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Tag: nautical

Collab Alert | Tsumori Chisato and Petit Bateau

TRENDING RIGHT NOW

Whimsical Ceramic Banana Peel Art by Koji Kasatani
Japan’s Jimi ‘Mundane’ Halloween Costumes of 2023
Isometric Drawings of Sento, Kissaten and other Japanese Establishments by Honami Enya

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The Latest Posts

Kirie Artist Lito Celebrates Tanabata with Handcut Leaves
July 7, 2024
Hyper Realistic Pencil Drawings of Metallic Objects by Kohei Ohmori
July 1, 2024
Keep Cool This Summer With the Komorebi Uchiwa
June 22, 2024
Fukutake Tres is an Art Space Dedicated to the Fukutake Family, the Visionary Force Behind the Setouchi Art Islands
June 22, 2024
The Asuke II Cruise Ship is a Floating Museum of Traditional Craftwork
June 16, 2024
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

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TRENDING RIGHT NOW

Whimsical Ceramic Banana Peel Art by Koji Kasatani
Japan’s Jimi ‘Mundane’ Halloween Costumes of 2023
Isometric Drawings of Sento, Kissaten and other Japanese Establishments by Honami Enya
Travelling Through Eizan Railway’s Picturesque ‘Momiji Tunnel’
Japan’s Jimi ‘Mundane’ Halloween Costumes of 2022

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“Morning Dew” by Hyakusui Hirafuku. As the sto

“Morning Dew” by Hyakusui Hirafuku. As the story goes, Hyakusui Hirafuku observed the morning dew on the grass of Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park for two years before painting this work—a meadow at dawn—in 1915.

Japan’s current microseason is 草露白 (kusa no tsuyu shiroshi), the time of year when you will notice white beads of dew in the early mornings. Dew appears during seasonal changes (like between summer and fall) when the temperatures drop during the night and moisture in the air solidifies.

——seasonal poetry——

Dew is a symbol of autumn in Japanese poetry but its transient nature of quickly burning off with the sun also allows it to take on other meanings. It’s often been used as a symbol of tears that are wiped dry in the morning, as well as representing fleeting life itself.

The Heian poetess Izumi Shikibu (976 - 1030 AD), left a collection of over fifteen hundred tanka poems that are remembered for their passion and free expression. The following is an example of dew in all its glorious symbolism:

疾うを来よ咲くと見る間に散りぬべし露と花とのなかぞ世の中
tou wo koyo saku to mirumani chirinubeshi tsuyu to hana tono nakazo yononaka

Come quickly — as soon as
these flowers open
they fall
this world exists
as a sheen of dew on flowers

——Japan’s 72 microseasons——

Want weekly seasonal art, poetry and recipes? Become a member, either on Instagram where you’ll receive them in your feed, or on our website where you’ll receive them as newsletters in your inbox.

https://www.spoon-tamago.com/membership/

We looove baum kuchen and have taste-tested close

We looove baum kuchen and have taste-tested close to 100 from all across Japan, from cheap combini baum kuchen to high-end. But we keep coming back to Nenrinya.

Their flagship store is in Ginza but they have an additional 7 outposts scattered around Tokyo and even 1 in Osaka.

Baum kuchen is originally a German pastry (the name means “tree cake” in German) but entered Japan over a century ago and has been perfected ever since.

*oh this is not a sponsored post! We genuinely just love Nenrinya so much

Once storm season is over, book yourself a tour an

Once storm season is over, book yourself a tour and go inside Tokyo’s “Underground Temple.”

Officially named The Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel, it’s the largest storm drain in the world. Completed in 2006, the anti-flood system lies 165 feet below Kasukabe City, is made up of a network of five silos connected by four miles of tunnels, and cost $2 billion to construct.

This is what investing in infrastructure looks like.

You can read more on our blog: https://www.spoon-tamago.com/go-inside-tokyos-massive-underground-storm-drain/

Summer in Japan is a vibe

Summer in Japan is a vibe

Still plenty of time to see one of Tokyo’s coole

Still plenty of time to see one of Tokyo’s coolest public art installations. On view at Ginza Six department store through the summer of 2025.

Over 400 space cats in astronaut suits, ultraman figurines reenacting the beginning of the universe, and a tribute to Taro Okamoto’s iconic Statue of the Sun sculpture. There’s a lot to love about artist Kenji Yanobe’s installation, BIG CAT BANG.

The changing face of Harajuku. Also, we didn’t h

The changing face of Harajuku. Also, we didn’t hear a single word of Japanese while we were there 😂

Dashin Soan (@dashinsoan) is a tranquil soba shop

Dashin Soan (@dashinsoan) is a tranquil soba shop in a residential part of Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa neighborhood. The perfect lunch on a hot, August afternoon.

Sorry, but we don’t ever want to get on a train

We went to this kissaten in Tokyo and they had 108

We went to this kissaten in Tokyo and they had 108 different flavors of cream soda.

@junjyokissasugawara

Oasis in the middle of Tokyo. The Pandora cafe in

Oasis in the middle of Tokyo.

The Pandora cafe inside @hotelgajoentokyo is the perfect place to cool down on a hot, summer day.

Stunning semi-abstract paintings by artist @yuna_o

Stunning semi-abstract paintings by artist @yuna_ogino_ depicting the human embrace ❤️. If you’re in Tokyo, go see them at Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery on view through 9/1/2024.

More on the blog today: spoon-tamago.com

Only one thing to do when you arrive in Tokyo at 5

Only one thing to do when you arrive in Tokyo at 5AM

Today on the blog we’re featuring artist Masahik

Today on the blog we’re featuring artist Masahiko Minami (@mmasa373) who works with charcoal and graphite to create minimalist landscapes in dramatic contrast.

At once both familiar and foreign, the landscapes present a tension between absence and depth, reflection and contemplation.

Minami is the winner of the 6th annual @ronin_globus_onbeat_air Artist-in-Residence program which provides the opportunity for Japanese visual artists to live, work and exhibit in New York City.

Spoon & Tamago has been proud to serve as a judge for the program since its inception.

Yayoi Kusama has installed her largest-ever perman

Yayoi Kusama has installed her largest-ever permanent sculpture outside London’s Liverpool Street Station.

Unveiled last week, “Infinite Accumulation” expands on the artist’s iconic polka dots to create linked forms which interact with and define the public spaces outside the new Elizabeth line entrance to Liverpool Street station.

These dynamic serpentine arches were created intuitively by Kusama, hand-twisting the wires on the original models for the artwork.

📷 @thierry_bal

Giant floats paraded down the streets of Aomori la

Giant floats paraded down the streets of Aomori last week for the Nebuta Matsuri, one of Japan’s most-iconic and heavily attended summer festivals. A total of 22 floats featuring scenes from scroll paintings depicting warriors and mythology lit up the heart of the city. Pictured here are floats created by Asako Kitamura, Japan’s only female Nebuta float artisan.

She was born in 1982 to Takashi Kitamura, a 6th generation Nebuta float artisan. At the age of 25 she decided to pursue her father’s footsteps after seeing his work and being inspired by it. In just 5 years she became an officially recognized Nebuta artisan in her own right and has been contributing to the festival ever since. You can keep up with her at @nebuta_asako.kitamura.

You can also read more about the handmade floats here: https://www.spoon-tamago.com/asako-kitamura-nebuta/

#nebutafestival

Japanese illustrator Enya Honami (@enyahonami) use

Japanese illustrator Enya Honami (@enyahonami) uses a style of architectural rendering known as isometric drawings to faithfully recreate cross-sections of Japanese public bathhouses, or sento. And she’s releasing her first book of artwork later this month!

Honami is a skilled draughtswoman by trade, having obtained an MFA in architecture and working at a well-known Japanese architecture firm. But the grueling hours and workload eventually weighed on her physical and mental state and she fell ill, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

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

Sculptor @tomohiro.inaba’s latest solo exhibitio

Sculptor @tomohiro.inaba’s latest solo exhibition “A Story That You See” is on view at @yukiko.mizutani gallery in Tokyo through August 31, 2024.

Depending on your point of view, Inaba’s works look like they’re either disintegrating into mid-air, or being assembled into a whole as the wires thin out until only “blanks” remain.

The blank spaces are the margins where the viewer’s imagination can touch and draw a story, and this imagination gives the sculptures autonomy and life to the animals Inaba creates.

Manga artist Hirohiko Araki has unveiled his first

Manga artist Hirohiko Araki has unveiled his first public art piece at Osaka Station: “The Fountain Boy”

It’s part of a larger initiative called WARP (West Art Project) to install public art in around Osaka Station

The artwork pays homage to the history and tradition of Osaka Station by taking inspiration from the “Fountain Boy,” a statue that was displayed in Osaka Station for 103 years, and is now preserved at the Kyoto Railway Museum.

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

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