New Japanese souvenir designs

06 Nov 2008

Eleven winners of the "Japanese New Souvenir" competition -- a public contest to recognize novel souvenir concepts that creatively express elements of Japanese culture -- were exhibited last weekend as part of the Design Touch festivities at the Tokyo Midtown complex. Coming soon to a souvenir shop near you.

Moustache Fuji --
Moustache Fuji (Mariko Takeuchi)

"Moustache Fuji," a fake moustache resembling a snow-capped Mt. Fuji, is a subtle but bold fashion statement that pays homage to Japan's most sacred landmark. Described as a "moustache communication tool," this fun-to-wear facial accessory lets you inject a little Japanese flair into meetings, parties and summits.

Air-Bonsai --
Air-Bonsai (Wabisabi)

"Air-Bonsai," a vinyl toy shaped like a potted dwarf pine, gives the traditional Japanese art of bonsai a pop-culture makeover. The soft vinyl tree packs flat into your suitcase for easy transport home.

Japanese, Face --
Japanese, Face (Kozue Kojima)

These "Japanese, Face" beauty masks moisturize the skin while giving you a traditional Japanese kabuki-esque appearance.

139 Views of Mt. Fuji --
139 Views of Mt. Fuji (Keita Suzuki)

Inspired by Hokusai's famous "36 Views of Mount Fuji" series of woodblock prints, the "139 Views of Mt. Fuji" drinking glass lets you reflect on the ephemeral beauty of Mt. Fuji and the Japanese seasons while you drink. Enjoy a different "view" of the mountain with each new type of beverage you pour.

Other top souvenir concepts (not pictured) include "Kutsu-kutsushita" socks colored to look like shoes, incense sticks tied into traditional mizuhiki knots, and a round red "Hinomaru" paperweight that instantly transforms a stack of paper into the Japanese flag.

In addition to cash prizes, the winning designers will receive active support to help turn their concepts into marketable products. The contest was organized by Tokyo Midtown Design Hub, a consortium of industrial designers, graphic designers and educators focused on promoting Japanese design.

Mice cloned after 16-yr freeze — Mammoths next?

04 Nov 2008

Mouse cloned after 16 years in freezer --

Is the second coming of the woolly mammoth near? Possibly, say researchers at Japan's Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), who have successfully cloned mice from carcasses that spent years in a deep freezer.

A RIKEN research team led by genetic scientist Teruhiko Wakayama successfully demonstrated a promising new cloning technique by replicating frozen laboratory mice whose cells were severely damaged after 16 years in permafrost-like conditions (-20 degrees Celsius). The technique might one day be used to resurrect mammoths and other extinct species, according to the researchers.

Here's some video from ANN News:

Scientists have long discussed the possibility of resurrecting extinct animal species by cloning carcasses preserved in ice, but existing techniques do not work with dead, freeze-damaged cell tissue. However, the RIKEN researchers were able to extract nuclei from the ruptured brain cells of the frozen mice after breaking down the tissue in a culture solution. Then, using the conventional nuclear transfer technique (which involves inserting cellular material from the frozen mice into the egg cells of healthy mice), the researchers created embryonic clones from the extracted brain cell nuclei. After that, the researchers established embryonic stem cell lines from the cloned embryos, which they used to produce four cloned mice.

When the clones reached maturity, they mated with other mice to produce healthy offspring.

Mouse cloned after 16 years in freezer --
Healthy offspring of cloned mice

The ability of clones to reproduce is a promising development for those interested in resurrecting extinct species.

Mammoths top the list of extinct animals that scientists will try to clone, primarily because many preserved specimens have been found buried in ice. In July 2007, a well-preserved frozen baby mammoth discovered in the Siberian Arctic was shipped to researchers in Japan.

"There are many technical challenges involved in resurrecting a mammoth," says Wakayama. "But we have shown that the nuclear transfer method can be used to create healthy clones, even when the animal's cells have been damaged by permafrost-like conditions."

Meanwhile, Kinki University biology professor Akira Iritani is pleased with the development. Iritani, a leading member of the Mammoth Creation Project -- a Japanese organization that aims to resurrect the woolly mammoth by cloning frozen specimens -- estimates as many as 10,000 frozen mammoth specimens lie buried in ice around the world, waiting to be cloned.

Iritani also coordinates the "Pleistocene Park" project, which aims to set up a Jurassic Park-like sanctuary in northern Siberia populated with resurrected mammoths and other creatures that roamed the Earth 20,000 years ago. The envisioned park would cover an area twice the size of Japan and include woolly rhinos, Siberian tigers, steppe lions, giant deer, ancient foxes, and ancestors of the Siberian horse.

[Sources: RIKEN, Yomiuri, Asahi]

Video: Jemapur – Maledict Car

31 Oct 2008


Jemapur - Maledict Car (Dir. Kosai Sekine)

Tokyo gets mirror-tweaked to kaleidoscopic effect in Jemapur's "Maledict Car" video directed by Kosai Sekine (produced by W+K Tokyo Lab). Sekine's previous work includes the quirky "Right Place," which won the best short film award at Cannes in 2006.


Kosai Sekine - Right Place

Dr Lakra inks Mexican tattoos on Japanese prints

31 Oct 2008

Mexican tattoo artist Dr Lakra is known for drawing macabre designs on found objects and images. During a visit to Japan last year, he inked hardcore tattoos on some fine antique ukiyo-e woodblock prints purchased at used bookstores. Some of these works were included in the "Goth" exhibition at the Yokohama Museum of Art in March, but a few of the more provocative tattooed shunga prints were refused because they offended museum officials.

Dr. Lakra --
Untitled (Hiroshima Tomonohira Take-Emon)

Dr. Lakra --
Untitled

Dr. Lakra --
Untitled (Yokohama doll)

Dr. Lakra --
Untitled (Shunga IV)

[Images: Kate MacGarry]

Shrimp defense: glowing blue spit cloud (video)

30 Oct 2008

Smooth Nylon Shrimp defense mechanism --

Smooth nylon shrimp (Heterocarpus laevigatus) inhabiting the dark depths of the Pacific employ a brilliant method of defense. When threatened with attack, the creature spits a cloud of bioluminescent blue fluid from its mouth, temporarily blinding its predator and allowing escape.

This rarely seen footage of the smooth nylon shrimp's defense mechanism in action was shot at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium.

See also:
- Video: Tremoctopus defense mechanism
- Video: Three bioluminescent sea creatures

Photos of crazy custom cars in Japan

29 Oct 2008

These ferociously awesome custom rides were spotted in a parking lot near Tokyo.

Crazy custom cars from Japan --

Crazy custom cars from Japan --

Crazy custom cars from Japan --

Crazy custom cars from Japan --

Crazy custom cars from Japan --

Crazy custom cars from Japan --

Crazy custom cars from Japan --

Check out photographer ch.knuckles' Flickr photoset for more.

[Via: Bouncing Red Ball]

See also:
- Extreme Japanese custom vans
- Japanese custom scooters
- Dekotora photo galleries
- Itasha: Pimped rides, otaku style

Denki Groove – Fake It!

28 Oct 2008

A well-choreographed troupe of synchronized (and anonymized) high divers splash it up for Denki Groove in the new "Fake It!" video. Directed by Hideyuki Tanaka.

[Link: Denki Groove - Fake It!]

More:
- Denki Groove videos
- Video: Mononoke Dance

Vintage avant-garde manga by Maki Sasaki

27 Oct 2008

"A Dream To Have In Heaven" (Tengoku De Miru Yume - 天国でみる夢) by Maki Sasaki is a surreal non-narrative one-shot manga published in the November 1967 issue of the now-defunct Garo, an alternative manga monthly magazine that peaked in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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A Dream To Have In Heaven --
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Groovisions creates funky ag ministry video

24 Oct 2008

The Tokyo-based Groovisions motion graphic design crew has created a stylishly animated educational video for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), which highlights some of the issues surrounding the future of food in Japan.

In the video, Groovisions use their hallmark playful-yet-ordered sim-like virtual landscape to illustrate a host of food-related challenges facing Japan. Issues include Japan's 40% food self-sufficiency rate (the lowest of any major industrialized nation), the declining agricultural industry, and the impact of world population growth and environmental changes on the global food supply.

Ensuring the Future of Food -- Ensuring the Future of Food --

The video also suggests that the Western-style diet of meat, fat and oil, which has partially replaced Japan's traditional diet of rice, fish and vegetables, has contributed to a variety of health problems and reduced demand for domestically grown produce. The food situation is exacerbated by other demographic factors such as the aging farming population and the abandonment of agricultural land. To reverse these trends, MAFF encourages consumers to make sustainable food choices and urges the industry to produce safe, properly labeled food.

Ensuring the Future of Food -- Ensuring the Future of Food --

The video (w/ English subtitles) was posted on the official MAFF YouTube channel, which was created last month.

[Link: Ensuring the Future of Food (Tip: watch the high-quality version)]