Spoon & Tamago

Page 160 of 409

Meet Saya: the Incredibly Realistic Computer-Generated Japanese Schoolgirl

Teruyuki and Yuka 3d CG Japanese schoolgirl

Saya, a Japanese schoolgirl whose only as real as the pixels on your screen

Although her looks indicate otherwise, Saya is not your typical Japanese schoolgirl. Her parents, Teruyuki and Yuki Ishikawa, have big dreams for their beautiful daughter. They want her to play a character in a movie they are self-producing. Where will she find the time with all her schoolwork? Not to worry. Saya is only as real as the pixels on your screen. Her soft cheeks, lush, black hair and hazel-brown eyes are all computer-generated imagery.

A 3-Part Retrospective of Nendo, the World’s Busiest Design Studio

October 14, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

In an interview earlier this year Oki Sato, head of design firm Nendo, indicated that they were simultaneously working on 400 projects. Four Hundred. And I can’t even pour cereal and talk on the phone at the same time. They must be the busiest design studio in the world. So busy, in fact, that a retrospective of all their various projects had to be broken up into 3 parts throughout a period of over 2 months.

SANAA’s New Sublime River Building at Grace Farms in Connecticut

October 14, 2015 / Johnny / 2 Comments

Photo by Dean Kaufman courtesy Grace Farms | click images to enlarge

October 9, 2015 marked the public opening of Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut. Designed by luminary Japanese architects SANAA, the sinuous building takes its name from the way water meanders through rolling terrain. The serpentine structure slithers down a hill, forming pond-like spaces on its way that function as a library, commons, arts center and gymnasium. “Our goal with the River is to make the architecture become part of the landscape,” says the not-for-profit foundation’s president.

Portraits of Workers at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo by Nico Therin

October 13, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

all photos by Nico Therin | click to enlarge

On a recent trip to Tokyo, French photographer Nico Therin heard that the Tsukiji Fish Market was going to be relocated. So he took the opportunity to head over there one day and take some photos. Being a historical and incredibly photogenic site, Therin is far from alone in his endeavor. But what makes this photo series stand out from all the others are the faces he captures; the ordinary workers who move the iconic fish market and its 2,000 tons of fish that are traded every day.

Plans Unveiled For the New Tsukiji Fish Market

October 13, 2015 / Johnny / 2 Comments

renderings of the new “Tsukiji Uogashi” fish market set to open in November of 2016

The changing face of Tokyo continues, and perhaps always will. But for a particular group of epicureans – and a wider group of tourists – the upcoming relocation of Tsukiji Outer Market represents one of the more drastic changes Tokyo has seen in recent years. And now we have glimpses of what the future holds: a name and rendering of the new fish market, set to open in 2016.

&TOKYO: City of Tokyo Announces New Logo

October 11, 2015 / Johnny / 3 Comments

Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe announces the city’s new logo | image courtesy Sankei News

On October 9, Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe announced the city’s new logo and tagline: &TOKYO. The thinking behind the ampersand is that the city wants to encourage individuals and organizations to put their name in front of the logo, thereby increasing various associations people have with the city, and strengthening the brand of Japan’s capital ahead of the 2020 Olympics.

Beginning October 16, 2015 anyone will be able to download hi-res versions of the logo and use them for free.

Boo! Skull Shaped Japanese Sugar Designed by Nobumasa Takahashi

October 8, 2015 / Johnny / 2 Comments

These black and white sugar skulls are made from Wasanbon (和三盆), a fine-grained premium Japanese sugar, traditionally made in the Shikoku prefectures of Tokushima and Kagawa.

They were designed by artist Nobumasa Takahashi and come in 18 pieces of black and white (9 each). The black sugar is made all naturally from bamboo charcoal and can be used just like regular sugar. Perfect for a Halloween party, or for just sweetening your tea or coffee when you’re in a ghoulish mood. Looking for that unique gift to bring to a Halloween party? They’re available in our shop!

The Majestic Aquariums of the Tokyo Aquascape Union

October 8, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

Takayuki Fukada won the Grand Prize this year with “Autumn” | click images to enlarge

You can think of them as “living, breathing landscape paintings.” That’s according to T.A.U., the Tokyo Aquascape Union, a group of “aquarium hobbyists” who use “aqua-plant layouts” to create majestic aquariums. The final creations often yield surreal images that resemble dense, lush forests. Sometimes the only way to tell them apart are the fish flying through the air.

Awaglass: a mesmerizing hourglass that replaces sand with bubbles

October 7, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

Remember watching those fleeting bubbles as a child and how sad it was when they popped? Well now you can keep them bottled up thanks to an entirely new kind of hourglass created by Norihiko Terayama (previously); the awaglass. Awa means ‘bubbles’ in Japanese, and it’s what replaces sand to create this mesmerizing and soothing object.

Tsuneko Sasamoto: Japan’s First Female Photojournalist on Staying Curious

October 7, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

At age 25 Tsuneko Sasamoto became Japan’s first female photojournalist. She passed away on Aug. 15 2022 at the age of 107

In 1940, at the age of 25, Tsuneko Sasamoto became Japan’s first female photojournalist. Originally an aspiring painter, Sasamoto was coaxed into the male-dominated field by a friend who thought she had a good eye for imagery. And as fate would have it, Sasamoto found herself covering events like a 1940 German military visit to Japan, the Tripartite Pact sighing (between Japan, Germany and Italy) also in 1940 and the anti-Japan – U.S. Security Treaty demonstrations in 1960.

Now, at 101, Sasamoto is still taking photographs with her Leica camera. What keeps her going? “Curiosity.”

(UPDATE: Tsuneko Sasamoto passed away on Aug. 15, 2022 at the age of 107. She will be missed but her work lives on. )