Camera aficionados take note: Canon has teamed up with a craftswoman to create drinking glasses inspired by the camera lens and made from the traditional Edo Kiriko craft of cut glass. Two varieties of the “Lens Glasses” are being produced. One is modeled after light while the other is modeled after the sound of a shutter, both invisible yet essential elements of the camera.
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Given Japan’s susceptibility to natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes, landscape architects and urban engineers have been quietly re-designing public parks to function as evacuation areas. And many of these design tweaks are so subtle you wouldn’t even notice them, so we decided to check in on a few of Tokyo’s “Disaster Prevention Parks” and highlight some of the ingenious ways they will help citizens cope during the next disaster.
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Around this time of year, a coveted prize is awarded within a niche industry in Japan: the Laundromat-of-the-Year-Award. It’s presented at an industry fair in Tokyo known as the International Coin-Operated Laundry EXPO where excellence in laundromats are recognized within various categories. In our humble opinion, this year’s winners are not as aesthetically pleasing as last year’s, but where they lack in style they make up in concept.
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Join us on Saturday October 3, 2020, for an online talk and intimate performance with multi-instrumentalist Zac Zinger. Versed in the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute, Zac will give us an introduction to traditional Japanese instruments and perform several pieces in what will be an evening of learning and meditative music. Zac has been recognized not only for his musical talent but for his cross-cultural musical presentation of fusing traditional Japanese instruments with jazz.
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. Not a member? Consider joining us and getting access to this talk, as well as many other perks!
Online Member Lecture Series with Zac Zinger
WHEN: October 3, 2020 (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.
UPDATE: the archive recording is now available and viewable below only to members who are signed in:
Shinjuku (2019)
Ever since discovering the beauty and versatility of stationery store-bought dot stickers in art school, for over 10 years Japanese artist Yukino Ohmura has been using them to create dazzling nightscapes of Tokyo, Osaka and other major Asian cities. We featured her work back in 2014, but decided to catch up with her to see how her art is progressing.
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unless otherwise noted, all photos by Matthew Waldman
On August 1, 2020, Tokorozawa Sakura Town, a new suburban development in the northwestern outskirts of Tokyo, welcomed the opening of one of their major components: the Kadokawa Musashino Museum. Part museum and part library, the monolithic granite structure was designed by Kengo Kuma and developed by Kadokawa, a major publisher of manga and light novels.
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The Tokyo Toilet project continues to make progress with the latest designer public restroom by Tadao Ando (previously) opening last week. Ando’s design features a circular floorplan with a spanning roof and engawa which, in Japanese architecture, is an edging strip of space on the outside of the building that occupies an area in between the interior and exterior.
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*this post is sponsored by Kokoro Care Packages*
Kokoro Care Packages is a subscription box service offering hand-crafted packages filled with authentic Japanese foods delivered straight from Japan to your door. Although there are various Japanese subscription boxes on the market, Kokoro Care Packages stands out through their high-quality selection of foods that emphasize local farmers and producers. If you’re missing Japan right now and unsure when you’ll be able to travel there, Kokoro Care Packages is a great way to stay connected to the country!
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Japan has a rich history of packaging design that dates back hundreds of years and rooted in a tradition of gift-giving. Before industrial materials like plastic and cardboard, gifts were wrapped in straw, bamboo, leaves and paper: an art unto itself that lives on today in the form of products often wrapped in as many physical as symbolic layers.
Every two years the JPDA (Japan Packaging Design Association) celebrates excellence in packaging design by hosting the Japan Packaging Design Awards. The winners of the 2021 Awards were just announced and can be all viewed here (PDF) but we’ve put together some of our favorites!
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Torii on Bentenjima (Hamamatsu, Shizuoka)
In 2019, German photographer Ronny Behnert travelled around Japan visiting various Torii, the traditional Japanese gate commonly found at the entrance of Shinto shrines and used to symbolically demarcate the transition between our world and the sacred world of the gods. And I know what you’re thinking — do we really need another photo gallery of Torii taken by a foreigner? We asked ourselves the same question and the answer, in this case, was yes.
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The Humble Beef Bowl, Elevated to Fine Cuisine at New Gyudon Specialty Restaurant Kikiya
This Wrapping Paper Turns All Your Presents into Bread
In Rare Exhibition, Kenya Hara Offers a Look Into His Design Process
Kirie Artist Carves Playful Narratives Into Tree Leaves
Music Monday: Gen Hoshino’s Quarantine Collaborations
