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Architecture, Crafts, Interior design, Places

A luxury hotel experience rooted in traditional Japanese hospitality

I don’t know how I have never heard about this absolutely impeccable hotel chain Hoshinoya. The hotel pretty much has everything I’d ever want in my future house.No matter where you go you are surrounded by amazing craftsmanship and a perfect blend of old and new. This specific hotel can...

Architecture, Interior design, Places

A tea stand merging old and new

Before even knowing what it was I got really excited when I saw this wallpaper pop up on Instagram. When you look at the cup you’d probably think it’s yet another coffee shop but it turned out to be a new “tea stand cafe” in Daikanyama and Sendagaya in Tokyo....

Architecture

Blue & White – Arita ware past and present

I’d like to start this publication by introducing one of the most famous Japanese ceramics “Arita”, easily recognizable by it’s blue and white color. Past When thinking of Japanese ceramics, the first thing that comes to mind with a high probability is Arita ware. The reason for it’s international recognition...

Crafts, Farming, Places, Stories

Tea picking in the birthplace of Matcha

My relatives recently went on tea picking / hiking experience via Airbnb in the countryside of Kyoto, Wazuka. That area has been producing tea for over 1000 years which is around the same time as the introduction of tea to Japan itself. You’d often hear about how the tea culture originated...

Architecture, Crafts, Interior design, Places, Stories

A love for coffee, design & seeing the world

Did you ever wonder why Blue Bottle Coffee sells so many things from Japan? It is because the founder James Freeman was inspired by the Japanese coffee culture which lead him to start the company. The coffee culture in Japan has been around for a few decades now but recently...

Architecture, Crafts, Places

A rooftop farm in the center of downtown Kyoto

If you are a foodie and love Japan, you might have heard of the term “Kyoyasai” which means “Kyoto vegetable” and is used to describe heirloom vegetables from the Kyoto prefecture. According to research the vegetables have more minerals, fibers and vitamins compared to regular vegetable and they also have...

Architecture, Crafts, Featured, Interior design, Places

A luxury hotel experience rooted in traditional Japanese hospitality

I don’t know how I have never heard about this absolutely impeccable hotel chain Hoshinoya. The hotel pretty much has everything I’d ever want in my future house.No matter where you go you are surrounded by amazing craftsmanship and a perfect blend of old and new. This specific hotel can...

Architecture, Crafts, Fashion, Interior design, Places

Naoto Fukasawa converts 132-year-old Kyoto townhouse into a Issey Miyake store

Naoto Fukasawa to me is like the Dieter Rams to many designers. He is behind many of the internationally beloved MUJI products and author of Super Normal: Sensations of the Ordinary. Him and Kenya Hara both spend a lot of time thinking about how they could scale their success to...

Architecture, Crafts, Interior design, Places, Stories

How a bar owner and his friends are reviving a town

Japan is one of the oldest countries in the world with a median age of 46.5. A big percentage of the older population can be found in rural areas where the average ages are even higher and the younger people usually leave for one of the big cities and never...

Interior design, Places

Black tea and cookies in the tea capital of Japan

A new tea house called Uji-Kochakan recently opened in Uji, the tea capital of Japan. They specialize in black teas, 30 varieties to be exact, that come with cookies in multiple flavors or a beautiful. On their menu is this beautiful 30mm thick pancake with an original sauce that is not at...

Architecture, Crafts, Interior design, Places

Inspiring ways of dividing a space

I often wonder what differentiates Japanese crafts from the ones in China where a lot of them originated. One thing that immediately stood out is the weight of things: Chopsticks for example are much lighter weight than the ones in China or Korea and the same thing goes for Shoji....

Crafts, Fashion

The Tsuchiya School Bag

In Japan it is still quite common to wear uniforms to school. Just like the uniform the school bag is usually a specific type called “Randoseru”. Until recently it was the norm for all boys to have a randoseru in black and for girls in red. My mother had a...

Architecture, Featured, Interior design, Places

A tea stand merging old and new

Before even knowing what it was I got really excited when I saw this wallpaper pop up on Instagram. When you look at the cup you’d probably think it’s yet another coffee shop but it turned out to be a new “tea stand cafe” in Daikanyama and Sendagaya in Tokyo....

Stories

Grandma’s stories and recipes

When I was younger I didn’t listen too closely to my grandfathers stories which I regret deeply. He used to be held prisoner in Russia during the second world war. I only remember pieces of his stories that he would repeat often the older he got but we never thought...

Architecture, Featured

Blue & White – Arita ware past and present

I’d like to start this publication by introducing one of the most famous Japanese ceramics “Arita”, easily recognizable by it’s blue and white color. Past When thinking of Japanese ceramics, the first thing that comes to mind with a high probability is Arita ware. The reason for it’s international recognition...

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“Limited pieces rooted in history and perfected through by multiple generations.”

Junichiro Tanizaki

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