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...
Founded in 1984, the museum focuses on collecting, preserving, and contextualizing woodworking tools, playing a key role in connecting the appreciation of Japanese wood-based architecture and furniture with the trans-generational knowledge, techniques, and tool-making traditions that are concealed at its roots....
While depopulation is a problem in many countries the issue in Japan is more imminent due to the large population (around 30%) of people above the age of 60. “NIPPONIA Kominato Genroku Village” is one of the projects trying to battle this problem by creating a “decentralized hotel” which is...
What is the “Japanese aesthetic”? That, in essence, was the question posed by designer Naoto Fukasawa and the furniture manufacturer Maruni Wood Factory in 2008, when Fukasawa partnered with the nearly one-century-old furniture company to help rediscover its essence. Since then, the wish to design chairs, tables, and other staples...
Hiiro is a modern, ceramic water carafe made from traditional bizen-yaki. It’s the result of a joint-effort between product designer Shizuka Tatsuno and Daikura, a pottery studio specializing in bizen-yaki....
For over 1300 years, the Kamado Shrine has stood at Mount Homan in Daizafu, Fukuoka, bearing witness to cycles of blooming cherry blossoms and brilliant fall foliage. A more recent addition to the site, a visitor’s center and juyosho (amulet store) designed by the design agency Wonderwall and opened in...
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...
It is summer festival season in Japan. While a traditional Kimono is only worn on special occasions, Yukata are worn by all generations during this time. Recently one particular brand has caught my eye. Chikusen has been making traditional Japanese clothing since 1842 and while many of their designs are...
“The people who built those machines are not here anymore,” says Osamu Yamamoto, who speaks deferentially of the cast-iron collotype printers at Benrido Atelier in Kyoto. Yamamoto is the manager of Benrido, a printing establishment that uses some of the last, traditional collotype machines in the world to create richly...
In 1964, 10-year old Kengo Kuma visited Tokyo and stood in awe of the swooping, concrete Olympic stadiums designed by Kenzo Tange. These megalithic forms, which spiral off the ground in simultaneous expression and defiance of physics, captured the energy of rapidly industrializing Japan and inspired Kuma to become an...
Last time I visited Kyoto I had the pleasure of receiving a tour of a newly renovated machiya turned into Airbnb by the architect Seiichi Takeuchi (@schrtkch on Instagram). Takeuchi-san has worked under star architect Ando Tadao for many years and has recently established his own practice in Osaka. Attracted...
Japanese is a language that uses a lot of filler words—nanka, ano ne, uun, ano, sou des ka?, sou sou—small, highly inflected expressions that depend on context to girth their meaning. Sou sou is an expression that usually indicates recognition or validation: yes, yes. Sou Sou is a Kyoto-based textile...
