Makoto Shinkai, whose hit animated feature film Kimi no Na Wa (Your Name) put him on the global map, has a new film that just landed in theaters in Japan. For those outside Japan, you’ll have to wait until early 2020 to see Tenki no Ko (Weathering With You) but for fans looking to get just a little taste of the film, you’re in luck.
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Several years ago Ryo Yamazaki was brushing one of his three Scottish Fold cats. A lump of shed had accumulated on the floor and in that moment Yamazaki noticed that it kind of looked like a hat. For a chuckle he decided to mold it into a pointy hat and place it on one of his cat’s heads (photo above). Little did he know, that was the beginning of Nukege Hats, a movement that has led to a global following on social media, a book deal and a line of stationary.
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The Kaws:Holiday moving art installation began in Taipei back in May. Since then, his iconic 40-metre-long Companion sculpture has toured Seoul and Hong Kong and has now landed in Japan, at the foot of Mt. Fuji.
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HiN is a new Japanese jewelry brand created by designer Haruka Okabe. HiN (品 in Japanese ), which means dignity, works with purveyors of traditional craft work to create contemporary designs. Their first collaboration is with Hatamantoen, a pottery studio in Saga Prefecture that specializes in Imari porcelain.
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Hiiro is a modern, ceramic water carafe made from traditional bizen-yaki. It’s the result of a joint-effort between product designer Shizuka Tatsuno and Daikura, a pottery studio specializing in bizen-yaki.
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Furutori (written in Japanese as 奮酉) are a two-piece band made up of Maki Takada on guitar and Aisha Kawanishi on drums. The two met in high school and have been making music together for the past 7 years.
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If you’re walking along the beach this summer and you see a group of napping cat sand sculptures, there’s a good chance it’s the work of a Neko Cup.
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Nothing says summer quite like the glimmering surface of a nice cool body of water. Whether you’re a pool person, an ocean person or both, Japanese design studio HAQCI (pronounced ha-ku-shi) has the perfect accessory: earrings that mimic the surface of water.
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The Tadami Line is a local railway in Japan that connects Aizu-Wakamatsu Station (Fukushima) with Koide Station (Uonuma, Niigata). Originally opening in the late 1920s, the line was gradually extended over time and now stretches a distance of 135 km (83 mi).
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This weekend is Tanabata (七夕, meaning “Evening of the seventh”), a Japanese festival celebrating the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi. According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month. To celebrate, 3700 candles have been placed in front of Tokyo’s Zojoji Temple, curving their way to Tokyo Tower and creating an illusion of twinkling stars reaching up to the sky.
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Winners of Japan’s 2027 Packaging Design Awards
Tadao Ando Designed & Donated a Floating Library that Delivers Books to Children
Yuka Numata’s Haunting Sculptures of Children, Made from Fishing Line and Beads, Installed at Abandoned Elementary School
Japanese Aquarium Drops 2026 Version of Flowchart Illustrating Their Penguin Relationships. This Year There’s an English Version.
Kawaii Buildings, as Seen Through the Lens of Urban Photographer Ken Ohyama
