Hello all. Many thanks to those of you who have offered kind words of support and encouragement over the past week. Recent events in Japan have gotten in the way of blogging lately, but we are safe and sound in Tokyo and life is slowly returning to normal. Look forward to more updates here soon. […]
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Japanese sci-fi art (1972-1985)
09 Mar 2011
50 Watts (formerly "A Journey Round My Skull") has posted a splendid assortment of 1970s and 1980s Japanese sci-fi art from old illustration books and catalogs. [More] Pater Sato magazine cover Hitoshi Ikematsu book jacket illustration, 1984 Noriyoshi Ohrai Black Space -- Shuji Tanase, 1982 Atsushi Yoshioka
Fake vintage Japanese ad mascots
01 Mar 2011
Argentina-based artist Juan Molinet has created a series of fictional Japanese ads featuring retro-style characters. Osaka's Marshmellow Kid Nagoya Sweet Salami Co. Sumitomo Calamari Ice Cream Cheesus by Hokama Good Cheese Co. Kyoto Seafood Processing Co. Satoyama Whistle Co. Hokaido Industrial Sushi Food Co. [Link]
Japanese graphic design from the 1920s-30s
15 Feb 2011
In the 1920s and 1930s, Japan embraced new forms of graphic design as waves of social change swept across the nation. This collection of 50 posters, magazine covers and advertisements offer a glimpse at some of the prevailing tendencies in a society transformed by the growth of modern industry and technology, the popularity of Western […]
Photos: ‘Snow monsters’ of Japan
04 Feb 2011
Ghostly trees covered in snow and rime ice -- known as "snow monsters" or juhyou (frost-covered trees) in Japanese -- are a celebrated feature of the winter landscape in mountainous areas of northern Japan. Here are a few photos. Hakkōda Mountains, Aomori prefecture [via] Hakkōda Mountains, Aomori prefecture [via] Mt. Moriyoshi, Akita prefecture [via] Hakkōda […]
Cute antique Japanese postcards
25 Jan 2011
Here is an assortment of playful Japanese postcards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, found in a recent book by collector Hiroki Hayashi entitled "Antique Cute Post Cards in Japan" (Nippon no kawaii ehagaki). Betty Boop (Yamaguchi Seikyokudo Co., Ltd. - c. 1930s) Betty Boop (1937) Betty Boop, Mickey and Minnie (1936) Mickey […]
Welcome to Japan
19 Jan 2011
Poster by Masayoshi Nakajo, 1988 [+] Behold a place where the people's needs miraculously meet the corporate agendas. Enjoy a nation of modern cultural perspectives -- "humanication," "forever freshness" and "the super next." Experience a country that does things better, or so its citizens fervently believe. - Leonard Koren
Top 60 popular Japanese words/phrases of 2010
16 Nov 2010
Publisher Jiyu Kokuminsha has released its annual list of the 60 most popular Japanese expressions of the year. The words and phrases (listed below in random order) reflect some of the trends, political developments, events and people that captured the attention of the Japanese media in 2010. From this list, a panel of judges will […]
Wild plants of Japan (time-lapse videos)
09 Nov 2010
Various Japanese plants (and fungi) spring to life in Omni/ScienceNet's "Action Plant" series of time-lapse videos shot in Kōchi prefecture. + Snake gourd flower (Trichosanthes kirilowii) // Wikipedia + Veiled stinkhorn (Phallus indusiatus) // Wikipedia + Japanese royal fern (Osmunda japonica) // Wikipedia + Japanese cheesewood (Pittosporum tobira) // Wikipedia + Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum japonense) // […]