Spoon & Tamago

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Exquisite Paintings of Wildlife by Atsu Harada

July 14, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

Atsu Harada’s “White Ghost” was the winner of the Endangered Wildlife category | click images to enlarge

Late last month the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation announced the awards for their annual Wildlife Artist of the Year Exhibition. Beginning in 2007, the initiative has raised over $200K for conservational projects.

One of their most important categories is Endangered Wildlife: portraiture of animals threatened or endangered. This year the winner was Atsu Harada, a Tokyo-based artist who creates stunningly realistic and artistically composed portraits of wildlife.

Images of Star Wars Reimagined as Gorgeous Ukiyo-e Prints

July 13, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

It’s been roughly 350 years since the advent of Ukiyo-e, and 38 years since the original Star Wars film. Finally someone has brought the two together into an epic space opera that combines distinguished painting, excellent craftsmanship and, of course, the Force.

Rise & Win Brewing: An Environmentally Conscious New Microbrewery in Tokushima

July 9, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

all photos courtesy Rise & Win Brewing Co.

There’s a craft beer boom brewing in Japan. Craft beer has been popping up in every corner of the country. And what’s amazing is, it’s actually good. Well, most of it. Osaka’s Minoh Brewery won the World’s Best Imperial IPA award in 2013. The Coedo Brewery in Kawagoe won a silver in the “American-style amber lager” category at the 2014 World Beer Cup. How are they accomplishing this? The same way they’ve elevated the whiskey, denim and coffee game: by “taking things from other places, tweaking them and making them better.”

One of the latest to join the craft beer craze is Rise & Win Brewing. Located in Tokushima, the unique brewery is also putting an environmental twist to their beer.

Art Installed on the Streets of Japan by Spanish Artist Pejac

July 8, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

“Everyone is an artist” (2015). Kawasaki City, Kanagawa

During the month of June, 2015 Spanish street artist Pejac was traveling through Asia installing whimsical, captivating and sometimes provocative street art. One of his destinations was Japan, where he stopped by Tokyo, but also some surrounding cities like Kawasaki (Kanagawa prefecture) and Sanmu (Chiba prefecture), to create a series of street-based artworks. Personally, the most striking is this silhouette of a cleaning lady pouring out a bucket of Hokusai’s iconic “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.” That, understandably, is why the artist chose Kanagawa for the location.

The Japanese City Hall that Attracts More Visitors Than Amusement Parks

July 8, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

If you have plans to visit a City Hall you’re definitely not bragging to your friends about it. City Halls are stuffy places, with suits and paperwork. It’s where we go to change our address, submit birth certificates and to pay our taxes. The only similarity – if I was to make one – between City Halls and amusement parks would be the lines. But if the Aore City Hall in Nagaoka were an amusement park it would be the 3rd most popular in all of Japan.

Plans For New Shibuya Skyscraper Unveiled

July 2, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

renderings of the new Shibuya Station Building slated to open in 2019

The face of Tokyo continues to change. This week Tokyu Corp. unveiled plans for what a new skyscraper steps from Shibuya station will look like. In addition to crowd-drawing landmarks like the Hachiko sculpture and the chaotic Shibuya crossing, the station will now be getting a 230-meter skyscraper that will boast a luxurious public sky deck that offers views of said landmarks, as well as Mt. Fuji.

Thom Browne’s 2015 Menswear Inspired by Japaneses Textile and Geishas

June 29, 2015 / Johnny / 3 Comments

thom browne geisha inspired 2016 menswear

photos by InDigital courtesy Vogue Japan

Kimono-sleeved coats, embroidered koi fish, sheered mink applique of Mt. Fuji and wooden geta sandals. I’m not describing a night of kaiseki cuisine in Kyoto. In fact, this isn’t Japan at all. Over the weekend American designer Thom Browne hosted his Spring 2016 menswear show at a warehouse in the outskirts of Paris. But, clearly, Japan was on everyone’s minds.

A Japanese Engineer Hijacked a Cleaning Robot and Turned it Into an Artist

June 26, 2015 / Johnny / 1 Comment

His name is Mr. Head. He used to be a janitor but last year he made a radical career shift. Now he’s an impressive, sought-after painter who creates abstract splatter paintings in the vein of Jackson Pollock. He tirelessly works day and night without break to create his vibrant works. Unfortunately for Mr. Head, however, he lacks the skills to explain, promote and sell his work. You see, he’s a robot.

Japanese Researchers Create Interactive Aerial Holograms Using Femtosecond Lasers

June 25, 2015 / Johnny / Comments Off

A consortium of Japanese researchers recently unveiled a project that utilized femtosecond lasers. I had no idea what that meant, but it sounded cool, so I read on. The project, dubbed “Fairy Lights in Femtoseconds” is being officially presented at SIGRAPH 2015 this august. The team succeeded in creating 3D aerial graphics that would respond and react to the human touch.