Architecture, Food, Places

Luxury without amenities: the ryokan that doesn’t need the extras

Sakamoto Ryokan is a tiny inn on the Noto Peninsula in the Japan Sea. With only three guest rooms, it’s one of the smallest ryokan in the country. Like other traditional lodgings in remote parts of Japan, there’s no TV, and naturally, the toilet and bathing area is shared. A...

Crafts, Fashion, Food, Interior design

Craftmanship for babies: tradition for the next generation

When Rika Yajima was only 19 years old, she began to get curious about Japanese craftsmanship. She wanted to get to know the traditions of the preindustrial past, when the handmade goods were central to Japanese culture. The adults in her life – the generation above her own – were...

Architecture, Interior design

Courtyards and small spaces

There are many challenges when building in Japans dense cities. Two that make it to the top of the list is to maintain privacy while letting in enough natural light and creating outdoor spaces within those restrictions that create pleasant views. Arbol Architects is a architecture firm in Osaka that...

Crafts, Places

Exploring the ultimate balance between lacquer and wood

Genten kaiki (原点回帰) means something like, “returning to the original starting point,” or “going back to the origin.” It’s an idea lacquerware company Gato Mikio adopted as their guiding approach, a philosophy that goes into each and every bowl, plate, tea canister, vase, or sake cup they design and produce....

Crafts, Farming, Fashion, Places

Discovering real indigo in Tokushima

Originally posted on amworkshops.com . Writing and photographs by Adam Marelli (@adammarelli). These days you don’t often see real indigo. In common use today, the dye is almost always synthetic. Producing natural indigo dyes for modern markets is time consuming and expensive. This is why denim, even high end denim, is...