The Fox is Black

5 December, 2023

—

Travel

A Unique Way of Exploring Tokyo for First Time Visitors

W. David Marx is an author who has lived in Tokyo for the last 20 years. Recently, he shared what I thought was a rather interesting way to approach visiting Tokyo for the first time, creating a guide that takes a unique perspective. “This three-day guide provides a way to experience very old Edo period spots, mid-20th century establishments, and early 21st century cutting-edge culture.” Ultimately, he’s planned a guide for 72 hours in Tokyo, and I have to say, I would absolutely follow what he’s laid out here. Obviously cities grow and morph over time, and I find it interesting to plan your trip around these different phases of a cities evolution. Also, big shout out to illustrator Yuki Oebo, who created thee super charming art that accompanies the guide.
13 November, 2023

—

Interior Design

Japanese Clothing Brand visvim Opens Up Shop in Carmel

I’ve long admired the clothing of Japanese brand visvim, with their commitment to unique expressions in clothing. In the past, they’ve drawn inspiration from vintage Americana, Japanese Edo period garments, French workwear, Amish patchwork fabric, Native American clothing, the Alaskan outdoors, and Finnish Sami tribe culture.

Last week, they announced the opening of a new shop in Carmel, California, a small town near Monterey. It’s a super charming town that values small businesses over chain stores, so visvim founder Hiroki Nakamura decided to set up shop, saying he was “drawn to the ideology of creating a life of their own and taking pride in the culture and history of the city.”

The shop, previously a grocery store, is beautifully detailed, with a hand- carved countertop for purchasing goods, as well as snagging an espresso. The displays are also made of wood, nicely tying together the elements. I’m a big fan of a river rock floor, it gives such a tactility when you walk around a space, and the seafoam green carpet in the back ties in nicely to the waters of the Pacific Ocean, which lie only half a mile west. I’m also gagged by that hi-fi setup. You know they’re going to throw the best kickbacks there. If you’re in the Bay Area, it might be worth you time to take a day trip out of the city to check this out.
25 October, 2023

—

Food & Drink

Mitorakaruna Bakes Up a Tin of Adorable Kitten Cookies

I am so in love with these little Japanese cookies. I came across these in a roundup of cat-themed cookies on Casa Brutus (because of course they did). Made by Mitorakaruna, these are a mix of natural, vegan cookies that come in a variety of flavors such as “purple sweet potato and cardamom, coffee cinnamon, and pumpkin clove chocolate” which all sound delightful. What really gets me though is how all the kitties fit together in the tin, almost like a delectable, M.C. Echer-esque arrangement. And how cute is the little drawin on the front, it’s so dang charming. If you’re is in Japan, please buy these for me and I will pay you back!
25 September, 2023

—

Industrial Design

Daisuke Motogi Hacks the Iconic Stool 60 in 100 Different Ways

As part of this year’s London Design Festival, Japanese designer and architect Daisuke Motogi partnered with Vitra on an exhibition titled Hackability of the Stool, which showcases 100 ideas for altering Alvar Aalto’s Stool 60. Motogi is known for exploring the relationship between objects and users, and creating functional and playful designs that incorporate surprise and whimsy. So you know this project was collaboration was right up his alley.

“Developing numerous ideas on how to modify the humble design icon, Motogi first presented the results in 2020 as an online exhibition on his Instagram account, where it caught Artek’s attention. Originally over 400 ideas were boiled down to 100 modifications, which Motogi and his team developed by manually altering, or hacking, the Stool 60. In the beginning, they focused on functionality and form, adding the functions of household items onto the stool, or transforming existing tools into stools. Later ideas were centered around the user, transforming Stool 60 into sports equipment or pet homes.”

He’s obviously created dozens of very smart ideas though I want to focus in one concept: this brilliant record player sound system. When I saw this I was in awe—how has no one thought of something like this? It’s portable, it’s out of the way, it’s charming as hell. I feel like design nerds would totally buy this for real, it’s so ingenious.
13 September, 2023

—

Illustration

Elegant, Abstract Illustrations by Yasuo-range

Japanese artist Yasuo-range considers herself a “graphical illustrator” which is a pretty apt description. Her work, which seamlessly blends digital and physical mediums, has influences that wander between abstraction, influences of the Bauhaus, and Japanese minimalism. There’s something so lovely about how she abstracts objects into these colorful still-life scenes. She gives our brains just enough information to start to pick out particular items, but in some cases, not quite enough, giving you time to look over the pieces trying to discern what is what.
16 August, 2023

—

Illustration

Taku Bannai Illustrates Every Day Scenes in a Minimal Style

An illustrator based in Japan, born in Tokyo and graduated from the Department of Graphic Design at Tama Art University, Taku Bannai works in a broad range of areas such as advertisements, books, magazines, and artwork for record covers. He captures our everyday scenes in a papercut, minimalist style, which creates a “blank space,” as he calls it, which allows the viewer to imagine their own stories. I find his work so calming, and I love all the small imperfections that can be found throughout.
8 August, 2023

—

Art

Tranquil, Meditative Paintings by Japanese Artist agoera

A lot of art, inherently, is about memories. Things seen and remembered, and then recorded through a medium, be it words, clay, or paint. In the work of Japanese painter agoera, it feels like you’re quite truly viewing a memory from his life, like a snapshot from a movie. Born in Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka-ken, Japan, and currently residing in Kanagawa, he graduated from Tama Art University in Tokyo with a degree in, surprising to me, graphic design. On the other hand, his sense of composition is spot-on, so perhaps it helped to set a foundational understanding. I find his work to be so lovely, little snippets of life captured in the dreamiest ways.
1 August, 2023

—

Food & Drink

Tamitu Herbal Honey

Stumbled upon Tamitu last week, an herbal honey that is made by mixing several types of herbs and spices with carefully selected pure honey, which is supposed to give a complex depth to the natural sweetness. The company was created by Mizutani Bee Garden (great name for a band, btw), which was founded in 1912 and has been producing pure honey for over a century.

I really like that they’ve taken a contemporary approach to their branding and marketing. The look of the packaging makes me think of a fragrance, kind of like what Margiela does with REPLICA, and the bottle is kind of new apothecary feeling, it immediately gives me the vibe of “being healthy.” Paired with the photography utilized across the products, site and social, you get this really peaceful, pure feeling that seals the deal here.
25 July, 2023

—

Illustration

Junkama Illustrates a Nostalgic Vision of the Present

I chanced upon the drawings of Kyoto-based illustrator Junkama, aka Jun Kumaori, who’s illustration style is one of the most unique I’ve seen in a while. The best way I can describe it is they are creating pixel drawings of photos from a digital camera from the 90’s. Odd bots of digital artificating popping up here and there, colorful moiré patterns, it’s such a fascinating approach.
17 July, 2023

—

Art

Flower Calendar by Miya Ando Uses Public Art for Climate Change Awareness

Artist Miya Ando has created an installation in New York City that uses 72 cloth banners to draw attention to the shift in traditional Japanese seasons caused by climate change. The large-scale banners represent one of the 72 seasons in the Japanese Kō calendar, which was initially developed in the 7th century. Unlike the standard Western calendar, the Kō calendar responds more closely to the natural environment by breaking the 365-day year into seasons of around five days each. The installation aims to highlight the micro-seasons lost to climate change and raise awareness of the impact of climate change on traditional Japanese culture.

“I’m hoping that the public art can serve a function — even just if this calendar exists,” she said. “In the past 100 years, and 1 to 2 degrees of the earth heating up, the planting system is completely off. Geese don’t fly back, frogs don’t sing when they’re supposed to sing. [The Kõ calendar is] a really, really good data source because it’s collected with eyes and real people.…For me, it’s data and information being put forth that is more easily digestible.”

You can experience the installation at Brookfield Place until September 14.
14 July, 2023

—

Illustration

Nori Okawa Combines Pop Art and Manga in His Surrealist Illustrations

There’s something so wonderful about the carefree illustrations of Tokyo-based illustrator Nori Okawa. To me, I see a spontaneous mixture of manga and pop art combined into some new form of expression. It’s zany and over-the-top, yes there’s something to these pieces that keeps drawing me in, I keep seeing more details and nuances that I missed in my first impression. I wish I had a giant, painted version of one of the pieces below hanging on the walls of my apartment.
27 June, 2023

—

Interior Design

Pan Bakery is a Blend of Japanese and Milanese Design

In a quaint neighborhood just outside Milan’s city center is Pan, a bakery, kitchen and wine bar, a place born from the collaboration between the Japanese chef Yoji Tokuyoshi and Alice Yamada, with the goal of democratizing Japanese culture.

The space was designed by Studio Wok, a Milan-based studio founded in 2012. Their goal was to create a connection to the neighborhood through the use of large windows on the outside, and strong pieces on the inside like the fiberglass countertops and ephemeral ceiling drapes.

For me, the almost jade color of the countertops, set amongst the whites and neutral wood tones, is a stunning approach. The space overall gives me the impression of a cloudy seascape, with varying sizes of sea glass washed on to the shore. The brushed stainless steel helps add to this effect (it’s a trend I’m very much loving lately, and seeing a lot) lending reflection and bouncing light around even more.