members of kakuhido staging protests | click to enlarge
On February 14th, Kakumei-teki himote doumei (革命的非モテ同盟) — literally, “Revolutionary Alliance of Men That Woman Are Not Attracted To”– will gather in Shibuya, an area of Tokyo popular with young couples, to protest Valentine’s Day and its roots in what they call “romantic capitalist oppression.”
“Takamatsu Jiro: Mysteries” All images are copyrighted and rights reserved ©The Estate of Jiro Takamatsu, Courtesy of Yumiko Chiba Associates. Photos by Daici Ano
If you’re going to jump into post-war Japanese art, Jiro Takamatsu is both the best and worst place to start. While highly influential, the Japanese artist, who combined elements of Dadaism, Surrealism and Minimalism, created works that were conceptual – often cerebral – to the point of turning you off. As part of the collective Hi Red Center, Takamatsu flung the contents of a suitcase off the rooftop of a famous ikebana school’s headquarters. The artist was also charged with counterfeiting – he was subsequently found guilty – for creating one-sided reproductions of a thousand yen note.
On display through March 1, 2015, A new exhibition at Momat (The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo) hopes to shine a light, quite literally at times, on this enigmatic artist.
The new Blue Bottle in Tokyo officially opened their doors today. So it feels only right that we, too, unveil our new coffee product: the Mountain Coffee Dripper. It’s the perfect device for brewing a great cup of coffee for yourself, and maybe one other?
bamboo copters are the motif for Shunsuke Umiyama’s latest design
If you spent anytime growing up in Japan as a child you most certainly played with bamboo-copters, or taketombo. Invented in China thousands of years ago, the simple wooden toy, which catapults into the air simply by spinning the shaft between your hands, was an astonishing object of imagination. Japanese designer Shunsuke Umiyama has recently incorporated this nostalgic toy into a mobile.
baby pants made from original textiles (from left to right): Grass, Nightly Clouds, Messy Clouds and Leaf
For years now my wife, the better half of Spoon & Tamago, has been making kids clothes. She’s primarily been selling them at craft fairs around New York. But now we’re bringing her operation under the same roof and are making her designs available through our shop.
Spoon & Tamago Kids is a line of chic, hand-crafted kids clothes made by Tomomi (designer, working in Brooklyn) and Nobuko (textile designer, working in SF). Their aesthetic is hard to pin down. It’s very abstract and, at times, celestial. Check it out for yourself if you like!
Tokyo Ghibli Land illustrated by TAKUMI | click to enlarge
Could you imagine a place more magical than Disney Land? The answer, arguably, is yes. And a Japanese illustrator who goes simply by the name TAKUMI has done exactly that. He’s created an illustrated version of Tokyo Ghibli Land, a hypothetical amusement park that incorporates rides and attractions all based on the beloved Ghibli films.
The new Blue Bottle Coffee shop in Kiyosumi; their 1st overseas location | image courtesy schemata architects
It’s no secret that James Freeman, inspired by Tokyo and its kissaten coffee culture, decided to establish Blue Bottle Coffee. So it seemed like only a matter of time before the well-funded Oakland, California based roaster expanded to Japan.
Today, February 3rd, is Setsubun (literally, seasonal division) and is the day before the beginning of Spring in Japan. It’s also the day when grownups dress up as ogres known as oni and children gleefully throw soybeans at them as a way of ridding their homes of bad luck and bad spirits. The part of the oni is almost always played by the father of the household, a typically overweight, under exercised male who is laughably easy to defeat.
Taking aim at this stereotype is Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, the maker of, amongst other things, soy-based products like Soy Joy and Soy Carat.
Detail of Out of Disorder (Folding Scenery), 2015, by Takahiro Iwasaki from the exhibition “Takahiro Iwasaki: In Focus,” on view at Asia Society Museum, New York, from January 27 to April 26, 2015. Photo: Leise Hook, Asia Society
Cloth fibers, dust and human hair. To most people this is garbage to be swept or vacuumed away. For Hiroshima-based Japanese artist Takahiro Iwasaki, these are his building blocks. He turns trash into sculpture by creating impressive miniature landscapes that often feature factories, ferris wheels and other iconic structures. And now, the artist’s first solo show has opened in New York and is on display at the Asia Society Museum.
all photos by Cédric Riveau, used with permission | click to enlarge
“My sister passed away from a brain tumor when she was 24,” says Motoi Yamamoto. “That was my origin.” The word ‘origin’ is a reoccurring word in the Japanese artist’s vocabulary. He uses it to refer to the moment in time he began creating his labyrinthine installations of poured salt, as if he had been reborn.
We think of salt primarily as a cooking ingredient but in Japan it’s an element of the Shinto tradition that symbolizes purification. And for the last several years Yamamoto has traveled the world creating sprawling installations of poured salt that resemble mazes, tree roots, whirlpools or the universe. Figuratively and literally one can easily get lost in the intricate installations that are the result of hours of meticulous pouring.
Japanese Aquarium Drops 2026 Version of Flowchart Illustrating Their Penguin Relationships. This Year There’s an English Version.
Accumulated Piles of Junk Transform Into Illusionistic Shadow Art by Shigeo Fukuda
A Spoon & Tamago Guide to the Setouchi Art Islands
Shibuya’s New ‘G-CHA & Ba-CHA’ Cafe Is Run by Senior Citizens
Seya House by Suppose Design Office
