sei Shonagon, in her seminal work The Pillow Book, defined it as young, innocent and pure. But 1000 years later does that still hold true? Is that all it is?
In a wildly entertaining new video, ad agency Dentsu seeks to visually define the term kawaii. The video is really well done and definitely worth your time. If if you do decide to watch it, lets play a game. This video was made as an advertisement. Before the video gets to the end, will you be able to guess what it’s advertising? ()
From smartwatches and smartrings to fitness trackers, it’s clear that wearable tech is what everyone is thinking about. But the gadgets, which promise to change the way we live by putting information that much closer to our fingertips, is not only being worn on the hands. In a bold and radical new take on wearable tech, a device wants to take the music you listen to and put it at everyone else’s fingertips. Meet, the Song Wig.
all photographs by Studio Bauhaus, Ryuji Inoue
The Akune Megumi Daycare in Kagoshima had provided loving and caring nursery services to the local community for many years. But they were in trouble. Their boon of being situated on a beautiful coast line in Kagoshima, only several minutes from the East China Sea, had turned into a blight.
The area was just 10 ft (3 m) above sea level and the old building had experienced flooding once before.
all photos by URRY
There’s Yayoi Kusama and Mariko Mori; Chiharu Shiota and Chiho Aoshima. Mainstream female artists in Japan are undeniably making a mark on the art scene both in Japan and beyond. But when it comes to emerging female artists the playing field is anything but level. The historical perception that women weren’t suited to become artists is still having an effect on Japan’s art world. “The number of practicing freelance female artists in Japan is still eclipsed by the number of men,” says TokyoDex, who have curated Blossom Blast: a new exhibition that showcases the amazing talent of female artists based in Japan.
In April 2015, Keio Corp. opened its refurbished Takaosanguchi Station in Hachioji, western Tokyo, the gateway to Mount Takao. Previously a nondescript, lackluster station, it was refurbished and transformed with a grand wooden roof by architect Kengo Kuma.
OrySnack: The Bar Where Bartenders Work From Home
Japanese Aquarium Drops 2026 Version of Flowchart Illustrating Their Penguin Relationships. This Year There’s an English Version.
Winners of Japan’s 2027 Packaging Design Awards
Tadao Ando Designed & Donated a Floating Library that Delivers Books to Children
I like my calligraphy post-modern
