Tokyo-based photographer and retoucher Rumi Ando creates unsettling urban landscape photography of Tokyo. Seemingly nostalgic yet out-of-place, Ando has retouched each of her photographs, painstakingly removing all evidence of human life except for the buildings they’ve built. All windows, A/C units, antennas, ducts—”noise” as Ando calls them—have vanished, leaving only the skin of a city: a nude Tokyo.
Continue reading
PAN- PROJECTS, The Matter of Facts, Mixed media, 2021, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Installation view
The global pandemic has hit the pause button on life. Everything that brought us together—art shows and festivals to trade shows and symposiums—have all been cancelled. But memorializing these events and re-contextualizing them as a city’s collective urban memory is Yuriko Yagi and Kazumasa Takada, the duo behind the architectural design studio PAN- PROJECTS.
Continue reading
strong waves slam into Yayoi Kusama’s “Yellow Pumpkin” moments before it is washed away | screenshot of video by taka aoki
Yayoi Kusama’s “Yellow Pumpkin,” a symbol of Naoshima island that sits at the tip of an abandoned pier, was washed away by strong winds and waves generated by Typhoon No. 9 on August 9th. The iconic artwork was installed back in 1994 and was partly responsible for the large influx of tourists to the remote islands of Kagawa prefecture. The pumpkin has since been retrieved but it is badly damaged and will likely have to be replaced.
Continue reading
In the early 1830s, Katsushika Hokusai created 36 Views of Mt. Fuji. Images from the series would go on to becomes some of the most iconic images Japan has ever produced, their vast reach and influence being almost impossible to measure. And 190 years later, they continue to inspire. The London-based artist Edward Luper grew up looking at one of his city’s landmarks: the BT Tower. And his love and admiration for Japanese prints eventually led him to create an homage to his artist hero Hokusai. “London is my Edo,” says the artist. “And although I don’t have a Mt Fuji, I do have the BT tower.”
Continue reading
Among the many skills of Vancouver-based Japanese artist Hine Mizushima is slow crafter, needlefelter and miniature collage artist. Her work often manifests itself in animals, sea life, parts of the human body and other curiosities of the natural world. For a recent exhibition in Tokyo she turned her eye, and needle, to the world of creepy and crawly insects, creating plush specimens of mosquitos, fleas and centipedes that would otherwise make our skin crawl.
Continue reading
unless otherwise noted, all photos courtesy Shinya Yoshida
Nestled deep in Northern Hokkaido is the town of Tsubetsu: pop 4400. It’s home to Yamagi Mokko, a 3rd generation family owned furniture company with just 22 employees. But size is not always an indicator of success. Back in 2019, the company won a contract to design and create 5000 wooden cases for Tokyo Olympic medals.
Continue reading
With a little bit of close observation, the spirit of sporting, competition and the Olympics can be found all around us. And for Tokyo-based illustrator Adrian Hogan this rang true, especially over the last two years as Japan struggled to contain the coronavirus while also preparing to host one of the world’s most notable sporting events.
Continue reading
The climax of the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony was undoubtedly the moment when the torch was passed to star athlete Naomi Osaka, who made her way up to a Mt. Fuji-esque podium. Once she arrived, the mountain opened up in front of her, revealing a set of stairs leading up to a large, white, spherical form. The object then began to rotate as 10 panels detached and “blossomed” into the ceremonial cauldron of fire.
Continue reading
all photos courtesy Tomo Koizumi
One of our favorite moments of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics opening ceremony was seeing and listening to Japanese singer-songwriter Misia perform Kimigayo, Japan’s national anthem. And while it was one of the best renditions we had ever heard, we also couldn’t take our eyes off of her scrumptious dress. Although it’s been dubbed the “cotton candy dress” by various western media outlets, in our book it’s the “kakigori dress”: Japanese shaved ice, and in every flavor.
Continue reading
rendering courtesy Fukuoka City
Here’s your wholesome story of the day: Fukuoka City has stated its intent to re-paint one of their port cranes to look like a gigantic giraffe. Unveiling the initiative on July 20, 2021, the mayor noted that he hopes it will cheer up the kids in Fukuoka Children’s Hospital, which looks over the port. The zoomorphic paint job is expected to be completed by February 2022.
Fukuoka’s Island City has a total of 6 cranes, each towering 100 meters (328 ft) into the sky. The paint job is expected to cost 100 million yen (about $900k usd) but if the first one proves popular, the city will consider painting the other five as well.
