Jean Snow [.net]

This Week in Magazines

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by

Jean Snow
in
  • The new PEN (197) is a rather nice issue — oh, and nevermind that I appear in it — with its “Tokyo Map 2007” feature that examines 8 areas in Tokyo, with some suggestions on what to check out in each. The places covered are: Roppongi, Shimokitazawa, Marunouchi, Ningyocho, Ginza, Gakugeidaigaku, Shinjuku 3-Chome, and Futako-Tamagawa.
  • MAC POWER (208) gets 5 creators (including Kashiwa Sato and Yasuharu Konishi) to share their “My Respectable Creators,” meaning creators they respect and who have influenced them.
  • REAL DESIGN (12) looks at favorite book cover designs, and also includes a “Tokyo Book Guide” insert that has a great rundown of the Tokyo bookstores you should check out if you’re in town (I took note of all of them — no surprises, really — and will probably do a separate post listing them). I like their “imagined” renewal of the magazine, in which they invited 4 creators — Fumikazu Ohara (SOUP DESIGN), ASYL, Akiko Sekimoto (DRAFT), and Michiko Yanai (Kaze to Rock) — to offer their take on a new look. There’s also guide to Tokyo Midtown, and the “Real Portrait Creator” this month is designer Yasumichi Morita, who has mostly gained fame in the past couple of months because of his engagement with Mao Daiichi, ex-wife of Mr. Matsuken Samba. Olé!
  • TOKION JAPAN (59) didn’t really hold that much interest for me, as I couldn’t figure out who the cover profile was for (“Separate NK” is the cover line).
  • BRUTUS (615) reminds us that adult women are indeed beautiful (and I agree), with a feature that is mostly a collection of full-page photos of various “older” (which seems to start at the low-mid twenties) women. Have a look at Marxy’s take on the issue.
  • This month’s CASA BRUTUS (86) is definitely worth picking up, with its “100 Tokyo Must-Knows,” which obviously is great for finding some good design-friendly spots in the city.
  • There’s also a new CASA BRUTUS extra issue (or mook) on the newsstands: “Traditional Japanese Architecture and Design.” It’s pretty much what you would imagine from the title, and also includes a guide to “Traditional Architecture in Kyoto 50 + 10” as an insert. Best of all, the issue is completely bilingual, including the Kyoto guide.
  • Oh, and I can’t believe that the second issue of the Japanese edition of ROLLING STONE is out, and again, as with the first issue, features Kurt Cobain (this time with Nirvana) on the cover! Huh?