Move over BOSS, Golgo’s taking over the canned coffee racket! I don’t much care for the world of canned coffee anymore (it’s gotten to a point where I just can’t drink it — too sweet), but I absolutely love these cans featuring Golgo 13 art on them. The Mainichi has a gallery of all the cans available. Via Japan Probe.

Last week I was at the Shin-Marunouchi Building to have lunch at Rigoletto with my wife, and checked out Nagi Noda, Shinji Konishi, and Asami Nemoto’s “Animal Behavior” hair hat exhibition (it’s on the Marunouchi House floor). It runs until May 6.

Pictured above, a tote bag being sold featuring Nagi Noda’s Hanpanda.

• PEN (220) heads to Spain and bids us “Welcome to Basque Country.” The feature covers major cities, and all the spots and eats you’ll want to take in on a trip there.
• The latest PAPER SKY (25) is all about the “California Morning,” covering all the sorts of things — from cafes to markets — that you could be enjoying on the coast.
• BRUTUS (638) is all about bread, and I wouldn’t recommend leafing through it on an empty stomach (like I did). It covers everything you need to know about bread, from types found at bakeries to the bakeries to check out (in Paris and in Tokyo), even how to make it. Really makes me want to change my breakfast routine (typically limited to a cup of yogurt these days).
• It’s a must-buy issue of CASA BRUTUS (98) this month, with their annual feature covering “The Best of Tokyo.”
• The latest issue of AXIS (133) has Stefano Marzano on the cover, and a very interesting feature on “Concept Design.” I really liked the piece that looks at concept design in Hollywood, with some pretty amazing images to illustrate the work of all the designers who get covered.

• The end of May brings the Thai Film Festival (May 31 - July 11) to Tokyo at Cinemart Roppongi. Two of the films will be shown with English subtitles: MYSTERIOUS OBJECT AT NOON and TOTAL BANGKOK. Tickets for the screenings are already on sale at the theater, and through PIA.
• Gelman’s “Minimal Tokyo” series returns May 10 (from 23:55) at Liquid Room. This 9th edition, “Collision,” will include live visuals by UK and German artists Max Hattler and Robert Seidel.

In its new fashion issue, VICE offers up a global trend report for 2008, including a look at what the kids in Tokyo are wearing. Via PSFK.

I’d like to welcome online shop Tokyomade as a new sponsor on the site. They specialize in selling clothes and accessories from Japanese (or Japan-based) designers, shipping worldwide. They’re currently working on a Japanese version of the site as well.

It’s been very late in coming, and I apologize for that, but here’s the list of participants from the April edition of PauseTalk (Vol. 20). I’m missing a few names from some new people, so if you don’t see your name there, please let me know. It was probably the biggest PauseTalk to date (not counting the Swedish Style edition we did last year) with around 22-23 participants (not bad for a cafe that has 24 seats). You can see a few photos from the event taken by Rafael de Lima here. Also, please note that because of the Golden Week holiday, the next PauseTalk (Vol. 21) will take place on the second Monday of next month, so May 12.

Andrew Lee (Art Director)
Anna Antoniades (Fashion Designer)
Cameron Eeles (Writer)
Craig Mod (Designer)
Gen Higashikawa (Writer)
James Bowskill (Web Designer)
Jean Snow (Writer)
Joe Keenan (Graphic Designer)
Jose Luis Olivares (Illustrator)
Josh McKible (Illustrator)
Kristina Dryza (Strategic Insight)
Masao Tamaoki (Online Retail)
Max Hodges (Publisher)
Rafael de Lima (Photographer)
Ronnie Kattan (Online Retail)
Samson Adjei (Architect)
Shantell Martin (Illustrator)
Shige (Online Retail)

Some of you have noticed the stealth upgrade I did to the site last night. The green had been there for way too long (since November 2006, actually), and I was really looking for a change. I pretty much re-did the site last Sunday morning, when I woke up and had the idea for the new look, and I’ve just been tweaking things here and there since. Let me know if you encounter any problems or weirdness anywhere.

JAPANESE ROOMS is a new photo book by artist and graphic designer Sven Ingmar Thies that takes a look at how the Japanese live, with photo spreads of their rooms taken in five cities (Berlin, New York, Shanghai, Vienna, and Tokyo). The book can be purchased from the Kaitenart website, or through Amazon Japan.

New York Art Beat launches! I really like that dark purple color scheme.

PingMag takes us on a tour of Shinjuku’s retrogaming themed bars (8-bit Cafe and 16 Shots).

I like the new UNIQLO commercial that has started airing on TV for this spring’s UT lineup. You can also re-arrange the loop over at the UT website.

Digiki posts a 101TOKYO round-up, including links to coverage, and quite a few photos.

Earlier this week I went to the opening for the “Light Construction” exhibition at Center for Cosmic Wonder in Aoyama.

The show brings together Mike Mills, Elein Fleiss, Yoshimio, and Yukinori Maeda, and runs until June 30.

Hanging out inside this installation was quite nice.

I wanted to go and chat with Mike Mills — I quite like his work — but was too shy. I ended up having a good time with Liliyo though, OK Fredders Ay2 and Yoshi’s daughter.

Congrats to the Chin Music Press crew for the crowded book launch of ART SPACE TOKYO this past Tuesday. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, then it’s off to the AST site you go. I predict this will become their best-selling book. Yeah, it’s that good.