Tag: Japan
-
Tasting With the Eyes
The artificial display foods known as shokuhin sampuru that fill restaurant windows across Japan represent a fascinating innovation with nearly a century of history, showing how a uniquely Japanese craft evolved into an entire industry and pioneered a revolutionary form of visual communication. Sampuru first originated in the 1920s, when rapid modernization in Japan drew masses of rural…
-
Japan’s samurai city that chose art over war
Kanazawa has 22 kinds of traditional arts, including kutani-yaki (pottery), urushi (lacquerware), Kaga yūzen (silk kimono dying) and Kaga zougan (inlay metalwork). It is also the national capital of the production of kinpaku (gold leaf) and the many glittering things made with it, from Buddhist shrines to facial masks. Throughout history, Kanazawa’s promotion of crafts…
-
Eternal Threads: A New Chapter in Japanese Embroidery
“Eternal Threads” showcases over a century of Japanese embroidery mastery while exploring new possibilities for the craft. By connecting past mastery with modern creativity the project hopes to introduce the rich techniques and diverse styles of Japanese embroidery to a global audience. In addition to showcasing a curated selection of eight styles of embroidery art,…
-
Japanese Cooperatives Play Role in Fukushima Cleanup
Reposted from foodtank: Cooperatives are the backbone for Japan’s rural economy through their presence in agriculture, fisheries, and even forestry. From rural to urban, farmer to consumer, and junior to elderly, cooperatives play a critical role throughout the Japanese economy. Since 1900, the Japan Agriculture Cooperative Group has been present in every village and nearly 100 percent…
-
Kintaro The Golden Boy
Lee Jay Walker brings us the art and folklore of Japan’s Kintaro the Golden Boy: Toshidama Gallery comments about the depiction of Kintaro by the artist Utagawa Yoshikazu (pitcure above)by stating that “Yoshikazu portrays Kintaro (the Golden Boy) wrestling one of Yorimitsu’s retainers. Kintaro, as with so many Japanese heroes, is the subject of legend and possibly…
-
US-Japan agree to make it easier to import each other’s organic products
The Associated Press announces a new US-Japan deal that could lead to more organic options. The United States and Japan have agreed to make it easier to import each other’s organic products, the latest step in a global effort that could give consumers access to more — and cheaper — organic food. The Agriculture Department…
-
Photo of the Day
Shiota takes objects-wooden chairs, hospital beds, musical instruments, a woman’s dress-and shrouds them in a thick, dark web of thread. Her art, which she’s been producing for more than a decade, and which is currently on display at the Museum of Art, Kochi, in Japan, emphasizes how the accretion of cobwebs marks time. It makes you…
-
Clammbon – For Your Pleasure
Clammbon is a Japanese musical trio, consisting of vocalist/keyboardist Ikuko Harada, bassist Mito and drummer Itou Daisuke. The group, originally formed in 1996 when the three were students at Tokyo Music and Media Arts Shogi, made their major label debut on Warner Music Japan three years later. Their music is characterized by their quirky sound combining jazzy…
-
Yakuza Crime Group Releases New Magazine
It’s a shame George Carlin is gone. When he joked that there’s a magazine for every activity with five participants, I don’t think even he could’ve envisioned this one. Organised rhyme: Yakuza crime gang releases poetry mag Magazine … Yakuza members chop off their own fingers as punishment By HARRY HAYDON Published: 10th July 2013…
-
Where Jewels Come From
The New York Times has an interesting article on how gems tell us “important things about the planet.” Every gem fixed to every ring or necklace was forged deep inside our planet, according to its own recipe of elements, temperature and pressure. In the journal Geology, Dr. Harlow — writing with Robert J. Stern of…
The Village Market 