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July 27, 2024
 

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Jean Snow

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Jean Snow
A longtime resident of Tokyo, Jean Snow lives and breathes design, pop culture, and gaming, sustained by an unhealthy addiction to magazines and frequent visits to his favorites cafes. He has reported on these obsessions for various online and offline publications.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA / ON: DESIGN
Jan 22, 2008
Naoto Fukusawa, the peg pencil, Gallery Le Bain and more
Naoto Fukusawa: Beech Boy
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Dec 25, 2007
MoMA store in Tokyo, plus stylish New Year cards, cat toys and vacuum cleaners
MoMA Design steps in
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Nov 27, 2007
Design Week in Tokyo; Good Design Award
Tokyo Design Week, the 2007 edition, has come and gone, and now we have to deal with the fallout: what we saw, experienced, and enjoyed throughout the weeklong design showcase. Although it truly is an international event, here are a few highlights from some of the Japanese participants.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Sep 25, 2007
Tokujin Yoshioka, Nosign Design etc.
A drop of light
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Aug 28, 2007
Kyosho's MANOI PF0, IDEA International's MACINARI-TAKUMI collection, etc.
Your new best friend
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jul 24, 2007
DoCoMo's Simpure L2, Uniqlo's Hotels Homes, etc.
Word play
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jun 26, 2007
Metaphys, Bunaco, etc.
Earlier this month at Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center, the massive Interior Lifestyle show hosted more than 600 exhibitors, more than half of which were domestic companies. Having dug through the many products on display, this week I will spotlight the best Japanese designs you can expect to see on...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
May 22, 2007
OVO, DateBlock, VAPE No. 1 NEO and DECO LAMP
Eggish timer
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Apr 24, 2007
Conof, One Percent and Panasonic's new mini-speakers
Shredding mystery When I first laid eyes on the Conof by n.o.l., I had no idea what it was but immediately developed a unprovoked yearning for it. So when I eventually figured out that it was a paper shredder, there was a moment of disappointment -- secrecy and sensitive documents play no part in my...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Mar 27, 2007
KOKUYO, MUJI, PILOT and MONO for spring
Spring is in the air, and that means two things: a city draped in the pink of cherry blossoms -- hey, pink is the new black, so get with it; and the start of a new school year. So I'll concentrate this month's picks on a few items that will make you more productive with a touch of a style.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Feb 27, 2007
A grab bag of affordable products
Great design ideas do not necessarily need to cost an arm and a leg -- even though some manufacturers would like you to think so. With that in mind, this month's picks are a grab bag of affordable products, all under 10,000 yen (the small version of the Oblong clock excepted). Also, you should be able...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jan 30, 2007
Between the crafty and the user-friendly
Receptacle for the respectable It wouldn't seem that much could be done to improve on the functionality of the lowly water dispenser -- all you need is a receptacle and a tap. Enter Kai House with the Adhoc product from their Kitchen Design Movement collection. It features both a paired-down design --...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Dec 26, 2006
Easy Desk Aluminum, Waste Me Not Calendars, Plusminuszero's Humidifer, Metaphys' celtis game
The new year brings with it a perfect opportunity to make life improvements, or at least pretend to do so. This month's column, therefore, is about making you more productive, better organized (with a touch of eco-related ingenuity), enhancing the air around you -- as well as adding a bit of fun to our...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 28, 2006
Pore's Babel, Sunnin's Tokyo Dresser, Magnet Tack, Hiroyuki Kato's Root, braille lighting . . .
No sane person would probably ever consider trying to soak in nearly as much design goodness as I do in order to bring to light the cream of the crop for you. Being the brave soul that I am, though, earlier this month I enthusiastically and recklessly charged head first into Tokyo Design Week to see...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 2, 2006
Make the most of this year's celebration of practical art
Once again, Tokyo welcomes the design world with open arms into its streets, shops, cafes and galleries -- all under the umbrella of Tokyo Design Week, which encompasses four different yet complementary events: Tokyo Designer's Week, 100% Design Tokyo, Design Tide and Swedish Style.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 24, 2006
Sony's Aquos line, Kaichiro Yamada's Tatami chair, Tokujin Yoshioka's PANE chair, MSG's Kakehouki broom
Slim and sleek
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 26, 2006
Barouche appliances, R Chair, DoCoMo N702iS, NEKKO flower vase, M+K Design's Sweet Icicle light
Be it for the home, while you're on the go, or even during some far away travels, this month's column has you covered with a selection of choice items that should satisfy all your stylish needs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 21, 2006
Only good designs
If there's anything that design has taught us in recent years, it's that without it, the world around us would certainly be a much less interesting place.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Aug 22, 2006
Hisanobu Tsujimura's Kan chair, the En bench, Muji's form-fitting sofa, Ken Watanabe's Linkage Stool
Due to a spate of out-of-town excursions and hiking expeditions, lately I've felt the need to just sit down and enjoy moments of lounging bliss. Here is a selection of chairs, benches and sofas that not only act as elegant interior additions to the home, but more importantly, will encourage you to take...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 25, 2006
Mobile Mouse, National lawn mower, Tsubomi's space packaging system, SUTTO Stool
With the weather about to get the better of us as we move into the hottest month of the year, why not try to find some solace in a few items to help us make the most of the great outdoors. For those on the go or hanging out in their backyard (that is, those of us lucky enough to actually have one) this...
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
One dead, three missing as heavy rain batters Tohoku
Camera footage shows the Mogami River bursting its banks in Tozawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on Friday morning.
Brazil issues apology for persecuting Japan immigrants during WWII
Enea Almeida (right), chair of the Brazilian amnesty commission, shakes hands with the representative for Japanese immigrants on Thursday in Brasilia.
When did summer in Japan stop being fun?
Summer in Japan is now consistently brutal enough to drive you indoors and keep you there until autumn.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan eyes gold — and the future — as Olympic men's soccer campaign begins
Japan midfielder Yu Hirakawa controls the ball during a match against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.11 : Sekisui House Ltd.World’s top homebuilder acts on its responsibility
mission sustainability vol.11 : Sekisui House Ltd.World’s top homebuilder acts on its responsibility

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