Posts from — August 2008

I went to go scope out Japan C, an expo of anything and everything Japanese, currently going on at Felissimo on 56th Street in Manhattan. And I’m happy to report that it was actually pretty cool. In other words, there was no Takashi Murakami and very little Hello Kitty! The curators did a good job of selecting and showcasing a variety of eclectic products from Japan. I thought I’d post some pictures of, what I believe, were the highlights.

More after the jump (sorry, but there were just too many pictures…)

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Artist Jason Polan is trying to draw every person in New York!

image courtesy of Jason Polan

(thanks Yuka!)

I just saw the trailer last night for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Now I can’t wait for Christmas day!

On a related note, all 11 chapters of the original short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald have been beautifully typesetted and are available HERE in downloadable PDF format, courtesy of Jonathan McNicol. Awesome.

image courtesy of Jonathan McNicol

A while back I wrote about Naoto Fukasawa and his designs, but I just saw that his MUJI wall-mounted CD player is once again available at MUJI stores! VERY very exciting.

via swissmiss

Our little one is approaching 2 and meal time has always been the hardest because there are so many distractions in this brand new world of his. But we find that making meal time into a story often helps and I think constructing a story around this Makiba Table Set would be so much fun! Designed by Rie Isono from Pear Studio!

images courtesy of Pear Studio

Designer Lincoln Kayiwa sent over these images of his recent design; the TUKAANI chopsticks. Crafted out of sterling silver, TUKAANI, whose form was inspired by the Toucan bird’s bill, offers an alternative for those who find traditional chopsticks awkward. Originally from Uganda, Lincoln received his M.F.A. from the University of Art and Design Helsinki. If you would like to order the TUKAANI chopsticks you can contact Lincoln here.

Green Capsule is your world’s smallest portable garden. Strap it on your cell phone or keys and exercise your horticulture skills on the go! Just one of many eclectic finds from Japan C, an expo of everything and anything Japanese, going on at Felissimo in New York.

Designer Craig Anczelowitz sent over these beautiful pics of Awagami+1, a new line of paper products he designed for Japanese washi company Awagami. Craig is a native New Yorker who now focuses his time between Thailand and New York. It takes a lot of talent to design something that is so contemporary, and yet so consistent with tradition!

When I wrote about Wasara earlier this week, it immediately spread throughout the blogosphere, as evident by this google search, which is kinda cool. Unfortunately, the majority of bloggers got their source wrong, which kinda stinks…. But what can you do right? After all, this is the wild wild west aka the Internet.

Anyway, given the enthusiasm, I thought I would provide an update and more details. All we know about the launch date is that it’s planned for sometime towards about the end of the month. I’ll give another update when anything comes out. However, I did a little research and it looks like pricing has been set at 80 yen (75 cents?) per dish. Also, a bit on the designer. The dishes were designed by Shinichiro Ogata, creative director of SIMPLICITY, an interior design firm specializing in bold Japanese style interiors. His work is characterized by dramatic uses of light and shadow, as well as the incorporation of natural elements such as water and stone. Have a look! Really, quite gorgeous.

Bassin restaurant in Fukuoka prefecture

Higashi-Yama restaurant in Tokyo

Sansuikaku lodge in Tochigi prefecture

J-Period interior shop in Paris

images courtesy of SIMPLICITY and Hike-Shop

To conclude my series on Tokyo’s Café boom, I’d like to show a more recent work by Ichiro Katami and Uichi Yamamoto. SO TIRED opened in April of 2006 in the business district of Marunouchi. The concept was to create a church-like atmosphere where businessmen can relax after (or during) a hard days work. The stained glass is a nice touch that creates a unique environment, very uncommon to Japan. But what’s even more impressive are the chairs. If you look closely you’ll notice that on the rear of the chairs there is a bible holder. These are actual church chairs imported from Europe.

SO TIRED serves a blend of Cantonese and Western cuisine. And, quite contrary to what the name suggests, high-octane woks and energetic staffers characterize the general feel of the shop.
The design is comforting, but not too noisy or overpowering, something that the 2 designers emphasize in all of their work.

Since 1997 to the present, their stores have been met with enthusiastic intrigue. Is it a coffee shop? Is it a restaurant? That ambiguity was probably what was needed to interfere with the rigid structure of day-to-day Japanese lifestyle. That ambiguity was probably what was so relaxing about cafes, and what kept people coming back. Ichiro Katami and Uichi Yamamoto possessed the foresight to identify the needs of Japanese consumers, proposing solutions through elegantly designed cafes. Perhaps that, over their artistic skills, was the true genius behind the duo.

That concludes my piece on the Japanese Cafe boom. If you are interested in visiting any of these cafes I’ve created a google map that lists them.