Ever heard of City Pop? Hiroshi Nagai painted the artwork for those soundtracks in the 80s. Whenever I listen to Broken Wings by Mr Mister, I have this vision of a warm sunny Saturday afternoon in 1994, drenched in vivid colours. Little did I know that aesthetic had already existed a decade before thanks to […]
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Tag: japan
Yasuke was an African retainer who served under an influential Japanese warlord in the 16th century. I watched The Last Samurai a few years ago and enjoyed it. While the movie was inspired by real life Westerners fighting in Asia and played up to the white saviour trope, it was enjoyable if not cliché. But […]
If you’re travelling to Japan, consider these words of wisdom from Haarkon. It’s a (pipe)dream of mine to visit Japan before I die. But money’s too tight to mention and it’s not cheap to go. If it happens, I’d probably need some advice to respect the culture and not come off as too much of […]
The London indie brand makes “classic StreetWear with a hint of Japanese playfulness”. Firstly, this isn’t sponsored – I just like them. Yoroshiku 4649 is a fashion brand from London with a Japanese aesthetic. Their name comes from some Japanese wordplay meaning “nice to meet you”. Their main style uses camo print featuring the Yoroshiku […]
FRANCE 24 reported on the hikikomori, people who live isolated in their bedrooms in Japan. The teenage stereotype of lock yourself in your room was something I experienced growing up. It was true for me (minus the lock) but not to the extreme exhibited by half a million in Japan. These people are known as […]
Standards Manual have published graphic manuals for Nasa and the New York City Transit Authority and now a new book will look at an integral part of modern Japanese culture. Hamish Smyth and Jesse Reed’s publishing imprint’s release a new book celebrating the emojis designed by Shigetaka Kurita for Japanese telecoms company Docomo. 176 symbols […]
While we wait for that Quantum Leap movie Donald Bellisario is working on, we can now travel with actor Scott Bakula on a map. Sort of. A journalist by the name of Josh Jones created an interactive map tracing every “quantum leap” Sam Beckett made on the show. Each location is marked with the episode […]
One of my favourite forms of art, kintsugi is the idea that anything broken can be repaired with added beauty. The concept extends beyond pottery or objects and speaks to our humanity. We go through life feeling happiness and sorrow but dwell on the bad times more than the good. Metaphorical cracks form and we […]
I’ll be honest with you – I’ve never seen Cowboy Bebop. It’s not that I didn’t want to, I just never got round to it. I know it’s a classic and it’s still on my to watch list. But Open Culture has given me a new incentive. Video essayist Lewis Bond looked at the philosophical […]
Atlas Obscura have written a brilliant article about a Japanese women’s magazine called Seitō. Initially created as a collection of work for women and by women, it slowly became a feminist movement on its own after the Japanese government moved to ban its publication. This only spurred the writers to continue. Feminist Hideko Fukuda wrote […]