MUJI posts a beautiful flash-based essay — mixing visuals and text — on its global site, explaining the rationale behind the company’s line of products.

Spoon & Tamago shares a few photos of Pass the Baton, “a vintage shop that derives its name from the concept of passing things on from one generation to the next,” located in the Marunouchi area. The shop’s design is by Masamichi Katayama (Wonderwall).

Azito is an online gallery that deals with sales of Japanese contemporary art worlwide, including works by the likes of Takashi Homma, Kenji Yanobe, and Keiichi Tanaami.

Pictured above, “New Waves,” a print by Homma.

Here’s a look at a new shop in Aoyama for children’s brand Carina, designed by Kazuyo Sejima (SANAA). Via Dezain.net.

A fun idea, if possibly a maddening one: Rroomm is a clothing shop in Osaka that was recently renovated by architects Ninkipen, and the main feature is a series of eleven doors, six of which are fake. Via Dezeen.

CNNGo has a piece up looking at some of Tokyo’s best bike shops. Pictured above, WBASE Harajuku.

Is it just me, or does this photo from MUJI’s Xmas 2009 page for their “gateau au chocolat” mix look like a certain yellow pill-popping fiend.

Marxy explains the success of Uniqlo over at The Business of Fashion blog. My favorite bit from the piece:

In fact, perhaps the brand’s most powerful asset is its neutrality. Wearing Uniqlo carries no meaning of its own. It’s as close as apparel has ever come to interchangeable LEGO blocks.

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.

The Comme des Garcons brand has opened a new concept store in Omotesando Hills called Trading Museum. As noted in this Wallpaper piece,”the space features eight expansive display cabinets on loan from London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.” Via Dezain.net.

A few months ago, Jeremy Leslie over on his MagCulture blog posted a detailed — and crowdsourced — map of London’s best magazine stores. At the time I thought it was a terrific idea, and wanted to create something similar for Tokyo. Sure, I already have a few I know, but the best way for this to work is if I can get as many contributions as possible.

So please, let me know what your favorites are — either by leaving a comment or by emailing me. I’ll compile the results, and create a proper map on Google Maps, just like Jeremy did for London.

Nike is opening a new store in Harajuku tomorrow (November 14), and the shop’s website is now showing a time-lapse video of the construction (or at least of the exterior’s temporary display).

Muji has launched its annual Xmas campaign section, which includes the new collaborative project between Muji and Lego. Imagine a mix of paper crafts, using Lego blocks and pieces as accessories. I don’t know if these are sold at all stores — I don’t think so — but I saw a huge display at the Tokyo Midtown Muji store during design week.

Not “my Tokyo,” but rather my friend Luis Mendo’s take on the city we love to love. Earlier this year Luis stayed in Tokyo for a 3-month “inspirational retreat” — I posted about his terrific illustrated Tokyo diary back in April — and now here’s a sneak peak at a map he’s created for an upcoming issue of Journal de Nîmes, a newspaper for the denim store Tenue de Nîmes in Amsterdam. I’m very happy to see that Ikebukuro gets a mention, both for its Muji and Cafe Pause.

The Tokyo Art Beat online store is now selling the colorful Chiso Memo Block by Kenjiro Sano.