Photos by Daici Ano and Tomoyuki Kusunose, courtesy Torafu Architects
Tamiya, perhaps the most recognized brand name in the modeling industry, recently opened a new flagship facility in the Shimbashi Toranomon area of Tokyo. Dubbed the Tamiya Plamodel Factory, the shiny new store, which just opened in late May, replaces the previous store just across the street, and had served model makers since 2008.
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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 Saki Maruyama and Daniel Coppen of Studio Playfool, 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.
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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 the special day of stagazing, kirie artist Lito has carved 2 very special leaves.
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Something must have come over me, says Kohei Ohmori, reflecting on the 280 hours or roughly 5 months spent drawing a hyper realistic composition of a metallic bolt and nut using just pencils. The 30-year old artist, who has publicly discussed his struggles with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), has managed to overcome what is often perceived as a weakness and harness his incredibly capability for focus, which recently culminated in a solo exhibition at the Setouchi City Museum of Art.
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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, and embedding it into a beautiful handheld fan (uchiwa), is designer Kotoko Hirata, who created the Komorebi Uchiwa.
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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.
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Over 50 pieces of traditional craftwork (dento kogei) are on display on the Asuka II cruise ship for a project organized by the Japan Kogei Association, a Tokyo-based group comprising artisans nationwide, and Anchor Ship Partners Co., a shareholder of the company that operates the leisure liner.
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Erasers are usually used to delete mistakes. And as they get worn down, they become dirty or harder to hold. By nature, they are not fun to use. But Japanese stationery fim PLUS is on a mission to reverse that mentality with erasers inspired by the iconic woodblock prints of Katsushika Hokusai.
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Edo-era painter Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800) excelled at capturing the flora and fauna of the natural world, a skill that extended to remarkable depictions of birds. In particular, chickens were a common theme for the artist and it was said that Jakuchu owned many of them, and allowed them to roam freely in his yard as he observed and painted them. One enthusiast shares in Jakuchu’s obsession with chickens, as well as the work of Jakuchu itself, which has resulted in the wonderfully niche hobby of recreating the 18th century images through contemporary photography.
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Summer in Japan is not summer in Japan without festivals and watermelon. So if you’re looking to refresh your wardrobe with some playful pieces that celebrate the season, as well as festival-appropriate outfits, look no further than the watermelon kimono – a juicy take on a timeless garment. A unique blend of tradition and whimsy, the watermelon kimono is not just a fashion statement but the perfect embodiment of summer’s spirit.
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Craft Your Own Salt From Over 600 Varieties at this New Salt Specialist in Tokyo
Japan’s Jimi ‘Mundane’ Halloween Costumes of 2023
Isometric Drawings of Sento, Kissaten and other Japanese Establishments by Honami Enya
Tentacle-Inspired Leather Accessories Handcrafted by Cokeco
Shunga: Japanese Erotic Art from the 1600s – 1800s
