• Miya Ando

    Artist Miya Ando grew up on the grounds of a Buddhist temple in Japan and in a remote area of California. Her spare and contemplative works in metal, glass and natural materials are filled with light and strength, revealing ancestral influences as the descendent of Nicheren Buddhist monks in Bizen, Japan and the 16th generation of a samurai sword craftsmen family. Her humor and warmth quite possibly come from her father’s Jewish/Russian lineage. Ando was born in the United States… Read more »

  • In Search of Autumn’s Fiery Palette

    Admiring nature’s colorful transformation in the fall is a time-honored ritual in Japan that draws crowds from far and wide to distant mountainsides, hidden valleys and traditional gardens famed for their fiery autumnal palettes. While Kyoto is, without doubt, everyone’s favorite spot for enjoying fall foliage, there are plenty of other less crowded sites that offer the chance to be mesmerized by the myriad hues of yellow, orange, red and brown that make autumn such a special time in Japan…. Read more »

  • Zakka – last chance to delve into “goods and things”

    The first thing to catch the eye when you walk into the extraordinary Zakka exhibition at 21_21 Design Sight is the stylized sign bearing the English translation of “zakka” as “goods and things.” What is a “good” and what is a “thing?” I wondered. In the end, this wide-ranging exhibit of retro-paraphernalia, contemporary design, with displays of everything from six-decades old cardboard packaging for toothpaste tubes and mosquito coils, plastic ice cream spoons (yes, really – my main thought was, who… Read more »

  • Sakura Elegy – photos by Mineko Matsuda

  • Issey Miyake Retrospective

    From the meticulously pleated, elegantly flowing pieces of his Pleats Please collection to the sculptural, recycled textiles of his “eco-fashion,” 132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE line, fashion designer, Issey Miyake, has continued to challenge the conventions of clothes-making and fashion textile design, in the process creating some of the most artistic and practical garments ever imagined. Widely recognized as one of the most creative designers of his time, Miyake, who first made his mark in New York and Paris, is being… Read more »

  • “Retro-sento,” or how the old Japanese bathhouse is streaming into the 21st century

    Bathing is an essential daily ritual in Japan, where the simple act of soaking in a tub of hot water has spawned an entire industry around the communal bath — whether it’s in the form of onsen hot springs, or the neighborhood public bathhouse, known as sento. There are hot springs all over Japan, which epitomize recreational Japanese-style bathing and are popular among tourists and locals alike. But sento, which used to be an intrinsic part of Japanese culture, have… Read more »

  • JUTAKU : A SLIDE SHOW

    A combination of two kanji characters, jutaku is a standard Japanese word that means “house.” But today many architect-designed homes in Japan are anything but standard. Freed from preconceived ideas about size, style and even shape, designers up and down the archipelago are building some of the most unique homes on the globe. Defined by contorted geometries, daring feats of structural engineering, awkward site circumstances and a host of other extreme conditions, many would be unthinkable anywhere else. It is… Read more »

  • Takashi Murakami’s Kaleidoscopic World

    Takashi Murakami’s art works are a cornucopia of ideas, trends and art forms.  As I entered the exhibition space at the Mori Art Museum, I was immediately struck by the force of the huge psychedelic paintings on display. But it was only after taking a couple of breaths and slowly walking around that I began to see the intricate details of the densely packed acrylic paintings. Murakami brings together his own take on Buddhist and Zen iconography, Chinese art, “otaku”… Read more »

  • Smartball Rosemary – special to japonica.info

    The fluorescent pink cherry blossoms look like they hang here all year round. This may be because at Rosemary, Tokyo’s only remaining Smartball parlour, the mood is eternal Spring. People come to revisit their youth, or bring their grandchildren to play. Local kids gather on their own. Families form crowds and egg each other on. For many, this original form of pachinko, the famed Japanese version of pinball, might seem like it’s from the steam age. Miki Egawa bustles up… Read more »

  • Katsuyama Noren

    Katsuyama (勝山) is a sleepy little town in Okayama prefecture, which has preserved old buildings, including kura warehouses and minka, or traditional country homes. Many shops and houses in the historic district put out distinctive noren (shop curtains) to inform passers-by of their line of business or merely as a decorative touch.

  • No Country for Old Homes

    In the remote rural town of Katsuyama, nestled beyond the San-In mountains, opposite a lumber yard and next to a gaudy supermarket, is the house my cousins grew up in.   It is a grand, old Japanese country house, complete with massive wooden doors for a gate, two kura (warehouses), an inner courtyard and expansive front garden crowded with ancient trees, including pines, maples and a magnificent cherry tree.   I used to visit this house as a child, every… Read more »

  • Akomeya

    If you like Japanese food, enjoy seeing nicely designed packaging or just have time to kill in Ginza, visit Akomeya, a food and household goods store that is chock full of unusual Japanese goodies. The name, which is a rather peculiar combination of the Japanese word for rice store – komeya – and the English pronoun “a,” points to its distinctive eclecticism. Akomeya stocks a mesmerising variety of Japanese foodstuffs from all over the country as well as tableware, socks,… Read more »