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Author: michael miller

TRENDING RIGHT NOW

New Rent-Free Apartments Aspire to Support Budding Manga Artists
This is the Time of Year Bamboo Shoots Grow, Sometimes Wreaking Havoc
My Neighbor Totoro Poster by Olly Moss

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The Latest Posts

Hokusai-Inspired Erasers Reveal Mt. Fuji the More They Get Used　　　　　
June 13, 2024
Photographer Meticulously Recreates Images of Chickens Painted by Edo-Era Artist Ito Jakuchu
June 11, 2024
The Watermelon Kimono is the Perfect Summer Outfit
June 7, 2024
Three Art Festival to Visit in Japan in the 2nd Half of 2024
June 2, 2024
This is the Time of Year Bamboo Shoots Grow, Sometimes Wreaking Havoc
May 18, 2024
The 2024 Toyama Kei-Truck Gardening Contest
May 15, 2024
‘Puddle’ Are a Series of Flower Vessels Inspired by Puddles of Water
May 4, 2024
Five Unique Experiences at Harajuku’s Latest Development Harakado
April 28, 2024
Japan Quietly Shines at Milan Design Week
April 20, 2024
Myaku-Myaku Footwear, Inspired by the Googly-Eyed Mascot for the Osaka Expo
April 14, 2024

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TRENDING RIGHT NOW

New Rent-Free Apartments Aspire to Support Budding Manga Artists
This is the Time of Year Bamboo Shoots Grow, Sometimes Wreaking Havoc
My Neighbor Totoro Poster by Olly Moss
Japan’s Jimi ‘Mundane’ Halloween Costumes of 2023
Tamiya’s New Plamodel Factory in Tokyo is a Model Maker’s Paradise

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Manga Apartment VUY is a new housing complex in To

Manga Apartment VUY is a new housing complex in Tokyo that will offering budding manga artists rent-free living in hopes of discovering the next big artist.

Artists can apply now through October 2024 and the first wave of artists will begin occupancy in March 2025.

For many years, a model has existed in Japan in which subsidized housing supports manga artists who are early in their career and have not yet established an audience. One of the earliest was the Tokiwa-so Apartments in Tokyo which, from the 1950s into the 80s, was home to such luminary figures as Osamu Tezuka and Fujiko Fujio. And as manga translations find new audiences outside Japan, there seems to be a renewed interest in supporting the next up-and-coming manga artist.

More on the blog today: spoon-tamago.com

Funamachi Base (@funamachi_base) is a new café an

Funamachi Base (@funamachi_base) is a new café and a Japanese confectionery shop located in Gifu prefecture's Ogaki City that opened earlier this year.

Designed by Jo Nagasaka, the large, open space is intended to connect with the nearby community and parks, a mechanism which pays homage to the city's history of serving as a river port where people, goods and cultures flow freely.

Visitors also flow freely as they stroll through the nearby park and along the river to encounter a confectionery shop where the sights and aromas of they can kneading sweet bean paste can all be enjoyed at once.

Here's the exact address: 2 Chome-1 Funamachi, Ogaki, Gifu 503-0923, Japan

If you're in the area, be sure to stop by for coffee, lunch and some freshly made sweets.

Photos: Yurika Kono

Now through late August, the Owani Line in Aomori

Now through late August, the Owani Line in Aomori prefecture will operate with 350 locally made goldfish lanterns, known as kingyo-neputa, adorning the interior of their train cars.

On weekends and holidays, the train runs with only the lantern lights, creating a cool atmosphere during these hot days of summer.

The origin of goldfish lantern is said to be from the Edo period, when common people made them out of bamboo and washi paper instead of keeping real goldfish, which were a luxury. Each decoration is about 15 centimeters, and when lit up, the LED lights inside the two-car train illuminate the interior through the red goldfish paper.

In Niigata prefecture’s Murono Village, a surrea

In Niigata prefecture’s Murono Village, a surreal scene has unfolded…or should I say, inflated? From the rear of an abandoned townhouse a colossal, semi-transparent bubble has emerged, immediately transforming the quiet village into what could easily be mistaken for one of Willy Wonka’s inventions gone awry. This is, in fact, the latest creation by Ma Yansong, the visionary behind the architectural firm @madarchitects and a new addition to the local Echigo-Tsumari Art Festival.

Read more on S&T today: spoon-tamago.com

Photos: Osamu Nakamura

Senko hanabi, literally meaning ‘incense firewor

Senko hanabi, literally meaning ‘incense fireworks,’ are small and subtle sparklers that are packed with about 10 seconds of delicate pyrotechnics.

Tenohira Hanabi, which literally means ‘sparkler in your palm,’ is a new way to enjoy these fireworks.

More on S&T today: spoon-tamago.com

On the 5-year anniversary of the Kyoto Animation a

On the 5-year anniversary of the Kyoto Animation arson attack, the studio has unveiled a monument of 36 birds, each representing a life lost in what was Japan’s deadliest mass killing in decades.

It was designed by studio staff and is located in Ocha to Uji-no-machi Historical Park, situated so that visitors facing the sculpture look towards the site of the destroyed studio.

Pace Gallery's first Japan outpost is now open. Lo

Pace Gallery's first Japan outpost is now open. Located inside the new Azabudai Hills development, the 3-floor exhibition hub was designed by architect Sou Fujimoto, who created a minimalist space with gentle curvatures that work to emphasize the artwork.

Pace Gallery is currently in a soft opening as they prepare for their official grand opening in September. As one of the most influential galleries in the world, the fact that Pace Gallery chose to open in Tokyo in 2024 speaks volumes about the Japanese art market and the state of maturity of Japanese art collectors.

Tamiya, perhaps the most recognized brand name in

The Gion Matsuri (祇園祭) is one of the largest

The Gion Matsuri (祇園祭) is one of the largest festivals in Japan and is one of the three major festivals of Kyoto (along with Aoi Matsuri and Jidai Matsuri). It’s held throughout July with various events and parades scheduled during the month.

The festival has two climatic parts: the Saki Matsuri (first festival, held mid-July) and the Ato Matsuri (latter festival, held at the end of July). With the Saki Matsuri beginning in just 1 week, artisans have begun assembling the floats.

The construction process of the floats are very important and are publicly staged. This is because the process is an important part of preserving tradition, and passing the techniques down to younger generations. The floats, some called yama and some called hoko, consist of numerous components, including the roof and wheels, and only traditional rope binding techniques are used to build and complete a float.

Is anyone attending Gion Matsuri this year?

Forest Crayons are a set of 10 crayons, each with

Forest Crayons are a set of 10 crayons, each with a color derived solely from a different species of tree native to Japan such as cedar, hazenoki and katsura.

Designed by @studioplayfool, the crayons manage to repurpose Japan’s otherwise wasted timber as a source of pigment, breathing new life into the country’s abundant wood resources and allowing one to appreciate and create with the forest like never before.

While the colour of wood is often thought of as simply ‘brown’, Forest Crayons reveals the vast spectrum of hues that exist in the forest.

After months experimenting and refining to achieve the most vibrant result possible, the final crayons have each been carefully crafted by the Mizutani brothers at their modest factory located in the outskirts of Nagoya.

They’re available for $32 at https://shop.studioplayfool.com/products/forest-crayons

Gift giving is ingrained in Japanese culture and t

Gift giving is ingrained in Japanese culture and there are two major seasons for it. Ochugen, which happens aroung mid-July, is one of them (while the other is Oseibo, at the end of the year).

Ochugen is derived from the ceremonial day of Taoism on July 15th, a tradition that merged with Buddhism to create what is a show of appreciation to those who helped or supported you during the first half of the year.

We’ve hand selected a few gifts that encapsulate everything we love about summer from the strong sunlight to the lush aromas.

The beautiful thing is that the emphasis is not on the gift itself, but rather the act of giving. The value of the gift is of less importance than the thoughtfulness in which it is presented.

(Psst: members currently get a 15% discount so there’s no better time to join! Learn more here: https://www.spoon-tamago.com/membership/)

Today is Tanabata (七夕, meaning “Evening of t

Today is Tanabata (七夕, meaning “Evening of the seventh”), a Japanese festival celebrating the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi.

According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month. To commemorate this special day of stagazing, kirie artist Lito has carved 2 very special compositions into leaves.

Happy Tanabata 🎋

Happy 4th of July to all our American friends! I

Happy 4th of July to all our American friends!

Illustrations by @mizmaru_kawahara

Kohei Ohmori is a 30-year old artist who spends hu

Kohei Ohmori is a 30-year old artist who spends hundreds of hours drawing realistic metallic objects with just pencils. He’s publicly discussed his struggles with OCD and how he uses art to channel his above-normal levels of concentration and focus.

Read more on S&T today: spoon-tamago.com

Each year from mid-December to late April the Owan

Each year from mid-December to late April the Owani Line in Aomori operates a special train decorated with 300 mini-lanterns each handmade by local artisans

Komorebi (木漏れ日) is one of those uniquely u

Komorebi (木漏れ日) is one of those uniquely untranslatable Japanese words. It means “sunlight filtering through the tree leaves” and embodies a poetic appreciation for nature and its changing seasons.

Capturing that aesthetic is this beautiful handheld fan: the Komorebi Uchiwa

Over the past three decades, Soichiro Fukutake, th

Over the past three decades, Soichiro Fukutake, the former chairman of Tokyo-based education firm Benesse Holdings, and his family have spent $250 million of their fortune to transform Naoshima and roughly a dozen neighboring islands in the Seto Inland Sea into a global art destination. Their family home, situated along Okayama’s Handa Mountains and looking out over the city and inland sea, have recently been renovated and rebranded as Fukutake Tres.

More on S&T today: spoon-tamago.com

Hayao Miyazaki spent years walking around Japan, d

Hayao Miyazaki spent years walking around Japan, drawing old, charming homes. He compiled his illustrations in 2010 and released them as a book called Homes Where Totoro Lives (トトロの住む家)

The Asuka II cruise ship is a floating museum that

The Asuka II cruise ship is a floating museum that travels the seas showcasing Japanese traditional craftwork

So long, Dr. Yellow 😭 Japan's famous track insp

So long, Dr. Yellow 😭
Japan's famous track inspection train will be retired over the next few years as newer shinkansen models are equipped with their own inspection equipment.

Rare sightings of these bright trains were considered a sign of good luck.

JR Tokai and JR West both operate their own Dr. Yellow inspection trains, but decided to quit running from January 2025 and 2027, respectfully.

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