A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the just-released KUHAKU & OTHER ACCOUNTS OF JAPAN, the first release of indie publisher Chin Music Press. I finally got my hands on a copy, and you need to do the same. Yes, it makes for a good read (various essays on Japan, including a very nicely illustrated chapter by Kozyndan), but the thing is also a beautiful object, and you can tell that a lot of care went into its design. Their site has a lot of details on the book (I quite like the art section, that includes a lot of design notes), and they also have a nice blog describing their adventures/misadventures in the world of book publishing.
The book is available at a fews shops in the city (and will be distributed in North America from April of next year), but you should order the book directly from them, as it puts more money in their pockets (which will help finance their next release).
Have a look at the site of artist Ide Akico. Link via Paul.
An ad for an apartment complex.
Chad has put up a few RSS feeds for Superfuture: one for the Supertalk message board, one for the news section, and one for the new shop listings. He’s still testing them, so let him know if you encounter any problems. I’ve just added them to my WINKsite syndicated feeds section.
Thoughts on Shibuya, as Momus spends his last day in Tokyo.
Now, my first reference to Shibuya-kei on my website came in September 1998, when I declared Shibuya-kei dead. Well, I may have been a bit premature. I come today to tell you that Shibuya-kei is no longer dead. Perhaps it never was, or perhaps it’s walking undead. It’s back, like a Pucci Lolita, like a snapshot in a cherished copy of FRUiTS magazine. For five years the spirit of Gap and Uniqlo has banished all but beige, grey, cream, black and white from Japanese streets. But pinks, yellows, oranges and reds are back, synthetic fabrics are back, a bold sort of sensuality is evident again. Not only in this Braniff exhibition, but in the second show I saw today, an impressive display, designed by Groovisions, of Guy Peellaert’s Pravda action girl comics (last seen in a book published by Shoichi Kajino, my A&R man at Nippon Columbia at the height of Shibuya-kei and now designer of fashion magazine Ryuko Tsushin — a true dandy of vintage Shibuya-kei).
Read the full post here.
Update: There’s a very interesting discussion going on in the comments section of the Momus post.
Walking down the main drag in Ginza.
I am so there.
First of all, we’re not talking about a Russian journal here, but Pravda, a French comic heroine in the 1960s. Rumor has it that the character that combines beautiful looks with steadfast action was modeled after Francoise Hardy. Remember “Comment te dire adieu”? Well, however, this time the pop icon appears in Tokyo in the form of an installation by Katayama Masamichi. The Groovisions team is in charge of the graphic design, accompanied by music from Fantastic Plastic Machine’s Tanaka Tomoyuki. Sounds like a pretty snazzy event. Host, by the way, is design brand Celine. Hmmm… (
REALTOKYO)
It happens at ONE Omotesando Boutique Gallery Space, until October 24.
Jeremy at Antipixel has just put up an hilarious Fanta commercial that apparently never made it to air.
Walking past a shop called Paper House in Ginza.
The above picture, from Engadget, shows how Sony is getting consumers excited for their new PSP portable gaming system (and there’s another good pic here). If you’re actually interested in the PSP itself, view the full post for more pictures of the product itself. I’m more interested in the Nintendo DS, which is now being featured in new TV ads with super-idol Utada Hikaru.
Oh, what I would do to see the return of a Braniff-like airline! I went to the Braniff Airline exhibition today, at Parco Museum, and it so got me wanting to have been an airline traveller in that era (sixties and seventies). Style was as important as anything else, and they had it in droves. Pucci-designed uniforms, multicolored planes… Flying is such a depressing thing these days, and it just seems to be getting worse. Unless you can afford first/business class that is, and even then, it’s technological and spatial comfort that you’re getting, not the feeling of flying in style that you had with a Braniff-like airline. I want to enjoy air travel, to feel like I’m going through an exciting experience, not just a means of getting from one point to another. It seems that the time could be right for an airline to do something like that, what with the growing popularity of boutique/designer hotels. A lot of people seem to be ready to pay a bit more for style, and that’s a good thing. Without style, all we have is a utilitarian system that lacks the excitement that might help get the whole airline industry out of the financial hole they find themselves in these days.
The latest entry I wrote for MoCo Tokyo is about the very nice-looking Kouchi Market at the Tsukiji fish market. With the MoCo site I need to be a bit more careful about images I use, and the one from their official site wasn’t so great. To get a better idea of what the place looks like, have a look here. Also, I first learned about the place in the latest issue of MONITOR, which has an absolutely beautiful pictorial of it.
October just keeps getting busier and busier, if you’re into design.
The British Embassy and the British Council in Tokyo will jointly organize the Design UK campaign in October, a campaign meant to promote the British design industry.
More than 40 events, including exhibitions and symposiums, are scheduled to be held at various locations in Tokyo and other parts of the country.
More details on the various event are in the full DAILY YOMIURI article. You can also get more details at the Design UK site.
And speaking of Dezain.net (see previous post), it seems that the person who runs it, Okada Eizo, is also behind the Ribbon Project. Ribbon is composed of 4 designers who create beautiful objects using ribbons. They are currently exhibiting at 100% Design in London.
I am in love with the designs of Atelier Bow-Wow. Expect a full MoCo Tokyo listing sometime soon. Right now there’s a feature on them at the site for the magazine DOMUS (free registration required, and it’s worth it). Link via Dezain.net.
Jean Snow is a contributor to 
He will be contributing to the upcoming fifth editions of 
