Chip Tanaka (better known as Hip Tanaka) created the gaming soundtrack to your childhood, and this week he’s releasing his first full-length solo chiptune album, called Django (and he’s present on the newly released Diggin’ in the Carts compilation). The Japan Times has published a great piece looking back at the man’s career.
Tag: The Japan Times
More on Dangen
The Japan Times recently published a piece that gives a nice rundown of what Dangen Entertainment — a publisher+ that wants to be the bridge between Japan and the west — is all about. Glad to see my buddies Ben, John, and Nayan getting so much great coverage for their new business.
The Story of Gachapon
Reading this piece from The Japan Times sure made me miss having access to gachapon machines — I never bought tons, but it was always fun to get one once in a while, especially when there was a new series of something I really liked. It’s a shame we don’t really have access to these in North America.
The Story Behind You Only Live Twice
Bond fanatic that I am, seeing this article in the Japan Times about the making of You Only Live Twice sure put a big smile on my face — it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the film’s release in Japan. Makes me want to watch it yet again (even though I re-watched it last year).
As I mentioned a few times earlier this year, I was incredibly excited to see my buddy Andrew Lee redesign the Japan Times. At the most recent PechaKucha Night in Tokyo (Vol. 147, held on my birthday no less) he did a presentation on how the whole redesign came about, and it’s now available online. It’s a great watch.
All About Business Cards
As you probably know, business cards are still a pretty big deal in Japan — you’ll feel pretty naked if you don’t have some in any business situation — and here’s a big piece from the Japan Times that tells the full story on where this all originated.
The New Japan Times
I posted last week about the redesign of The Japan Times, and today (April 1) saw the publication of the first regular issue sporting the new look. A big otsukare to Andrew and his team on the fresh new design.
This week marked the 120th anniversary of The Japan Times, and the big news to come out of this celebration has been a complete redesign of the print edition of the newspaper, taking effect on April 1 (but they released a preview edition this week). The most amazing part of this news is that it’s my good friend Andrew Lee who is behind the redesign — oh, and he just happens to be the person who designed our Arcade Mania book. Andrew wrote three essays about the redesign, first about the redesign as a whole, then about the new logo (pictured above), and then looking through the various logos the paper has had through the years.
I’m really happy to see the paper get a new look like this — following the nice web redesign it got a few years ago (also created by a friend, Benjamin Thomas of Bento Graphics). I’m also quite proud to have been a Japan Times columnist for a decade — with my “On: Design” column, that ran monthly from 2005 to 2015 — and to have been part of the JT’s 120 years.
Papers, Please
The latest edition of my old “On: Design” column in the Japan Times is made up of a rather nice selection of paper-related goods.
That’s the name of an exhibition taking place at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (until March 20), curated by Naoto Fukasawa (one of my favorite designers, and I still think the Neon is the best mobile phone I’ve owned). The Japan Times interviews him about the show, which compares modern design to crafts.