“And so castles made of sand, fall in the sea, eventually,” sang Jimi Hendrix, in his 1967 track about life’s bitter ironies. Japanese architect Yasutaka Yoshimura is probably not too concerned about his new work “Window House” crumbling to the sea any time soon. And yet, looking at the home, I couldn’t help but be reminded of our temporary nature of existence.
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tubes of paint bulge out of the canvas
the little man runs out of emergency exit signs
Japanese artist Yuki Matsueda creates sculptures in which an element of the artwork bulges out of the canvas leaving the rest behind. It’s as if a single element was magically brought to life. The 34-year old doctor (he has a Ph.D. in Design) uses a heat press to mold PET plastic into shapes that hold the bulging element in mid-air, creating a surreal, dreamlike sequence of events that appear frozen in time.
Love sending and receiving postcards? Then this postcard kit is your ideal travel companion.
They say that the Inuit have 50 words to describe snow. Well in Japan, where it rains a lot and people love to talk about the weather, the Japanese language has over 50 nouns for rain. There’s rain showers, weak rain, light rain, fine rain, misty rain, heavy rain, intense rain, downpour, localized downpour, chilly rain, rain and snow, rain at night, spring rain, and 2 words for early summer rain, as well as autumn rain.
Plarail Rail Set
If you grew up in Japan in the 70s and 80s you most certainly remember Plarail, the blue plastic train tracks that could be latched together to create sprawling labyrinths of rail for toy trains. Yasuhiko Hayashi and Yusuke Nakano of Paramodel certainly do. Both born in the 70s, the duo began using the iconic toys as a basis for creating their sprawling installation art. And now their very first exhibition in the U.S. has opened.
all photos by takumi ota courtesy torafu architects
Although summer is coming to an end, Gelato will always be in season. At least that’s what the owners of Snow Picnic hope. The new experimental gelato shop recently opened up a few blocks from Nakano Station in Tokyo. Situated along the Yakushi-ai Road Shopping Street, and right next to the Spanish sweets shop papabubble, Snow Picnic offers a scientific approach to cold treats.
Just 40 hours after Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami struck in 2011, Japanese designer Eisuke Tachikawa launched OLIVE, a crowd-sourced wiki of tips and DIY advice to survive in a disaster. The response was overwhelming. The site was translated by volunteers into many languages and was also turned into pamphlets, which were handed out to evacuees.
“universe // female” Screen Shot 2014-08-30 at 11.35.13 PM
“universe // female” Screen Shot 2014-08-30 at 11.51.50 PM
Just like photojournalists have been using cameras to document events, the screenshot is a modern day archival tool that, anyone with a computer or smartphone, is equipped with by default. Screenshots create still images of whatever is visible on our screen, effectively relieving us of the burden of memory and acting as a testament to what existed in the perpetually fluid internet.
But for Japanese artist Toru Izumida, it’s an artistic tool used to create collages from web-based photos and videos. “I use selections of online media to create unexpected combinations that are finalized into a single screenshot,” says Izumida. The exact date and signature of the creation is recorded on every work.” All of his screenshots are actual layouts created on his Mac, which are then turned into prints.
all photos by satoru ikegami | click to enlarge
In a post-war Japan one of the country’s growth engines that helped it rise from ashes was industrial production. Japan showed the world that, with the hard work and persistence of its dedicated labor force it could swiftly evolve from a nation that had lost a quarter of its national wealth to the second largest economy. To this day the land of the rising sun is still proud of its powerful auto, metal and glass industries.
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