Spoon & Tamago

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Miyu Kojima Creates Miniature Replicas of Lonely Deaths

all photos by Naoko Kawamura courtesy Asahi News

Twenty six-year old Miyu Kojima works for a company that cleans up after kodokushi (孤独死) or lonely deaths: a Japanese phenomenon of people dying alone and remaining undiscovered for a long period of time. The instances first began to be reported around 2000, and are thought to be a product of increased social isolation coupled with a greying population.

Part art therapy and part public service campaign, Kojima spends a large portion of her free time recreating detailed miniature replicas of the rooms she has cleaned. A word of caution: although recreated without the corpses, some of the replicas can be quite disturbing.

The Art of Japanese Funeral Floral Arrangements

October 2, 2018 / Johnny / 4 Comments

the farewell ceremony for actress Kirin Kiki took place on September 30, 2018 | photo courtesy sankei news

Last weekend, at the farewell ceremony for the late actress Kirin Kiki, a large display of white flowers, designed to look like a wave, greeted the constant flow of family members, fans and celebrities that had come to pay their respects, and to say farewell to the 75-year old who had passed away from cancer on September 15. The white wave of flowers was comprised of roughly 1200 chrysanthemums, orchids, and gypsophila (an ornamental flower known as baby’s-breath in the West).

Japan’s Train Station Vomit Vacuum

September 30, 2018 / Johnny / Comments Off

Cleaning up vomit is “one of the toughest tasks,” says a company official from JR East, one of Japan’s largest passenger railways. But drunken passenger vomit, referred to in such euphemisms as nokoshimono, or leftovers, is a major problem for railway employees. Most of us look forward to Friday, weekends and New Year’s holidays, but the number of instances skyrocket during these times. So to keep employee morale up, Japanese railways company’s are constantly trying to innovate vomit sanitation.

Hand-Carved Polygon Memo Blocks

September 30, 2018 / Johnny / Comments Off

These geometric blocks, with their asymmetrical lines and uneven shapes, appear to be some kind of art object. But pick one up and you’ll quickly see that they’re not. In fact, they’re one of the most common desk objects: paper memo pads.

Hikobe: A Renovated Sake Brewery and Tasting Hub in Akita

September 25, 2018 / Johnny / Comments Off

If you ever find yourself in Akita Prefecture, plan on paying a visit to Hikobe, a historic sake brewery that’s recently been renovated to include a cafe and tasting center. It’s a unique space where locals and tourists come together over a shared appreciation for one of the prefecture’s most popular exports: sake.

Watercolor Illustrations Depicting Night Streets of Tokyo by Mateusz Urbanowicz

September 24, 2018 / Johnny / 2 Comments

Mateusz Urbanowicz, also known as Matto, is a Polish artist and illustrator currently based in Tokyo. He originally moved to Japan to study animation and comics and he landed himself a gig at Tokyo-based animation film studio CoMix Wave, where he did backgrounds for, among other things, the film “Your Name.”

Food and Everyday Life Merge in Surreal Illustrations by Marumichi

September 20, 2018 / Johnny / 2 Comments

all illustrations by Marumichi | used with permission

Japanese illustrator Marumichi creates surreal illustrations in which food and everyday life merge together seamlessly. It’s as if a foodie went to bed stuffed and dreamed of food.

Photographer Yojiro Imasaka Captures the Trade Winds of Hawaii

September 19, 2018 / Johnny / 1 Comment

There is a reason why Yojiro Imasaka’s photographs of Hawaii are devoid of any beaches or resorts. In fact, other than the photographic evidence of the artist’s intent, there is no sign of human life at all. It’s not even clear what time period the photographs are from.

The NY-based Japanese photographer lugged his large-format camera to the island of O’ahu, and then further into the mountains, to capture the trade winds: a natural weather pattern on islands that have existed long before mankind.

Hand-Lettered Katakana Days of the Week by Sho Shibuya

September 18, 2018 / Johnny / Comments Off

Back in 2015, the NY-based Japanese creative director Sho Shibuya began creating hand-lettered katakana for each day of the week. Ever since, his Instagram account has been such a joy to follow because, on a fairly consistent basis, he has been posting a weekly series of letters, each brimming with creativity and craftsmanship. Now, in what is Shibuya’s first solo exhibition, his work will be on display in New York later this month.

The Tokyo Last Train Map is the Perfect Art Print for Night Owls

September 14, 2018 / Johnny / 2 Comments

Tokyo Last Train Map | click image to enlarge

If you live or work in Tokyo, you may *ahem* occasionally find yourself out late, either drinking or working. And Tokyo isn’t exactly the city that never sleeps, especially when it comes to its extensive train and subway system. So if you don’t want to get stuck sleeping in a capsule hotel, you’ll need to do some planning. That’s where the Tokyo Last Train Map comes in handy.

Created by a Japanese designer and map enthusiast who goes by the twitter handle @chizutodesign, the beautiful print lays out all of Tokyo’s trains in radial form, along with the times they leave their first stop and arrive at their last stop. From far away it almost looks like fireworks.

It’s a beautiful visualization of Tokyo’s massive transit system as it prepares to slowly turn the lights out on another busy day. There are a few outliers but, as you’ll see, right around midnight is when you’re going to want to start heading for that train station!