Spoon & Tamago https://spoon-tamago.com japanese art, design and culture Sun, 26 Jul 2026 19:27:30 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 Kiyo Takeda: The Architect Making Tokyo Green Again https://spoon-tamago.com/kiyo-takeda-the-architect-making-tokyo-green-again/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kiyo-takeda-the-architect-making-tokyo-green-again https://spoon-tamago.com/kiyo-takeda-the-architect-making-tokyo-green-again/#respond Sun, 26 Jul 2026 19:27:28 +0000 https://spoon-tamago.com/?p=58882 Japanese architect Kiyo Takeda belongs to a new generation of designers challenging the long-held notion that architecture should impose order on nature. Instead, his work embraces unpredictability, creating buildings that evolve over time as plants, weather, and the surrounding ecosystem become active collaborators. After studying at the University of East London, Takada joined Kengo Kuma […]

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  2. urban farming and corporate culture collide in this Tokyo office building
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]]> https://spoon-tamago.com/kiyo-takeda-the-architect-making-tokyo-green-again/feed/ 0 Kokuyo’s New ‘Transparent Mechanism’ Collection Puts its Engineering on Full Display https://spoon-tamago.com/kokuyo-transparent-mechanism/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kokuyo-transparent-mechanism https://spoon-tamago.com/kokuyo-transparent-mechanism/#respond Sun, 12 Jul 2026 14:45:26 +0000 https://spoon-tamago.com/?p=58866 For more than a century, Kokuyo has been quietly refining the humble tools of the desk. Beyond a pursuit of quality and utilitarianism, the Osaka-based maker of stationery tools has always tried to “pique the curiosity of those who hold it.” Their newest “Transparent Mechanism” collection doesn’t introduce new functions so much as reveal the […]

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  1. Christmas Colored Pencils Drop Holiday Shavings
  2. Colored Pencils Modeled After Traditional Japanese Flowers
  3. Roll Table wins the Kokuyo Design Award 2011
]]> https://spoon-tamago.com/kokuyo-transparent-mechanism/feed/ 0 FamilyMart’s New Hipster ‘FAMIMA’ Reimagines What a Conbini Can Be https://spoon-tamago.com/familymart-new-famima-flagship/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=familymart-new-famima-flagship https://spoon-tamago.com/familymart-new-famima-flagship/#respond Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:32:36 +0000 https://spoon-tamago.com/?p=58854 For decades, Japan’s convenience stores have been admired for, well, their convenience. By being sweetly attuned to utilitarian consumer needs, the ubiquitous 24/7 conbini has spread across Japan, achieving an unparalleled density that is perhaps second only to vending machines. This week, FamilyMart, one of the largest operators of conbini, launched their new FAMIMA concept […]

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]]> https://spoon-tamago.com/familymart-new-famima-flagship/feed/ 0 MUJI is Restoring Antique Furniture Salvaged from Kominka Across Japan https://spoon-tamago.com/muji-antique-furniture/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=muji-antique-furniture https://spoon-tamago.com/muji-antique-furniture/#respond Sun, 28 Jun 2026 14:50:06 +0000 https://spoon-tamago.com/?p=58846 Minimal lifestyle brand MUJI has been in the homebuilding business for over a decade. And in recent year they have expanded their focus to not just building new homes but renovating old kominka folk homes. The latest offshoot of that business is nihon no kokagu, an initiative launching this month that breathes new life into […]

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  1. MUJI Fans Can Now Rent this Countryside MUJI Kominka
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]]> https://spoon-tamago.com/muji-antique-furniture/feed/ 0 Saya Irie’s Intricate Sculptures Recomposed from Eraser Shavings https://spoon-tamago.com/saya-irie-eraser-shavings/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=saya-irie-eraser-shavings https://spoon-tamago.com/saya-irie-eraser-shavings/#respond Sat, 27 Jun 2026 14:38:32 +0000 https://spoon-tamago.com/?p=58834 Most of us erase mistakes without a second thought. The curled ribbons that gather beneath an eraser are little more than evidence of revisions before they’re brushed into the trash. But Saya Irie sees them differently. For Irie , they’re the beginning of something entirely new. The Japanese artist erases images and then uses those […]

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  1. Evolution Eraser by Hiroyuki Shiratori
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]]> https://spoon-tamago.com/saya-irie-eraser-shavings/feed/ 0 Japan’s First Shrine Dedicated to Plushies Opens for Stuffed Animal Devotees https://spoon-tamago.com/japan-first-plushie-shrine/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=japan-first-plushie-shrine Wed, 24 Jun 2026 01:58:42 +0000 https://spoon-tamago.com/?p=58826 In Japan, it’s not unusual to see people treating cherished objects with a surprising degree of reverence. Dolls receive memorial services, broken sewing needles are honored in annual ceremonies, and even discarded electronics are occasionally given ritual farewells. Now, the country’s long tradition of animistic belief has found perhaps its most adorable expression yet: Japan’s […]

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  1. A Zoo in Japan is Using Stuffed Animal Capybaras to Maintain Social Distancing
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]]> Daisuke Tajima’s ‘Infinite Emptiness’ Captures the Anxiety of a Hollow Future https://spoon-tamago.com/daisuke-tajima-infinite-emptiness/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=daisuke-tajima-infinite-emptiness Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:40:49 +0000 https://spoon-tamago.com/?p=58816 Japanese artist Daisuke Tajima has built a career drawing cities that seem to exist somewhere between science fiction and reality. His sprawling black-and-white landscapes are packed with towering structures, tangled infrastructure and dizzying perspectives that appear to expand endlessly beyond the edges of the paper. In his latest solo exhibition, Infinite Emptiness (Mugen Kyomu), Tajima […]

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  1. Dizzying Birds-Eye Views of Imaginary Cityscapes by Daisuke Tajima
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]]> 5 Art Exhibitions Worth Traveling for in Japan This Summer https://spoon-tamago.com/5-art-exhibitions-worth-traveling-for-in-japan-this-summer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=5-art-exhibitions-worth-traveling-for-in-japan-this-summer Sat, 20 Jun 2026 19:39:06 +0000 https://spoon-tamago.com/?p=58783 There’s no better time to escape Tokyo than the summer. While beaches and mountain retreats offer temporary relief, there’s another way to flee the capital: follow the art. From giant robotic insects in rural Aomori to a celebration of one of Japan’s most beloved manga artists in Tottori, these five exhibitions offer compelling reasons to […]

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  1. Architect Tsuyoshi Tane Transforms 100-Year Old Brick Brewery into the Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art
  2. JR’s large-scale mural recognizes inhabitants of Tohoku
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]]> In Post-War Japan, the United States Used Quiz Culture to Help Democratize the Country https://spoon-tamago.com/united-states-quiz-culture-democratize-japan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=united-states-quiz-culture-democratize-japan Sun, 31 May 2026 16:11:56 +0000 https://spoon-tamago.com/?p=58745

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  1. Breathing Life Back Into Rakugo, Japan’s Traditional Form of Comedy
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]]> End of an Era: Iconic Shibuya Hands to Close After 48 Years https://spoon-tamago.com/iconic-shibuya-hands-to-close-november/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=iconic-shibuya-hands-to-close-november Mon, 25 May 2026 18:33:29 +0000 https://spoon-tamago.com/?p=58742 In a surprising announcement, the Hands Shibuya flagship store has informed the public that it will permanently close this November. The official last day has yet to be announced but the sad news comes just 3 years after the store changed ownership and was rebranded from Tokyu Hands to just Hands. For decades, the Tokyu […]

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