Curiosity‘s “Light – Light” installation, first shown in Milan last year, is now on show at a Louis Vuitton store in Tokyo until April 5. Designboom only mentions that it’s at the Louis Vuitton store in Shibuya-ku, which I assume would be the flagship store on Omotesando.
Feb 27, 2009
Yes, I’m extremely late with my write-up on the February 2009 edition of PauseTalk (Vol. 28), but then again, it gives me the opportunity to plug the next edition, which happens this coming Monday (March 2, from 20:00 at Cafe Pause). I’d like to thank everyone who came to the last one and made it so enjoyable — and nicely crowded. I honestly can’t remember what was covered, but I assure you it was all good.
Below, a partial list of those who attended, because I didn’t properly keep track of everyone who came. If you’re missing from the list, please let me know and I’ll add it right away — and apologies for being the senile entity that I am.
Feb 27, 2009
Tramnesia adds another great video to its “Working” series. It’s another international couple — following Knee High Media — this time Mike and Yuri Abelson, who run the stationery brand/company Postalco. I’ve seen their products all over the city, but didn’t realize they had a shop of their own — it’s in Kyobashi — which I’ll have to check out soon. Always nice to see small companies like this doing so well.
Feb 27, 2009
Josh McKible is busy: on top of the recent poster for Cafe Pause and label for the original tea blend, now he’s also collaborating with papercraft legend Shin Tanaka. Josh was invited to participate — along with six other designers — in a project called “We Don’t Need Fake!!!” To help keep things “real and original,” download the designs here.
And if you haven’t done so already, have a look at the latest batch of NaniBirds, ready to be printed and folded.
Feb 26, 2009
Design aficionados take note: Steven Heller and Lita Talarico, co-authors of the book The Design Entrepreneur, are giving a free lecture at Spazio in Ebisu on March 13. More details on the sign-up page.
Feb 26, 2009
Another great show at Diesel Denim Gallery Aoyama, this time “Paranomia,” featuring collaborative works by Chinese artist Chi Peng and creative director Kensui Arao. It runs until May 10.
Feb 26, 2009
My weekly Tokyo post for MoCo Loco is up, this time covering Mile‘s “Whose Leg?” mini-lampshade, Nendo‘s exhibition in NYC (above), and Hidetoshi Takahashi’s Cara and Kami wooden cups.
Feb 26, 2009
According to Japan Probe, Japanese convenience store chain Lawson is about to purchase rival chain AM/PM. 7-11 remains the monster chain in Japan, but in Tokyo at least, the new deal would give Lawson 1,795 stores versus 7-11′s 1,602.
I love my Japanese convenience stores, oh yes I do.
Feb 26, 2009
As promised, a few photos taken at the party we had for the 5th anniversary of Cafe Pause last Saturday. All photos were taken by Kei Suzuki — he was responsible for the visual/sound performance.
Feb 25, 2009
Following Saturday night’s amazing 5th anniversary party at Cafe Pause — I’ll get photos up soon — on Sunday night we were treated to another performance by painter Hiroaki Koshiba, accompanied on guitar by his brother, Takaaki Koshiba. Photos taken on iPhone using the Toy Camera app.
Feb 24, 2009
Designer Bianca Beuttel has been a good friend of PauseTalk over the years — since Vol. 1, actually — and in just over a month she’s leaving Tokyo for the calmer climes of Kyoto. Before she leaves though she’s having an exhibition at Cafe Pause called “Japanese Memoscapes” (March 9-15). It involves the use of memo pads she has designed, which will also be sold during the exhibition. If you visit the exhibition website, you can see what the pages look like — that’s one of them above. I’m participating by filling up one with my scribbles, which will then join the exhibition.
Feb 24, 2009
Yes, the magazine industry is hurting in Japan just as much as anywhere else. I’ve been told — so feel free to treat this as a rumor — that the Japanese edition of Esquire is about to cease publication. And that same person was telling me that circulation numbers in general are hurting, and so it sounds like we shouldn’t be too surprised to see more closures if things don’t improve in the coming months. Esquire in Japan is actually a decent magazine — it’s much more Brutus than Esquire US.
Also, an update on the news I posted a few weeks ago about the demise of Kateigaho International Edition. The magazine as we know it has indeed ended — the current issue is the last — but later this year it will continue as a translation of the original Japanese edition. Believe me, fans of KIE will not want this upcoming edition.
Feb 24, 2009
Takahiro Miyashita’s recent collection for Number (N)ine — shown last month in Paris — will be the line’s last. Via Mekas.
Feb 24, 2009
The Beat Crusaders devote the video for their latest single, “Phantom Planet,” to last year’s LittleBigPlanet. Great use of the band’s trademark face masks. Thanks, Ola.
Feb 23, 2009
Absolutely stunning poster of the Tokyo railway system by Korean designer Zero Per Zero, that acts as a map and a calendar. I’ve seen the full-size version of last year’s edition — it hangs at the AQ offices — and it looks even better when seen up close. You can purchase it online through White Rabbit Press.
Feb 23, 2009
PauseTalk is a regular series of events that take place at Cafe Pause on the first Monday of every month, with a start time of 20:00. The idea is to create a forum where Tokyo-based creatives can get together and discuss their own projects, as well as cultural currents of the city. The next edition is March 5.
We hereby define a new term, that of the magaziner, described as a person who exerts an unhealthy amount of love for all things magazine. The Magaziner is a site that mostly focuses on the intersection between magazines and the digital frontier, and what it means for the medium. This does not preclude the inclusion of a healthy amount of print love.
Jean Snow is a contributor to Arcade Mania, your guide to the arcade gaming scene in Japan (Amazon US/Amazon Japan). He also provided assistance on Tokyolife: Art and Design, a guide to Tokyo's cultural output of the past few years, covering the works of over 80 influential creatives.
He will be contributing to the upcoming fifth editions of The Rough Guide to Tokyo and The Rough Guide to Japan, due for release in 2011.
Jean Snow is Executive Director of the PechaKucha organization. He also helps run the PechaKucha Night in Tokyo -- please get in touch if you are interested in presenting at a future event. For a more intimate salon-like discussion group, join him at his monthly PauseTalk event.
A longtime resident of Tokyo, he lives and breathes design, pop culture, and gaming, sustained by an unhealthy addiction to magazines and frequent visits to his favorites cafes. He has reported on these obsessions for various online/offline publications, including the following: Time, Inside (Australian Design Review), Gizmodo, Gridskipper, Kotaku, 1UP, Tokyo Q, Superfuture, OK Fred, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, I.D. (International Design), Metropolis, Azure, MoCo Loco, Kateigaho International Edition, Wired's Game|Life, PingMag, CNNGo, Phaidon, and The Japan Times.
You can subscribe to an RSS feed of this site, and also follow him on Twitter and Facebook, or get in touch by email.
He serves as editor-at-large at Néojaponisme, a web journal covering social and cultural aspects of Japan. Read the manifesto, by founder and chief editor W. David Marx.
He also writes a monthly column covering Japanese product design for The Japan Times, called "On Design." It appears on the last Tuesday of every month, in both the print edition and online.
