Category: General

We head out for Aoyama late in the afternoon (Saturdays tend to start late for us) and get there around 4:30. I start by checking the map at the Omotesando station koban to find out where the newly opened BOOK246 shop is, only to find out that’s a bit out of the way (it’s close…

This month’s GGG exhibition sees the designs of Sato Taku in a show called “Plasticity.” Designer Sato Taku has been responsible for the packaging of countless hit items, including Nikka Whiskey Pure Malt, Meiji Oishii Gyunyu milk and Lotte Xylitol Gum. Here he shows the whole range of his work and gives his own explanation…

The new issue of AXIS (109) is now out. Here’s a blurb on the feature, “The City in Metamorphosis – creating urban environments in the 21st century,” from their site: The awareness that “the 20th century model has its limits and is on the decline” is a growing perception in virtually every field of human…

I stopped at Junkudo early this afternoon on my way to work to pick up the latest PAPER SKY, and instead picked up the new issue of +81 (24). It’s the “Nipponia Nippon” issue, and covers all sorts of Japanese creative types, from web designers like Nakamura Yugo, to magazine editor/designers like Cap’s Fujimoto Yasushi…

TELEVIEWS, a weekly column on Japanese TV that appears in THE DAILY YOMIURI, this week takes a look at what makes Japanese TV different. Beat Takeshi has been doing quite well with an unsettling, almost spooky, medical check/health advice variety show called Saishu Keikoku: Takeshi no Honto wa Kowai Katei no Igaku (Medical Horror Check…

Just a reminder to one and all that a new issue of online Japanese design zine SHIFT (090) is now up. I must say that I preferred it when the “Girls on the Street” column was based in Japan.

A few weeks ago I mentioned ordering Tokumaru Shugo‘s new album, NIGHT PIECE, on the Music Related label after listening to a great MP3 preview (which you can find here), and I received the album in the mail 2 days ago. I’ve listened to it a few times now (mostly on the iPod during my…

Something new at the Watari-Um Museum of Contemporary Art in Aoyama. REALTOKYO says: Each of the 6 international participants in this exhibition creates his/her own original “space”. The first one that catches the visitor’s attention is Gerda Steiner & Jorg Lenzlinger’s “Whale Balance”. The installation featuring an array of platns, bones, food samples and other…

It’s Saturday, and I decide to go to Tokyo University with Yuko to do some hardcore Japanese studying. As we arrive in Hongo, we go to the Mermaid Cafe for some caramel lattes and small snacks before heading out to the library. As you need a card to enter the premises, Yuko does a bit…

You might notice a few little updates and changes on the site. The first thing is that I’ve added a new box in the sidebar indicating the last 10 posts that have received comments (as well as the time and author). I hope this will keep old posts alive, and make for continued discussions on…