Spoonfuls of instant coffee still give some morning coffee drinkers their much-needed dose of caffeine. But it’s surely the convenience, rather than the taste, that draws them to this one-step process, right? Well now there’s a new way to make a quick cup of joe: meet the Aozora Coffee Press.
“wolf girl” (2015) by Takumi Kama. Pencil on panel.
“I am terrified of high school girls,” admits artist Takumi Kama. “If I encounter a group of them on a train there is a high possibility I will escape to another car.” And Kama surely isn’t alone in his fears.
In Japan, this adolescent subset of beings known as joshi kōsei (女子高生) are fetishized and eroticized to the extreme in all types of media. But instead of hiding from his fears, like he normally would do, Kama has decided to confront them head on in the only way he knows how: by creating intriguing anthropomorphic portraits of schoolgirl animals.
With over 300K fans, Tokyo Camera Club is Japan’s largest community of photographers. And despite what their name will have you believe, you don’t have to be Japanese, not take pictures of Japan, to join. Anyone can post photos to their public wall, allowing a committee of curators to select photos to share based only on aesthetics. For the past 3 years the organization, which has helped launch more than a handful of professional careers, has been hosting exhibitions featuring some of their most viral and most-shared photographs.
photo by Hitomi Koike and will be on display at the 2015 exhibition
Fukutegami: write, fold, send; receive, read, put on.
Just like the Internet changed the dynamics of long-distance relationships, Masako Yokoi wants to give separated friends and lovers, quite literally, a new layer. While researching fashion and clothing at Keio University’s master’s program Yokoi came up the idea for Fukutegami. Translating to ‘Clothing Letter,’ the idea was to create a series of garments that had the characteristics of stationery. They could be written on, addressed, and mailed in the post.
The emotions from ‘Inside Out’ and their corresponding kanji character
As Pixar plans the release of their latest film ‘Inside Out,’ slated to hit the big screen in the U.S. on June 17th, so too turns the Japanese marketing engine, albeit in a different direction. Besides opening in Japan 2 weeks later, and under a slightly different name (‘Inside Head’), Disney’s Japan arm has hired calligraphy artist Sisyu to create a unique kanji characters that corresponds to each of Riley’s emotions.
Tokyo-based architect Emmanuelle Moureaux is on a quest to make Japan’s financial services industry more colorful. Her latest work for Sugamo Shinkin Bank – her 5th for the Japanese commercial bank, all equally colorful – is located in the outskirts of Tokyo, about an hour from the country’s capital.
“Satin sheen.” “Smooth finish.” “Polished veneer.” The woodworking section of any home improvement store will have you think it’s a menu for a car wash. With sandpaper that ranges from 60 Grit (coarse) to 320 Grit (x-fine) and a whole range of varnishes we’re led to believe that the best recipe for finishing wooden furniture is sandpaper, vacuum, urethane, sandpaper, vacuum, urethane, repeat. Then repeat again.
But we’re doing it all wrong. At least according to Toshio Tokunaga. “Sandpaper rubs away the natural pattern of the wood, leaving behind a smoothness that is artificial and which obscures the tree’s innate characteristics,” says the craftsman and founder of Tokunaga Furniture.
“Vertical 008” (2011)
Although he’s been experimenting with stark images of landscapes, the Kyoto-based photographer Hideki Kuwajima is better known for his dazzling photographs of meticulously arranged reflective objects. He starts off by carefully assembling a composition of wine glasses, decanters, goblets, jars and candlesticks, which he shoots like a large still-life.
the new Tokyo headquarters of architectural firm Suppose Design Office
At the age of 26 Makoto Tanijiri founded Suppose Design Office in his hometown of Hiroshima. Over the past 15 years he’s designed numerous retail spaces around Japan and given a significant number of homeowners (a quick count of his residential projects topped 80) some very stylish digs. But last year a big change occurred for the 26-person team. They decided to become incorporated and, in doing so, expand from their base in Hiroshima and establish an office in Tokyo.
“Tone Scape 01” (cropped). 530x193mm, edition 5, Film Based Photography. Photos courtesy YOD Gallery | click to enlarge
The Kyoto-based photographer Hideki Kuwajima doesn’t carry around his camera. This, perhaps, is why, when he puts his mind to photography, the subjects before him suddenly look different. In the past he’s been known more for his work photographing reflective surfaces like glass bottles. But in a new exhibition in Osaka, Kuwajima points his lens at his hometowns to reveal stark landscapes of Kyoto and Osaka.
Japanese Aquarium Drops 2026 Version of Flowchart Illustrating Their Penguin Relationships. This Year There’s an English Version.
Gunkanjima from Above: Exploring What Was Once the World’s Most-Densely Populated City
Kirie Artist Carves Playful Narratives Into Tree Leaves
Accumulated Piles of Junk Transform Into Illusionistic Shadow Art by Shigeo Fukuda
Go See 5.3 Million Baby Blue Eye Flowers at Hitachi Seaside Park in Japan
