Need some extra cuteness for your hot chocolate this winter season? How about a cat paw? Or even better, a whole cat? The Yawahada Marshmallow Shop creates adorable cat-themed marshmallows modeled after a cat named Hirokichi. (Depending on your vantage point, these can either be taken as uber-cute or a cruel image of a cat drowning.)
Kenji Shibata. “11:53:36″ (2014). lambda print, 72.1 × 96.4 cm | click images to enlarge
Ice is frozen, which is obvious. But what’s not always so obvious is that ice can signify, both symbolically and in reality, the stopping or slowing of time. Locked in ice, life can be preserved and time can literally be frozen. Which is what makes the thawing of ice all the more poignant and, for Kenji Shibata, an ideal subject to photograph.
The fashion designer Issey Miyake’s Pleats Please collection, introduced in 1993, is a series of polyester garments heat-treated to create permanent pleats. And since 2005 the graphic designer Taku Satoh has been collaborating with Miyake on all the visuals. Last year Satoh created monthly ad campaigns that likened the fabric to scrumptious-looking food. This year he’s tapping into the more sensitive side of the brand, creating a series of ads that show “clothing blossoming into flowers.” The series of ads includes camellia, plum, tulip, rose, poppy and sweet pea blossoms.
This tableware looks like disposable paper plates, bowl and cups, but they’re not. Please don’t throw them away after a single use. Or 10 uses. Or 100 uses. The tm series of tableware by Japanese design firm ideaco was carefully designed to mimic the look and feel of disposable paper plates.
By brilliantly using bamboo powder the design team managed to achieve practically the same weight and texture as disposable paper, making them ideal for both indoor and outdoor eating. We’re proud to be able to carry the sustainable and environmentally friendly plates, bowls and cups in our shop!
Designer Yuri Suzuki‘s dyslexia prevented him from reading music as it is traditionally written. This led the Japanese artist to adopt quite a playful approach to music-making: his installation last year at the Mudam Luxembourg invited visitors to create their own compositions using color markers. The public would draw along the curvy lines on the floor, and let robots translate their scribbles into unique sound pieces. Earlier this month, the innovative piece was selected by the MoMA to join its collection.
12 years later the sheep is back… | image by spoon & tamago
Amongst the many notable New Years traditions in Japan, one of them is sending nengajo, or New Years cards. And despite the number of cards sent being in decline, there are still about 30 million printed. For the design team at Japan Post, one of their most important tasks is coming up with the design for the stamp, which incorporates the zodiac animal of the new year, to be printed on all the postcards.
This year, stamp designer Ayaka Hoshino was chosen to design the stamp. Coincidentally (or not) she also designed the stamp 12 years ago. And if you’re familiar with the zodiac system you’ll know that this means Hoshino was tasked with designing the same animal as last time: the sheep. The design that she came up with is one that captures time and continuity. In 2003 the sheep was depicted knitting a ball of yarn. 12 years later the knitting project was complete! Whether or not this was all part of Hoshino’s elaborate, long-term plan? I suppose we’ll never know.
Riffing on the popular Japanese TV segment 3 Minute Cooking, the cell phone carrier DOCOMO has created an ad called 3 Second Cooking to promote the fast speeds of their Full LTE service. The “fried shrimp version” of the ad starts off just like the original cooking show with the list of ingredients: shrimp, flour, bread crumbs, eggs, but then takes a unexpected, technical twist: 2 LTE lanes, 1 total control computer, 6 air pressure adjustment devices, heat-proof goggles and any sort of shock-absorbent material.
If you use the Japanese messaging app LINE then surely you’re familiar with stamps, or stickers, a series of colorful illustrated icons that are often accompanied by a word or two. Stamps and their popularity have been solely responsible for the explosive growth of LINE to capitalize on this trend the company, in May of this year, launched “Creators Market,” a platform which allows anyone with basic illustration skills to design a set of stamps and sell them each for 100 yen. The artist pockets half of the revenue while the company takes the other half.
The eyes are the windows to the soul, according to the old English proverb. For Ai Teramoto, a young artist based in Tokyo, they are also the source of human creativity and imagination. Up until 2 years ago Teramoto was a student at Musashino Art University majoring in fashion. But after graduating she began exhibiting a series of black and white drawings that combine her intrigue for human eyes with her background in fashion.
tsukimi soba necklace
“What looks like spaghetti Bolognese and keeps fresh on the shelf for 50 years?” asked the NYT in 1985. Japanese realistic fake food samples, of course, which have become almost as famous as the country’s delectable cuisines. It’s a craft that’s been raised to an art and line the display cases of restaurants throughout the country.
Based in Saitama prefecture, Hatanaka is a manufacturer who has been creating real-as-life food samples since 1965. But recently, unimpressed with the growth of the restaurant business, decided to get into the fashion and accessories business as well, turning their food models into necklaces, earrings and belts.
The Profitable World of Designing LINE Stamps 
Bacon Belts, Curry Necklaces and Other Realistic Food Sample Jewelry 
The Secret Behind Japan’s 2015 Zodiac New Years Stamp 
Vintage Posters from the 60s and 70s by Kazumasa Nagai 
Japanese Artist Megumi Igarashi Arrested for 3D Printed Artwork Based on Her Vagina 
