One of my favorite artists (I’ve been following him since 2004), Ogi just had a show in Tokyo– here are some pictures. The new work looks really fantastic. Congrats Ogi!

My very talented friend Eepmon has created a nice little site showing off all his tour dates and shows this month in Tokyo. Check it out, some gorgeous pieces like none of his work prior are on display, like this mixed media on canvas piece shown here.  If you’re in Japan right now, stop by one of his shows and then tell me all about it, please.

Related: Eepmon Goes Big In Japan

While most artists struggle to be big in the States, others strive for the glory of being big in Japan after they’ve flopped in America.  

Of course, that isn’t really the case with (our dear friend) the Canadian-born multi-disciplinary artist eepmon (Eric Sze-Lang Chan), an already-successful creator who will be touring Japan all this May. During that time, eepmon will put on two solo exhibits and be a part of many other art events in Tokyo. Though a large part of his work features poppy, bright colors and subjects like flowers and animals (pieces in this style will be shown at the Design Festa Gallery in his “i am my introspection” exhibit), we suspect Akira influenced him more than Takashi Murakami. Shapes fall upon one another in monstrous, jumbled ways, so that each time you glance at a piece, you can continue to find new and exciting images buried inside.

His other paintings, revealed within the “Intersections” exhibit at the Gallery O2, are also brimming with color, but are abstract and Pollock-like in their fury. Nevertheless, whether you’re viewing calmer works like the organic “Chaos Bloom 8″ or the abstract attacks on canvas in “Intersections,” his creations are visually arresting. We love them, more after the jump.
READ MORE…

Rooms is an innovative international tradeshow, stemming from the idea that designers have concepts to transmit to the world around them. Literally, Rooms provides a “room” to exhibit those ideas, each an intersection for designers, buyers and journalists to create new business opportunities, global communication and inspiration. Launched in 2000, Rooms is held twice a year with exhibits that include clothing, denim products, accessories, everyday gadgets and art. The latest room (No.17) was adorned with resin and plush art toys by Tokyo-born, London-educated designer, Ayako Takagi.

With a few locations around Tokyo, Uoshins is my new favorite Japanese sushi spot. It’s affordable, incredibly fresh (fish is laid out on ice when you walk in) and casual. The location I went to in Nogizaka is an old converted gas stand with outdoor/indoor seating and a great, fun, buzzing atmosphere. Make sure to try the uni, maguro-kama, and just about anything else on the menu (which is in Japanese, so good luck reading it, just smile and ask for Omakase, the chefs choice…)

Directions and map (thanks Alex) in English after the jump.

READ MORE…

Most guide books are, well, dull. And even if you think you’ve picked the “local” spots, you’re likely to end up at the same bar or strip club with all the other tourists. Lame. But check out the new book Art Space Tokyo, and you’ll be able to really find what you’ve been looking for — at least in Japan.

The book introduces you to the neighborhoods that house the most important art galleries in the city by pairing illustrations by artists such as Nobumasa Takahashi and Craig Mod, with insightful descriptions of the areas and suggestions of spots to check out. Follow it, and we doubt you’ll run into any loud, gum-smacking tourists.

Very recently, a new design center — one that promises to take a different approach to sharing design with the public- opened its doors in Tokyo. Named 21_21 Design Sight (after 21/21 vision; meaning to see beyond today into the future), the museum/research center’s aim is to “share view’s with the many parties involved in design, starting with designers and including companies, craftsmen and engineers, as well as consumers, and to launch a movement to foster interest in, and greater understanding of design.”

Under the directorship of Issey Miyake, Taku Satoh, and Naoto Fukasawa, 21_21 is as much about creating as it is admiring, a concept visible from the moment you arrive at the Tadao Ando-designed structure. The gently downward-sloping steel plates of 21_21’s home do well to prepare visitors of the non-prescribed attitude carried throughout the whole museum, whose opening exhibit, instead of covering more traditional ground, featured 70 artist renditions of chocolate. That exhibit is now closed, but for a look into Japanese performance arts, Tokyo visitors can catch 21_21’s summer program, the LUCKY LUCK SHOW, now through the 24th of August.

While it would certainly help to have been to Tokyo (Josh won’t stop raving about it), I don’t think it’s a prerequisite for understanding the Information Architects Web Trends Map 2007 Version 2.0. It’s got a long title, but it’s not that complicated. Basically, the Web Trends Map is a visual representation of the top 200 sites on the web, mapped out like the Tokyo Metro (which appears to be mind-numbingly Byzantine in nature. Here’s a link to the actual map for comparison). On the map, websites are connected by lines just like in a metro system, but in this case the lines are called “sharing,” “moneymaker,” and “news” instead of “red,” “1, 2, 3,” or “central.” This project may or may not increase your understanding of how the internet works, but it’s a cheeky idea nonetheless and something fun to look at. Also, PLEASE check out the clickable version, which makes following a line with your mouse more fun that it should ever be.

I used to work for a brilliant man who, while rational in every other way (almost to a fault), was completely obsessed with the catastrophic potential of an Avian Flu epidemic. His paranoia led him to purchase an outdoor generator, stock years worth of supplies and hoard thousands of doses of Tamiflu (all of which are now quietly gathering mold in his medicine cabinet). His fears of a global disaster immediately came to mind in my first glance at Hisaharu Motoda’s latest series of lithographs. Neo-Ruins presents a post-apocalyptic view of modern Tokyo in which devastation has been wrought quietly, much like in ghost towns across the American Southwest. The details in the images are fascinating: storefronts are slowly crumbling, cars are dissolving in the street, and the urban environment is eerily empty but for creeping vines and shrubs. As with Ozymandias, the odds of our proud monuments and skyscrapers lasting into the distant future seem slim. Thankfully, we are blessed with artists like Motoda whose works force us to confront the future…even as we ponder the past.

Steve Lidbury may hail from the U.K., but he has made quite a splash in Tokyo with his stellar interior architectural design work. Twenty-eight years young, he’s already amassed quite the project portfolio: among his contributions, he’s been hired to design top-end boutiques like Tokyo’s Sunao Kuwahara Boutique (above, left), several Rubyrivet Aquagirl stores (above, right), and the numerous Smacky Glam stores throughout Japan (photo after the jump); Steve has also dabbled with office design– you can see the work he did on the Eat Office in Tokyo after the jump as well. Formerly at Fabrica in Italy – where he became an Atelier Master – Steve seems quite content to be adding his flavor to modern Japanese architecture – and given his popularity (and gorgeous work product to back it up), it’s safe to say Japan is quite lucky to have him around.

READ MORE…

I’m feeling a bit nostalgic with this one. Every child of the 80’s remembers fondly their boombox (a.k.a. Ghetto Blaster). Remember walking down the street with your Ghetto Blaster on your shoulder, blasting Rapper’s Delight, getting sour looks from passersby who for some reason didn’t like the genre and/or volume of the music rupturing out of your ten inch speakers? The thing weighed more than your than your kid brother for god’s sake! Fortunately (for most of us at least), Ghetto Blasters have given way to much more socially acceptable devices we can use to listen to our music in public–the chassis of which weigh a lot less (see iPod for example). But the thought of the Ghetto Blaster still makes me feel warm inside, and I can’t help but to think that I would be the proverbial ‘kid in a candy store’ in Tokyo’s Turbo Sonic vintage boombox boutique. Turbo Sonic’s website is — as is to be expected — written in Japanese, but you can get some further insight into Turbo Sonic by visiting the Boombox Museum’s website and linking into photos from the author’s trip to Turbo Sonic. The Boombox Museum is a nifty little resource in itself. Enjoy.
Via XLR8R

Wallet, keys, mobile, bag. There seems to be an over-saturation of the market with these quirky yet ordinary objects. However our comrades at Delfonics have provided us with one more piece to worry about for our daily routine. Slim, stylish and sexy, however overused, are appropriate adjectives for this line of stationery, staplers, key holders, mobile straps, and just about anything else that you always use but never think to splurge on. The accessories come in a variety of tasteful colors, so you can coordinate you stationery and mobile (charming!). A note of caution: the website seems to need some updating as all the products at the Omotesando Hills Store in Tokyo were not available online. But hey, it's a good excuse to visit Tokyo, right?

Few first time visitors to Tokyo would expect to find an exceptional Italian dinner there, but that need not be the case if you can get into Massa in the Ebisu suburb of Tokyo. When you can no longer tell your toro from your teriyaki, it’s time to meet Masahiko Kobe. A mere 36 years young, Kobe was crowned the Prince of Pasta shortly before rising to fame as Japan’s “Iron Chef Italian” and for very good reason. His homemade tagliolini with fresh octopus, tender eggplant and broad beans (one of five dishes in a $65 course offering) was nothing short of superb. Our meal at Ristorante Massa began with a tender stone sea bream (ishidai) carpaccio in a mildly seasoned tomato soup. It was a sweet, succulent and a sublime start. Next came a small, tasty grilled squid served over Japanese greens (shidoke) that revealed Kobe’s particular talent for combining textures and tastes. The bite to the squid was perfectly complemented by the unusual feel of the uncommon mountain vegetable on the tongue. The pasta dish that followed (there were two offered but we chose to have only one) included octopus only because our request was for an all seafood meal, but prime beef, wild boar or duck may be ordered as an enjoyable alternate. The main plate of red snapper (tai) with new potato, fresh bamboo shoots, white asparagus and Chinese chives was a delicious masterpiece of subtlety. The already perfectly proportioned set meal had us imagining Tuscany more than Tokyo before dessert arrived. It was a refreshing quartet of small gems – fruit tarts and pastries with amazing tastes – all served with great care by Massa’s most pleasant wait staff. The master himself came to greet us all at the end, his smile and presence soft and loving much like his fare and the feeling we left with after relaxing over this extraordinarily lovely dinner. Small, intimate yet spacious, Massa seats only 20 and was totally worth a visit for a change of pace from the consistently high quality Tokyo fare we encountered in Japan. The price point at Massa was great value for money and the meal was one of our most memorable. Massa Kobe is an artist nearly as magical as Spain’s Pedro Subijana of Akalare and easily as gifted as the highly praised Alain Passard of L’Arpege. Go now before the secret is out – and the masses descend on Ebisu.

Find it at 1-23-22 Ebisu, Shubuya-ku, Tokyo Tel: +81-3-5793-3175

One of my favorite sneaker shops I found while hunting through Tokyo was Pistacchio. It’s located in Daikanyama, on a small back street called Sarugaku-cho just across from the Onitsuka Tiger store. The shop was primarily full of obscure Nike and Puma sneakers. I picked up a pair of these Puma Limited shoes I’d never seen before called “WAKE“–the blue color apparently a Tokyo exclusive. They feel like a slip on with a neoprene sock and a surprisingly comfortable hard-shell molded heal. They were available in 3 colorways, and if you look closer, each camo-eqsue pattern is actually made up of the signature leaping puma. If you speak Japanese or just like looking at pictures, Pistacchio has a stellar online shop with dozens of great sneakers to choose from.

What an amazing experience, a picture is worth 1000 words. Tsukiji is the largest fish market in the world handling more than 2000 tons of more than 450 types of seafood. I was told today 1/6th of the world’s fish passes through this market before it goes around the world every single day. As promised here are a whole bunch of pictures after the jump– but be warned there is lots of fish blood, guts, and fairly gross stuff– all part of the beautiful process.
READ MORE…