Spoon & Tamago

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Film Prop Makers Built a Totoro-Themed ‘Dream Studio’ in the Blue Mountains of Australia

June 8, 2021 / Johnny / Comments Off

The mailbox with the earth roof house in the background

Lewis & Marilyn are an Australian couple that worked in the film industry for many years making props and miniatures. They became interested in Japanese pop culture in the mid 80s, consuming any VHS tapes they could get their hands on, which they supplemented with printed sheets of fan-translated dialogue. They soon discovered Hayao Miyazaki and were engulfed into his world of characters. But it was Totoro that would go on to become the couple’s all-time favorite, and the inspiration behind their “dream studio” built amidst the bush trees of the Blue Mountains.

Keiji Ashizawa Crafts Lamp Shade from Disposable Wooden Chopsticks

June 3, 2021 / Johnny / Comments Off

Disposable chopsticks are clean, fast and cheap, but the environmental pollution caused by them is also a major problem. Japanese designer Keiji Ashizawa is taking that problem and reorienting it in a way that frames the issue not as waste but rather just wasted resources. An innovative yet simple design imagines disposable chopsticks reused as lamp shades.

Japanese Stationery Company Develops Edible Note Pads to Quiet Hunger Growls

June 1, 2021 / Johnny / Comments Off

We’ve all been there — you’re in a quiet meeting or class and suddenly your stomach begins to growl. You can regret skipping breakfast all you want but it’s not going to quiet things down. But now, thanks to Japanese stationery company Eins Corp, you can scarf down your notes. Just make sure they’re not important!

A Butterfly Sipping Moisture from Puddles, Sculpted Entirely in Wood by Toru Fukuda

May 30, 2021 / Johnny / Comments Off

Butterflies can sometimes be found sipping moisture from puddles or wet soil after a rain. The process, seen here in the image above, is known as “puddling.” Except this image is not a real-life butterfly, nor are the puddles made from real water. The scene has been sculpted entirely from wood by Japanese artist Toru Fukuda.

Posters for Japan’s National Pillow Fight Contest

May 28, 2021 / Johnny / 4 Comments

I haven’t had a good pillow fight in a long time but these posters, created as key visuals for Japan’s National Pillow Fight Contest, are making me want to invite some friends over for a sleepover and start swinging. They feature Olympic gymnast Airi Hatakeyama in a series of poses the represent the pillars of pillow fighting: throw, dodge and defend.

Sculptor Kenichi Nakaya Reconfigures Ubiquitous Japanese Rural Crafts

May 28, 2021 / Johnny / Comments Off

Kenichi Nakaya is a Japanese artist and sculptor based in Hokkaido who repairs arts and crafts. But he also has a side-hustle he calls “folklore,” which is an ongoing series in which he takes ubiquitous and often kitschy Japanese rural crafts and reconfigures them into unique, contemporary works of art.

Spoon & Tamago Member Lecture with Kintsugi Artist Tomomi Kamoshita

May 19, 2021 / Johnny / 1 Comment

Join us next month on June 18, 2021 (EST) for an intimate talk with kintsugi and ceramic artist Tomomi Kamoshita. Kintsugi — literally ‘golden joinery’ — is the traditional Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with a mix of gold powder and Japanese lacquer called urushi to seal it back together. Based in Tokyo, Tomomi will discuss the history and philosophy of kintsugi, as well as share her modern practice of kintsugi and yobitsugi, which is her style of inventing objects from broken ceramic pieces in an artful mosaic rather than repairing broken pots. We even have some of her one-of-a-kind piece in the shop right now!

The online lecture will be available to Spoon & Tamago members. Already a member? Awesome! Members will automatically be receiving a link by email to join. Leading up to the talk, members will also get an exclusive look inside the studio space where Tomomi creates her work, as well as early access to several coveted pieces we’ll be selling in our shop. Not a member? Consider joining us and getting access to this talk, as well as many other perks!

Online Member Lecture Series with Tomomi Kamoshita
WHEN: June 18, 2021 (EST) | 8:00 – 9:00 PM
WHERE: Zoom Meeting
HOW TO JOIN: All members will be receiving an email with a link to join the meeting.

Reductive Architecture Reduces the Burden of Maintaining Large Japanese Townhouse

May 19, 2021 / Johnny / Comments Off

all photos by Nao Takahashi

When people renovate their home it’s often with the objective of creating more space. But the opposite can also be true. Take, for example, this family in Saitama, a suburb just north of Tokyo, who were looking to reduce their overall living area while maintaining the legacy and history of their 50-year old townhouse.

Mirume: A New Eco-Friendly Green Tea Cafe in Nagoya

May 18, 2021 / Johnny / Comments Off

all photos by Ryo Yahara

Mirume is a new green tea cafe and shop that opened this month in Nagoya. The cafe has in-store offerings but what makes them unique is their morning bottle (朝ボトル) service. For 300 yen, you get a cold-brewed bottle of green tea that can be refilled with water up to 3 times a day. At the end of the day, simply return the bottle into the shop’s stylish concrete slab and pick one up the next morning.

Kamawanu is Breathing New Life into the Ancient Japanese Craft of Tenugui Hand Towels

May 18, 2021 / Johnny / 3 Comments

Tenugui are a type of cloth that has been a part of Japanese life since the Heian Period beginning in the 800s. The word tenugui literally means hand wipe, but the utilitarian towels have been used for everything from drying and cleaning to wrapping. Endlessly versatile, they were even used as fashion accessories in the Edo Period.

Founded in 1990, Kamawanu is a Tokyo-based company dedicated to preserving the craft and culture of tenugui towels.