Tag: Japan

  • Maki Nomiya’s Un Homme et Une Femme

    One of the first friends I made when I moved to Tokyo was Patrick Benny, who I had met through a Pizzicato Five mailing list (P5ML) — I met quite a few good friends that way, including W. David Marx and Jesper Larsson. We all shared a love for Shibuya-kei music, and Patrick was especially into…

  • Metanet Tokyo Map

    When you visit Tokyo, it’s always nice to have a bunch of recommendations on places to check out before you get there, and my friends Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns — otherwise known as Metanet Software, creators of the fantastic N series of super platformers — have done everyone a solid by sharing a Google map…

  • Toco Toco on Keiichiro Toyama

    There’s a new episode of the excellent Toco Toco series out, and this time it profiles Keiichiro Toyama, creator most recently of the Gravity Rush series, but previously known for his work on the Siren horror series. As with previous episodes, it features interviews, along with visits to some of Toyama’s favorite spots in Tokyo.

  • Tomoyuki Tanaka

    I can’t believe it. The image you see here (of Shibuya station, from this Architizer post) was drawn first by pencil, and then pen, by Tomoyuki Tanaka. He has created these massive and insanely detailed works for various stations, and they’re currently on show at the “Doboku Civil Engineering” exhibition at 21_21 Design Sight.

  • Portland in Tokyo

    This was definitely something that I was already seeing before I left Tokyo, and I see that it has continued with gusto. I’m referring to the growing love of all things Portland in Tokyo, via quirky cafes/bars that go as far as serving imported craft beers from the city. Here’s a piece that offers up…

  • Liam Wong

    I came across this post on Design You Trust with really fantastic photography of Tokyo by Liam Wong, and then after doing a bit of digging, I find out that he’s an art director at Ubisoft Montreal (that’s where I work). You’ll find more of his city photography at his Instagram account, and you can…

  • Mati Mati

    Mati Mati is a beautiful series of stationery that takes authentic map data from areas in Japan as a graphic base. The first collection covered Marunouchi, Kichijoji, Omotesando, and Fukuoka Tenjin, while the new collection includes Yokohama (pictured), Kyoto, Umeda, and Kobe. It was art directed by Yuruliku Design.

  • Kokoro & Moi & Escalator Records

    Back during the heights of the Shibuya-kei scene, Escalator Records was one of my favorite labels, and I loved visiting its shop and cafe as well. Kokoro & Moi were responsible for a lot of the label’s branding (including at their physical spaces), and it’s nice to see a few examples here. Now I really…