Neojaponisme has started posting episodes of “Martians Go Home,” a monthly radio column Keigo Oyamada and Kenji Ozawa (Flipper’s Guitar, with Oyamada of course later turning into Cornelius) did for FM Yokohama back in the days when they were just starting out their career.

My weekly Tokyo post at MoCo Loco is up, covering Akemi Tanaka’s convertible wooden furniture, Ideaco’s TUBELOR trash can, and Sota Suzuki’s upcoming show at Gallery Rocket.

Designboom presents a gallery of photos covering various projects from A.A.E. Architecture Studio, including their award-winning Fleg Daikanyama installation, pictured above.

Yoske Nishiumi’s (of Berlin-based Koiklub) latest work based on Onitsuka Tigers sees a koi morph into a sneaker. Via Designboom.

Time to let the Mizutani Cable Knit Corporation provide rainbow-colored protection for the cables in your home. Any length will do. Order here.

Following last night’s very successful “Hitotoki Hitoban” event at The Pink Cow (if you missed out, there are already plans to do it again), now comes news that the next city to be added to the Hitotoki roster is Washington, DC. That preview page they created is killer!

Just a reminder that tomorrow night (January 29) is the “Hitotoki Hitoban” event/party at The Pink Cow in Shibuya (19:00-22:00, free entrance). It’s a celebration of all things Hitotoki, and will include readings by a few of the contributors, including me, ULESHKA, Joseph Badtke-Berkow, David Cady, Ashley Rawlings, and I believe a few video readings (Momus has one, if I’m not mistaken). Drop by and say hello, should be fun.

Also, Hitotoki is on the lookout for illustrators who would like to contribute to the site — I’m assuming for pieces that would accompany stories. Get in touch!

Trevor has news of a Music Related sale over at the META no TAME blog, and it’s a damn good deal.

Yuki has been experimenting with LED lights, and I absolutely love the results.

My friend Max has been a man on a photography mission ever since he got a Canon EOS 5D last month, and what you see here, a shot of Ikebukuro at night (larger version here) is one of the results. He also has an interesting gallery of shots covering the homeless and their surroundings, which he took for a project that you can read more about here.

When I went to and came back from Narita airport last week for my trip to Taipei, I passed through Nippori station, where I spotted plenty of great gaffer tape signs (the station is currently undergoing major renovations). I’m guessing it was done by Shuetsu Sato, who is famous for his previous tape signs at Shinjuku Station.

More photos after the jump.

Continue reading…

I included the new Maruni Collection by Naoto Fukasawa in my latest “On Design” column, and now I find that PingMag MAKE covers the company behind the line, Maruni Wood Industry, in their latest article.

This month’s edition of “On Design” was published this week in THE JAPAN TIMES, and covered the new Maruni Collection by Naoto Fukasawa, Yuta Watanabe’s Peg Pencil, the Tatamet collapsible helmet, Le Bain in Nishi-Azabu, and a look at the Kokuyo Design Award 2007.

My weekly Tokyo post at MoCo Loco is up, this time covering Hideaki Tanaka’s BitWatch, the Information Ring, and news on Nosigner.

• February 2 and 3 you can catch a program of classic Japanese cinema, “Rediscovery of YAMAMOTO Satsuo” (it’s part 9 in “The Japan Foundation Film Series”), at OAG Haus (next to the Canadian Embassy) in Akasaka. Films will be shown with English subtitles, with entry at only 600 yen per screening. You’ll find the schedule and additional details here.
• This Friday (January 25) sees the opening of a new bookstore and publishing company, Shibuya Publishing Booksellers. The party is from 18:00 to 22:00.
• Just a reminder that next Tuesday (January 29, 19:00-22:00) sees the “Hitotoki Hitoban” event/party at the Pink Cow in Shibuya. I’ll be reading the story I wrote for the site.