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Architecture, Interior design, Places

A guesthouse redefining luxury travel

Redefining luxury as a state of mind. That is exactly what founders of Maana Homes, Hana and Irene are doing in the heart of Kyoto, Japan. With the intention to have guests rethink the meaning of luxury and travel,  Maana homes captures the refined essence of Kyoto for all guests...

Crafts, Stories

A chopstick making kit with premium wood left-over

A little over 2 years ago I was sitting at a table in the countryside of Japan, specifically Hida Furukawa, whittling chopsticks out of a “Hamidashimono” aka wood left-over with people on my left and my right people who gave me the courage to pursue Pieces of Japan and who...

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, Fashion

Bringing urushi lacquer to the streets

The Tsutsumi family has been specializing in the making of urushi lacquer since 1909. Takuya Tsutsumi, the successor of the business, has been rethinking the use of Japanese lacquer “urushi”. Urushi is the natural resin collected from the lacquer tree, a plant native only to Asia. Refined into a coating...

Crafts, Places, Stories

Up in Smoke: Sakai’s Last Incense Craftsman

Certified as a Living National treasure, Kinzaburo is an aging incense craftsman based in Sakai in the heart of Osaka prefecture. As a one-man operation, he spends his time producing and selling his incense sticks in a small studio-shop.  Despair in the face of the near complete disappearance of his...

Crafts, Places

Little Indigo Museum: A Look into the Life of Hiroyuki Shindo

Nestled in the hills of Kyoto prefecture lies the village of Miyama, known mostly for its traditional thatched roof buildings and also for being the home of Hiroyuki Shindo and his prodigious work with indigo. Equal parts gallery, workshop, and residence, the Little Indigo Museum is more than meets the...

Architecture, Crafts, Interior design, Stories

Illuminating the streets of Kyoto with Kojima Shoten

One of the staples of Japan known in western culture are paper lanterns, and for good reason. Paper lanterns bring a beautiful warmth, a sense of peace and safety to the atmosphere. That is difficult to achieve with common lightning.  This is especially remarkable in the streets of Kyoto. A...

Architecture, Food, Interior design, Places

A “Treehouse” in Tokyo Redefines Work-Life Balance

Built in the 1960s, the Aoyama Building has weathered some of the more swift-moving winds of modern history. The 13-story tower is planted on a block corner in Tokyo’s Minato ward, in a thicket of skyscrapers, parks, embassies, and palace grounds. In the 1970s, it housed the headquarters of the...

Architecture, Crafts, Places

Ryosokuin head priest curates design & craft collaborations exhibit

This year was the 4th year of the “Lexus New Takumi Project” where young crafts people across the country are challenged with creating the “next-generation traditional crafts”. 150 young crafts people and designers participated and their work was showcased in the basement of the Kyoto Shimbun (Newspaper) Building, the Heian...

Crafts, Featured, Stories

A chopstick making kit with premium wood left-over

A little over 2 years ago I was sitting at a table in the countryside of Japan, specifically Hida Furukawa, whittling chopsticks out of a “Hamidashimono” aka wood left-over with people on my left and my right people who gave me the courage to pursue Pieces of Japan and who...

Crafts, Places

A local crafts exhibition wins the Good Design Award 2019

About two years ago I visited Echizen with my parents, specifically to buy lacquerware from Shitsurindo (漆琳堂). Talking to the owner and successor of the family business we heard about all of the other crafts people in the region and I remember how it felt like a movement was about...

Crafts, Interior design

Designer Shizuka Tatsuno explores local glassmaking traditions

History courses through the work of Shizuka Tatsuno, though some would never think to say so. Her product designs often beckon us with their modern forms — their streamlined silhouettes and clean blocks of color — but they end up compelling us most when their crisp outlines dissolve, revealing artistic...

Architecture, Food, Places

Okomeya – A rice shop as part of a revitalization project

The rise of supermarkets in Japan changed the landscape of many smaller downtowns all across the country. Smaller mom and pop shops would go out of business one by one and once vibrant shopping streets would turn into “shutter streets”. The company Owan has been trying to counter this movement...

Crafts, Food

Nendo designs chopsticks inspired by woodwork

“An object has to be functional but has to be fun,” explained designer Oki Sato in a recent interview, “because the word ‘fun’ is inside of ‘function.’” Such wordplay speaks to the spirit of the work produced by Sato’s iconic design studio nendo. Sato’s search for the playful in the...

Architecture, Crafts, Interior design

Kengo Kuma’s furniture that blend into the surroundings

This summer, Japanese furniture maker Time & Style showcased a selection of furniture designed by architect Kengo Kuma. Like a compilation of rare B-sides, the exhibition, titled “Furniture that blends into the surroundings,” represents years of creative output and celebrates a facet of Kuma’s practice that has thrived quietly in...

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“We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates.”

Junichiro Tanizaki

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