Tag: Monocle

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Magazines On Something

On Magazines: Monocle

The first issue of Monocle (March 2007).

I’m quite vocal about my love for Monocle. I was truly excited when it first launched in 2007 (being an old-school fan of Tyler Brûlé’s previous title, Wallpaper), and have read every single issue since (well, I missed one issue a couple of years ago). It’s also the only magazine that I continue to read in paper form. I got a subscription to the paper edition of Wired last year, but let it expire as I felt I got absolutely nothing out of that edition over the digital one (that I get anyway through my subscription to Apple News+). Admittedly, for Monocle, reading it as a physical edition is also due to the fact that they’ve stayed away from a digital edition so far (other than putting article archives on their website, accessible if you’re a subscriber), but it’s a beautiful thing that I really enjoy digging into every month, and even though they’ve announced that they’re about to release a proper digital edition (in about two weeks), I plan on sticking with the paper edition (although that just means I’ll have access to the digital edition as well).

Why do I enjoy it so much? It’s a beautiful, thick book-ish piece of physical media that feels good to read. The paper stock feels right (especially compared to the paper thin joke that is the current Wired), and it makes the great layout design shine.

The beautiful Monocle Book of Japan, a love letter to the country.

I’m of course also a fan of what they’ve been doing in the book space, and on top of the few travel books I’ve already grabbed, for my birthday last month I treated myself to their new Monocle Book of Japan (that I loved to bits), as well as The Monocle Guide to Shops, Kiosks and Markets. I would like to eventually pick up all of their big books.

Even though I’ve been reading it for over a decade, it was only last month that I finally got a proper subscription. Price-wise, it came to about the same as getting it at the newsstands each month, but even better is that I finally started getting my issues when they get printed, instead of the month+ wait for the issues to reach our shores on newsstands. If you’re a fan of the magazine, a subscription is really the way to go, and it’s something that they’ve been pushing of late, to deal with the fact that the magazine wasn’t as available as could be due to the global pandemic — I imagine I would have missed out on recent issues if I didn’t have a subscription.

I could go on and on about what how much I love what they do — like the daily email newsletters they send out, the seasonal newspaper series they publish, or even their smart collection of goods (which are admittedly too pricey for my blood) — but I’ll end this rave of a post by simply stating that I’m grateful that it exists.

Categories
Food

Googie

I finally have the name to associate with a type of old-school diner/coffee shop I love so much: googie (here are some photos). I came across it while reading an article in a recent issue of Monocle (the October 2018 issue, which I hadn’t finished reading).

Although it’s a disappearing genre, there’s a bright spot in that the article talks about a resurgence in popularity, in the form of renovation work to classic joints (the article’s focus is on LA, which features them more than the box-like diners we tend to see on the east coast).

Chips coffee shop in LA.
Categories
Magazines

On Magazines

I was reading the latest issue of Wired this morning, and with the mention that the title is starting to gear up for its 25th anniversary (in 2018), and with Monocle just last month celebrating its 10th anniversary, it made me realize how loyal I tend to be to magazines I really like.

Not only are these magazines part of my very small pile of regular reads — along with Entertainment Weekly, which celebrated its 25th anniversary a couple of years ago — the other thing that these three titles share is that I’ve been reading all of them since the very first issue. For all of them, there have been very short periods where I may have fallen off for a few issues — mostly because of big changes in my life, like moving to Asia (China, and then Japan) — but it’s still interesting to see how loyal I’ve stayed to these titles.

I say that these are the only three titles I regularly read, and that’s not to say I don’t read any other magazines — I love a lot of indie titles, I still listen religiously to Monocle‘s The Stack podcast about magazine publishing, and would like to be reading titles like Edge and Time regularly, but for the former I can’t find print copies in Montreal and dislike the PDF-like digital edition, and for the latter I don’t want to buy the print edition and also dislike the PDF-like digital edition. In fact, I do most of my magazine reading digitally (I’ve been reading Wired and Entertainment Weekly digitally ever since they launched their iPad editions), and so there’s only Monocle that I read in print — sure, it’s because they don’t offer an iPad-edition, but to be honest, it’s also a beautifully produced paper product that I love holding in my hands.

There’s not real point to this post other than to say, shit, I’ve been reading these magazines for quite a while now.

Categories
Architecture Events

The Japanese House

There’s a show on at the Barbican right now entitled “The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945.” What especially grabbed my attention when I saw mention of it — it’s featured in this Monocle radio show — is that it apparently includes a full-scale recreation of Ryue Nishizawa‘s Moriyama House (pictured), which just so happens to be the house that I introduced in one of the episodes of NHK’s Tokyo Eye program I appeared in back in the day. It was a fantastic experience to act as a guide to the house (check out this Google image search), which really is something incredible — and the owner who commissioned the project was a joy to speak with as well.

Categories
Books Design Photography

Where They Create: Japan

A new book to lust over, Where They Create: Japan is a collection of what looks like fantastic photo shoots of creative spaces by photographer Paul Barbera. You get a peek inside the studios and work spaces of creatives like Anrealage, Kengo Kuma, Wonderwall, Nendo, Tadao Ando, Tokujin Yoshioka, and Toyo Ito. You can order it here — and here’s a radio interview with Barbera from Monocle.

Categories
Food

Chichibu Distillery

Monocle has a new video up that covers makers of gin, wine, and whiskey, and one of them (the final part in the video) is the Chichibu-based Chichibu Distillery, maker of what looks like rather tasty whiskey. I’ve been to Chichibu a few times for hiking, but I should have paid more attention to this.

Categories
Food Games

Kenzo Estate

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Did you know that the founder of Capcom, Kenzo Tsujimoto, has a winery in Napa Valley called Kenzo Estate? This Monocle video report (from 2010) gives you a tour of the grounds.

Categories
Architecture Tokyo Walking

Changes to Harajuku Station

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Harajuku station certainly is iconic in its own way — I still remember enjoying working across the street from it, in full view, when I was editor at PingMag. A recent Monocle Minute newsletter has an update on what’s likely to happen when it gets renovated in time for 2020.

Tens of thousands of people pass through Harajuku Station’s portals each day and now the current structure, which dates from 1924, is set to be renovated in time for the 2020 Olympics. The distinctive Tokyo landmark, which sits next to Meiji Shrine and one of Tokyo’s busiest fashion districts, comes close to a standstill at weekends – and its proximity to Yoyogi National Gymnasium, built for the 1964 Olympics and due to be a venue in 2020, only adds to the crowds. The station’s owner, East Japan Railway Co, is being careful not to reveal too much about its plans for the popular old building but it has published a design proposal: a functional structure that will increase capacity with room for retail but that is lacking in charisma. Local residents are being consulted later this month but the future doesn’t look promising for this small Tokyo gem.

Categories
Food

Tokyo’s Cignale Enoteca Tops Monocle’s Restaurant Awards

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Monocle’s latest “Restaurant Awards” are included in issue 4 of The Escapist (currently in shops), and it’s again topped by a Tokyo restaurant, this time the beautifully cozy Cignale Enoteca. Watch this video to have a better look at the place, as well as an interview with the chef/owner (it’s the 3rd restaurant featured in the video).

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Uncategorized

Ametora

W. David Marx’s upcoming book on the popularity of the American Ivy League fashion style in Japan in the 60s, Ametora (short for “American Traditional”), comes out on December 1, and you can pre-order it from Amazon.

This is a project that David has been slowly cooking – let’s call it a crock-pot of a project – for quite a while, and seeing it finally get to a point where it’s almost out and already getting some great coverage – like a recommendation in the latest issue of Monocle, pictured in this post, and an excerpt in Lapham’s Quarterly – is really fantastic. There’s no one I know who is more knowledgeable about this topic – and to be honest, the history of modern fashion in Japan – than him (he even wrote a thesis on A Bathing Ape).

This all gets me feeling quite nostalgic. David is one of the very first friends I made when I first moved to Tokyo over 15 years ago. We became acquainted slightly before my arrival, through a Pizzicato Five mailing list, which is how I made all of my first friends in Japan.

Yes, even back then, electronic communications were a thing, imagine that.

Over the years we’ve each had our own entertaining journeys, and his involved producing some excellent music (under the Marxy monicker), and before launching the Néojaponisme website with Ian Lynam, he was quite well known for some epic online essays about Japanese culture that evolved into some of the most pointed and heated discussions, usually with Momus playing the role of foil.

So yeah, Ametora, can’t wait to read it.