Month: August 2016

  • Captain America: Civil War

    I wasn’t expecting to really like this – I didn’t like Age of Ultron, and everything I saw in the trailers for it made it look so drab – but hey, I enjoyed it. But it does look drab (in terms of art direction). I mostly liked the fight scenes, especially the big one (in…

  • Mati Mati

    Mati Mati is a beautiful series of stationery that takes authentic map data from areas in Japan as a graphic base. The first collection covered Marunouchi, Kichijoji, Omotesando, and Fukuoka Tenjin, while the new collection includes Yokohama (pictured), Kyoto, Umeda, and Kobe. It was art directed by Yuruliku Design.

  • Kokoro & Moi & Escalator Records

    Back during the heights of the Shibuya-kei scene, Escalator Records was one of my favorite labels, and I loved visiting its shop and cafe as well. Kokoro & Moi were responsible for a lot of the label’s branding (including at their physical spaces), and it’s nice to see a few examples here. Now I really…

  • House Vision 2

    It’s too late to take in the “House Vision 2” exhibition (it ended this past Sunday) but you can still experience some of the highlights courtesy of this Japan Times piece, written by Mio Yamada, who was the last editor of my “On Design” column (and who continues to write it now). The exhibition offered a…

  • Poweredby.Tokyo

    I’ve just come across Poweredby.Tokyo, a new community site that looks to shine a light on the “Tokyojin,” the people (Japanese or not) who make up the creative spirit of Tokyo, and to share the parts of the city that give them the most joy. The site is incredibly slick, and you can dig into the various stories…

  • Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin

    My first steps leading to me getting into Gundam started earlier this year when I watched the episodes released so far of the OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. This prequel series to the original 70s Mobile Suit Gundam anime really kicked off my interest and love of Gundam, and since then I’ve watched a few…

  • PauseDraw

    Even though I’m no longer in Tokyo running my PauseTalk events, it warms my heart to see that its offshoot, PauseDraw, is still going strong. Unlike PauseTalk where talking’s the thing, the sister series is all about getting a group of people together to draw, draw, and then draw some more. Originally started by Luis…

  • Hi and Goodbye

    Earlier this year, the fine folks behind the “moment sharing site” Hi (né Hitotoki) shared some big news: they would shut down the site on September 1, as part of a novel archiving project (here’s what Craig Mod had to say about the “Hitotoki Archives” project). We’re just a few days away from the site shutting…