Category: Art & Design

  • Liam Wong

    I came across this post on Design You Trust with really fantastic photography of Tokyo by Liam Wong, and then after doing a bit of digging, I find out that he’s an art director at Ubisoft Montreal (that’s where I work). You’ll find more of his city photography at his Instagram account, and you can…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Nintendo Monthly iPhone Wallpapers

    I use the Line app once a month, and for the exact same reason every time: to check the new messages from the official Japanese Nintendo account, for the purpose of downloading the new iPhone calendar wallpaper it shares each month. Pictured above, the wallpapers we’ve gotten for July, August, and September (which is now adorning…

  • Famicom Titler

    Just look at this gorgeous machine. Released in 1989 by Sharp, only in Japan, its purpose was to allow better video capture of Famicom (NES) games. Read more about its history in and use in this Kotaku post. I mostly lust for those controllers with the big “1” and “2” graphics on them.

  • Godzilla Wi-Fi in Shinjuku

    Since I’m no longer based in Tokyo I can’t really comment on the access to free wi-fi in the city, but while I was there (until March 2015) it was horrible, and so it’s nice to see that our big green friend is taking care of covering Shinjuku ward in beautiful free internet vibes. The…