Month: May 2009

Categories
Manga Web

IKKI Online Magazine

Some very good news indeed: Viz is launching a new online magazine named after — and inspired by — IKKI, a Japanese comic monthly aimed at the older crowd. The site is currently in beta form, and will officially launch after this summer’s San Diego Comicon. All manga will be free to read online, and the most popular series — based on feedback from readers — will get eventual print releases in digest form.

Publisher’s Weekly covers the announcement, and to echo a tweet by Patrick Macias, it’s good to see the PULP font used again (PULP was an earlier attempt by Viz to publish a monthly manga compilation for adults, to which Patrick was a columnist.)

Categories
Art

Yuichi Higashionna Wins Berengo Prize

101TOKYO has announced the winner of its Berengo Prize — the fair’s “best of show” — and that artist is Yuichi Higashionna, who “crafts chaotic chandeliers and installations out of everyday objects such as fluorescent lights and hand mirrors.” The prize gives Higashionna a residency at the Berengo Studio in Venice.

Here’s an interview with the artist from Shift Japan.

Categories
Photography Technology

QuadCamera vs. Apple

I think you all know how much of a fan I am of Takayuki Fukatsu‘s poto apps for the iPhone, and unfortunately it seems like he’s encountering some issues with Apple’s approval process. The issue is with the QuadCamera app, which Apple keeps rejecting with no reason given — the app is not new, but the the problem is with the an updated version that supports the upcoming iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade.

Categories
Film

The Walk

Great little short by James Okubo, descriptively called “My Walk to Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo.” From his description:

Made in 2.5 days for a presentation.
Bodycam rig was made in a day.
Shot in a day.
Edited on the way to the meeting in the subway.

Categories
Design MoCo Loco

This Week at MoCo Loco

My weekly Tokyo post for MoCo Loco is up, this time covering Schemata Architecture Office‘s Kurage lamp (above), Shigeru Ban‘s Carbon Fiber Chair, Yuki Futa’s Isu chair, and Naoki Terada‘s Write In Measure.

Categories
Books Design Food

In Search of the Lost Taste

Ian Lynam has art directed and designed a new vegan cookbook by Joshua Ploeg called In Search of the Lost Taste, which he describes as “half-recipes/half-adventure/sci-fi/fantasy novella with cover illustration by comic maestro Aaron Renier and interior illustrations by the mighty overlord Nate Beaty.” Ian has a bunch of copies available for 1,200 yen postpaid if you email him.

Categories
Art Events Photography

Design Festa Vol. 29

Couldn’t make it to this past weekend’s Design Festa (Vol. 29)? Tokyomade‘s Masao posts a Flickr photoset.

Categories
Film Music

Live House Movie

Tokyo-based journalist — and former PingMag colleague — Kevin Mcgue is working on a feature-length documentary about Japan’s live house scene called, appropriately enough, Live House. The project is set to come out this fall, and it was recently awarded a Japan Foundation grant.

Categories
Web

Peashoot

John “Yongfook” Cockle’s latest web app, Peashoot, has now launched to the public. Looks rather nice — it’s a system to keep track of online social media compaigns.

Categories
Events Meta

PauseTalk Grows

Yes, PauseTalk has indeed been growing, as seen with the attendance at the March and May editions, and so after having a talk with Cafe Pause‘s manager last night, we’ve decided that for the next edition (Vol. 32 on June 1, from 20:00) the cafe will be exclusively used for PauseTalk. This should mean seating for everyone, and also a slightly different layout, to try and make sure that everyone can be included in the discussions.

As always, I do appreciate getting an idea of how many people to expect, so feel free to email me if you plan on coming, or just indicate if you are coming or not when I send out the monthly reminders through Facebook — you’ll find the PauseTalk group here.

Update: I think some people are getting the impression that the larger attendance is a problem — or rather that I have a problem with it — but on the contrary, I’m fully embracing the growth in interest, and just want to make it more comfortable for everyone. The larger crowds also create a nice “after lounge” once the official session is over.