Even though I was planning on going, I missed out on Paper Sky’s “Bicycle Club” event this past Saturday at the farmer’s market in front of the UN University, but the magazine’s Lucas Badtke-Berkow has posted a few photos from the day, both for the bicycle event and the booth the magazine had at the market. Above on the right, Lucas and his carrots!
Dec 22, 2009
Wanted to post this a while back and for some reason didn’t get around to it, but really enjoyed Tim Rudder’s report on the cycling trip he took to Nikko (from Tokyo and back).
Dec 15, 2009
The new issue of Paper Sky (31) is a special one, marking a major renewal for the magazine. The most obvious change is the cover design, but you’ll find English content creeping back into the magazine as well — for now, mostly with intro paragraphs to each article, but Cameron Allan McKean’s article on sento bathing in Tokyo is published entirely in English.
The Paper Sky website is also about to get a major revamp, and is set to launch within a week or two. The new site will now have a strong English component, of which I’ll be a contributor (but more on that once the site launches).
The other day I had the great pleasure of finally meeting the magazine’s founder, Lucas Badtke-Berkow, who also founded the original — and truly great — TOKION. Seems like this should have happened ages ago, and it was great to have a nice long chat with Lucas about where Knee High Media has been, where it’s heading, and on the state of print media in general. After checking out the KHM office in Shibuya, we ended up getting coffee at this amazing little retro cafe nearby, which I hate that I can’t remember the name (but I’ll be going there again).
Above, the label for Lucas’ new Luke’s Carrots line of organic products — I had a taste of the carrot jam, which was delicious. You can currently buy it at the weekend farmer’s market in front of the UN University in Aoyama, where he and his wife are manning a booth this month. Next weekend they’ll also be offering free rides on some very cool bicycles, as part of the new Paper Sky Bicycle Club.
Update: The cafe’s name is Aoyama Ichibankan, and here’s a map that shows the location. Make sure to get the honey toast!
Dec 13, 2009
Tim Rudder took the afternoon to draw a girl on a fixed gear bike, and walks us through the process.
Dec 8, 2009
CNNGo has a piece up looking at some of Tokyo’s best bike shops. Pictured above, WBASE Harajuku.
Dec 4, 2009
The Cycle Chic from Copenhagen blog has a post up featuring a few ladies riding their bicycles in Fukuoka, courtesy of photographer Stephen Crawford. It is indeed great living in a city/country where women are frequent cyclists. Via Ryan Ruel.
Nov 30, 2009
Felissimo in New York is hosting a Japan Brand pop-up shop during the holidays (until December 24), and it’s been getting some coverage on a bunch of NYC-based blogs, including JoshSpear.com and Spoon & Tamago.
Pictured above is a bicycle designed by Gelman, made of lacquer, silver plating, and gold leaf. It was created for his “Gelman’s Masterpieces” exhibition earlier this year at the Kakitsubata gallery in Nakameguro. I was actually given the chance the take it for a spin after the show was over, but I chickened out — was just too nervous that I might crash it or something.
Nov 26, 2009
Click through to see a very cool panorama photo of the JAN track bike shop in Tokyo by Kyoichi Ozaki — best viewed fullscreen. Via Gordon Kanki Knight.
Nov 13, 2009
Here’s a pretty interesting project in which Tokyo-based Ubiquitous Entertainment put together a navigation system that mounts an iPhone on a cycling helmet, with the display running into an eyepiece. Thanks to the device’s compass — if you have a 3GS that is — everything orients correctly as you move your head around. Via Core77.
Oct 26, 2009
In collaboration with this year’s traveling Bicycle Film Festival, Italian manufacturer San Marco has produced a series of limited edition saddles, one for each city that hosts the event. Tokyo is covered in red. Via Cool Hunting, which includes more photos and details.
Jun 21, 2009
“Aeolian Ride” — held so far in a few cities around the world — sees a bunch of riders get together, put on an inflatable suit and, well, ride around. It’s coming to Tokyo on May 16, and if interested you can sign up here. Visit the previous cities’ photo galleries to get a better idea of what the event looks like.
Apr 12, 2009
Very cool idea for cyclings pants/jeans from Momotaro Jeans: include reflective stripes on the back pocket. Added bonus: this entry would even work if this site was actually called “Jeans Now!” Via Luis.
Apr 8, 2009
Tramnesia’s terrific “Working” series of short video reports on independent businesses continues with yet another Tokyo-related company — previously Knee High Media and Postalco — this time the Depot Cycle & Recycle bike shop in Ichikawa.
Mar 22, 2009
One bright effect from the recession: cycling in Japan is on the rise. The Y’s Road shop mentioned in the article is my regular bike shop.
Feb 19, 2009
Photo taken while biking yesterday around the city, using the iPhone’s Toy Camera app. Pictured, a spot near Suidobashi station.
Jan 18, 2009
Where's all the regular art/design-related content you used to see here? Check out SNOW Magazine, a Tokyo-based online magazine featuring news and guest columns -- see the full list of contributors -- covering the cultural landscape of Tokyo/Japan.
The SNOW Magazine Cafe is a month-long celebration of art, design, and culture magazines from around the world, on display for everyone's reading pleasure at Cafe Pause in Tokyo.
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Being a survey of recommended titles for your gaming pleasure. New games are added 2-3 times weekly, and all selections are by your host, Jean Snow, a Tokyo-based writer and gamer.
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.
He's a member of the Pecha Kucha team, working on various projects, including updating Pecha Kucha Daily, a blog that highlights the creativity coming out of PKN events worldwide.
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 Thursday of every month, in both the print edition and online.