We’ll admit it — we definitely did not have Hello Kitty taking a stand on our 2020 bingo card. But sure enough, Japan’s most popular export and the epitome of wholesome cuteness has issued a statement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Continue reading
Tennis star Naomi Osaka appeared in GQ Japan’s June edition, in a cover that was drawn by her older sister Mari Osaka. A tennis player herself and also apparently a talented illustrator, Mari Osaka depicted her younger sister in a series of bold, beautiful and strong portraits.
Continue reading
The Laview commuter train, which debuted in 2019 and began operating between Tokyo and Chichibu, has won this year’s prestigious Blue Ribbon, an award given annually since 1958 and presented to the best railway vehicle. The train was designed by one of Japan’s most notable architects and Pritzker recipient Kazuo Sejima.
Continue reading
Hotel Why opened in May 2020 and is shaped like a question mark
The beautiful mountains and lush nature are not the only things that attract people to the town of Kamikatsu in Japan’s western prefecture of Tokushima. The town also has a zero waste policy and residents are known to recycle waste in 45 categories, which helped them achieve over an 80% rate of recycling. The town’s investments in broadband infrastructure have also made the destination a popular spot for tech satellite offices. Now the town also has Hotel Why: one of the first zero waste call-to-action hotels in the world.
Continue reading
the facade of the new museum, which re-opened on May 26, 2020
Opened in 1933, the Kyoto Enthronement Memorial Museum of Art would go on to survive a world war and multiple natural disasters to become Japan’s oldest public art museum. Built in what was known as the Crown Imperial Style of architecture, its classical visage standing against the backdrop of Higashiyama has been an important presence in Kyoto for almost 90 years.
Continue reading
that moment when the bag of cereal no longer fits in the skinny box
As we go about our daily lives there are moments along the way that make us pause, if ever so slightly. Sometimes they disappoint us, other times they make us smile. But they’re always so small that we quickly forget about them and go on with the task at hand. Japanese illustrator Ryosuke Otomo has made it a point to dwell on these moments and, on a daily basis, memorialize them in the form of simple, graphic illustrations.
Continue reading
Today, May 28th, is Fireworks Day in Japan. This day in 1733, over 280 years ago, marked the beginning of Japan’s oldest fireworks festival along the Sumidagawa River. Although it was later moved to mid-July, the festival was originally organized by Shogun Yoshimune Tokugawa as a way of warding off bad luck and epidemics. Japan had endured great suffering that year from starvation, largely due to an epidemic of cholera. And it’s believed that the fireworks festival was intended to memorialize victims and pray for an end to the epidemic.
Continue reading
Yamato, a maker of traditional Japanese garments, has released a new line of summer clothing called Yukata Zero. As the name implies, the concept behind the new initiative is inclusivity: reducing the number of people who can’t wear yukata, to zero.
Continue reading
photos by twitter user @chacha0rca
The restaurant at Izu Shabonten Zoo in Shizuoka, Japan is crowded! But those seats aren’t occupied by people. They’re occupied by stuffed animal Capybaras that have been strategically placed throughout the restaurant to maintain appropriate social distancing.
Continue reading
The Screen is a small hotel in Kyoto located near the Kyoto Imperial Park. As part of a recent renovation, the hotel enlisted 13 artists and designers to treat each of their 13 rooms as a canvas, transforming them into comfortable yet original works of art. From a room dedicated to the different phases of the moon, to a room inspired by the tatami tea house, no two rooms are alike and each will leave visitors with a different experience.
Continue reading
