Pocari Sweat, one of Japan’s most-popular sports beverages, has just released a new ad that features a girl running through undulating hallways, confetti and flower petals to reach her friend. The vertigo-inducing sixty-second ad was created almost entirely in a single-take and relying largely on hand-made sets and props.
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Japanese wood joinery dates back to the seventh century and is a craftsmanship technique that involves complicated, interlocking wooden joints that form bonds without the use of nails, screws or adhesives. Practical use of these woodworking techniques, known as tsugite, has been dwindling over the years due to their complexity but a team of researchers from Tokyo University have created a software program that can generate these wooden joints, which can then be fabricated.
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all photos by Shingo Nakashima courtesy Klein Dytham Architecture
Tokyo’s new Toggle Hotel, located in the neighborhood of Suidobashi, officially opened for business on April 1, 2021. Located on a triangular site and bound by the Shuto Expressway, the Kanda River and the Chuo Line railway, the hotel finds itself in the epicenter of Tokyo’s energy and vitality. Surrounded by a sea of grey monotone, the hotel takes inspiration from the movement and color of Tokyo’s energy, positioning itself as a iconic, colorful landmark.
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Tokyo-based photographer Ben Beech takes us on a virtual walk through the cherry blossoms of Meguro River and Nezu Cemetery.
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As the weather continues to warm, the call of the wild grows stronger. If you’re thinking of a spring getaway with the kids, consider the Risonare Nasu Resort. Located two and a half hours north of Tokyo in Tochigi, the resort boasts an abundance of mountainous nature, easy access from the capitol and a brand new kid-friendly clubhouse called PokoPoko designed by Tokyo-based Klein-Dytham Architecture.
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all photos courtesy Post Hobby
Shizuoka City, home to toy model makers like Bandai and Tamiya, prides itself as being the plastic model capital of the world. Indeed, the Japanese city just West of Tokyo is responsible for 80% of the plastic model market. Inspired by these plastic models, or puramo, the city recently launched an initiative to install puramonuments around the city that range from signage to functional post boxes.
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all photos by Daici Ano courtesy Louis Vuitton
For the past 3 years, Louis Vuitton’s oldest outlet in Japan — their Ginza Namiki-Dori store that originally opened in 1981 — has been under construction. But the screens have now come down, revealing a shimmering new facade that resembles a pillar of water that beautifully reflects the light and surrounding environment.
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The Battle of Sekigahara, fought on October 21, 1600 was one of the most important battles in Japanese feudal history. The scene was depicted in the 1700s on a 6-panel byoubu folding screen that remains housed in the Osaka Museum of History. In a new installation that just went on display, the videographer Yusuke Shigeta has utilized pixel animation to reconstruct the battle as depicted on the folding screen, adding details of the natural landscape that still exists at the ancient battlefield.
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From a young age, Naoki Onogawa has been obsessed with origami, spending hour after hour folding single pieces of paper into different objects. Today, he creates art by folding paper cranes, or orizuru, one of the most common motifs found in origami. Yet his artwork is anything but common: Onogawa folds miniature orizuru whose wingspan clocks in at just 1 cm. And he folds hundreds of them, attaching them together in branch-like forms as if they were bonsai trees.
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Artist Motoi Yamamoto (previously) creates meticulously sculpted installations from salt as a way of coping with the pain of having lost family members. His works typically take the form of labyrinth-like mazes but in a new installation that just opened at the Setouchi City Museum of Art, the artist has created more than a hundred thousand salt petals in the shape of cherry blossoms scattered on the floor.
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Incredible Ad for Pocari Sweat, Shot in a Long, Motorized Set
Researchers Develop Free Software That Can Create Japanese Wood Joinery
Tokyo’s Colorful New Toggle Hotel Stands Out in a Sea of Grey
Tatsuo Horiuchi | the 73-year old Excel spreadsheet artist
Daisugi: The Japanese Forestry Technique of Creating a Tree Platform for Other Trees
