Spoon & Tamago

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Spoon & Tamago Member Lecture with Shakuhachi Player Zac Zinger

September 22, 2020 / Johnny / Comments Off

Join us on Saturday October 3, 2020, for an online talk and intimate performance with multi-instrumentalist Zac Zinger. Versed in the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute, Zac will give us an introduction to traditional Japanese instruments and perform several pieces in what will be an evening of learning and meditative music. Zac has been recognized not only for his musical talent but for his cross-cultural musical presentation of fusing traditional Japanese instruments with jazz.

The online lecture will be available to Spoon & Tamago members. Already a member? Awesome! Members will automatically be receiving a link by email to join. Not a member? Consider joining us and getting access to this talk, as well as many other perks!

Online Member Lecture Series with Zac Zinger
WHEN: October 3, 2020 (EST) | 8:00 – 9:00 PM
WHERE: Zoom Meeting
HOW TO JOIN: All members will be receiving an email with a link to join the meeting.

UPDATE: the archive recording is now available and viewable below only to members who are signed in:

Yukino Ohmura Uses Stationery Store Stickers to Create Dazzling Nightscapes

September 21, 2020 / Johnny / Comments Off

Shinjuku (2019)

Ever since discovering the beauty and versatility of stationery store-bought dot stickers in art school, for over 10 years Japanese artist Yukino Ohmura has been using them to create dazzling nightscapes of Tokyo, Osaka and other major Asian cities. We featured her work back in 2014, but decided to catch up with her to see how her art is progressing.

Kadokawa Musashino Museum Designed by Kengo Kuma

September 18, 2020 / Johnny / 1 Comment

unless otherwise noted, all photos by Matthew Waldman

On August 1, 2020, Tokorozawa Sakura Town, a new suburban development in the northwestern outskirts of Tokyo, welcomed the opening of one of their major components: the Kadokawa Musashino Museum. Part museum and part library, the monolithic granite structure was designed by Kengo Kuma and developed by Kadokawa, a major publisher of manga and light novels.

Amayadori: Tadao Ando’s Circular Public Restroom Incorporates an Engawa

September 16, 2020 / Johnny / 1 Comment

The Tokyo Toilet project continues to make progress with the latest designer public restroom by Tadao Ando (previously) opening last week. Ando’s design features a circular floorplan with a spanning roof and engawa which, in Japanese architecture, is an edging strip of space on the outside of the building that occupies an area in between the interior and exterior.

The 2021 Japan Packaging Design Awards

September 14, 2020 / Johnny / 4 Comments

Japan has a rich history of packaging design that dates back hundreds of years and rooted in a tradition of gift-giving. Before industrial materials like plastic and cardboard, gifts were wrapped in straw, bamboo, leaves and paper: an art unto itself that lives on today in the form of products often wrapped in as many physical as symbolic layers.

Every two years the JPDA (Japan Packaging Design Association) celebrates excellence in packaging design by hosting the Japan Packaging Design Awards. The winners of the 2021 Awards were just announced and can be all viewed here (PDF) but we’ve put together some of our favorites!

Long-Exposure Photographs of Torii Shrine Gates by Ronny Behnert

September 9, 2020 / Johnny / 2 Comments

Torii on Bentenjima (Hamamatsu, Shizuoka)

In 2019, German photographer Ronny Behnert travelled around Japan visiting various Torii, the traditional Japanese gate commonly found at the entrance of Shinto shrines and used to symbolically demarcate the transition between our world and the sacred world of the gods. And I know what you’re thinking — do we really need another photo gallery of Torii taken by a foreigner? We asked ourselves the same question and the answer, in this case, was yes.

The Newly Renovated Koganeyu Sento in Tokyo

September 8, 2020 / Johnny / 1 Comment

all photos by Yurika Kono

It must be a public bath miracle. Just last week we wrote about how rare it was to see a sento open instead of close, or be converted into a cafe. Now it’s happened again. Rather than bending to the winds of change, the owners of Koganeyu, an 88-year old sento in Tokyo, have doubled-down on their aging public bath, launching a crowdfunding campaign to support renovations. The new Koganeyu reopened this week.

New Large Scale Structure Planned For Jingumae Crossing in Harajuku

September 7, 2020 / Johnny / 4 Comments

The face of one of Tokyo’s most famous crossings continues to change. The West corner of Jingumae Crossing has largely remained unchanged for the past 50 years. But when the iconic Condomania relocated in late 2018, it proved to be the first sign of new changes to come. Now, renderings have been revealed: a monolithic, multi-functional structure designed by architect Akihisa Hirata will open in 2022.

A Wooden Cabin Constructed Locally in the Mountains of Japan Using a 3D Wood Cutter

September 2, 2020 / Johnny / 2 Comments

unless otherwise noted, all photos by Takumi Ota

Nestled deep in the Gokayama mountains of Japan is Marebito no ie, a wooden cabin constructed near Toga village. The region is renowned for a unique type of A-frame housing design and architectural style known as gasshō-zukuri (合掌造り) which uses wooden beams combined to form a steep roof that can easily shed snow from their roofs. Marebito no ie was designed as a contemporary homage to this tradition but with minimal impact to the environment: an affordable Shopbot 3D wood cutter was brought in and the entire project was completed with local timber that did not have to be transported.