They never make it on to most magazine’s “Best Hotel” lists, but Japan’s simple, pared-down ryokan are setting new standards in service and design. The Fuyija, remodelled by architect Kengo Kuma, looks set to introduce a…
Tuesday 7 August
First there was Crosby, Stills and Nash. Then there was Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Perhaps, it’s time for a new supergroup. A diplomatic supergroup. Please welcome to the stage Bildt, Davutoglu and Patriota.
Monday 14 June
Football, as a spectacle, is uniquely dependent on its fans.
Tuesday 20 April
I’m stuck in Paris, trying to get on a flight and head home to Florida so I’m looking for something new on the newsstand.
How company towns are modern again, whether the art fair calendar is becoming as crowded as the fashion calendar and an update from Budapest.
Trim tomes for your travels, Sónar sounds and our pick of *Monocle* music for the summer.
Thursday 22 October
A president, dressed in a sharp suit and red tie, addresses crowds of cheering flag-waving Georgians from outside the parliament building in Tbilisi.
Sunday 16 September
It doesn’t matter how long I’ve lived in Japan. I’m still struck by the level of civility here. Every encounter, whether it’s on a crowded train or a busy street is transacted with a degree of quiet courtesy that continues…
A look at Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Australia’s political landscape. Plus, we get the business news from Toronto and learn about crowd-sourced film funding.
A good radio station can be the voice of a city, the meeting place for like-minded folk. But in New York, Alanna Heiss has turned the dial to create something unique – AIR, a radio station for the city’s art crowd.
James Brett: hater of pretence in art, lover of the weird and wonderful and founder of a new kind of museum that’s pulling in the crowds. Monocle meets him in the run up to his next show at London’s Selfridges department…
In the Netherlands’ crowded and sophisticated newspaper market, a new launch might seem foolhardy, but this Dutch daily has found an untapped market with its wit, analysis and opinion. And all for a euro. Is this the role…
A former sporting arena has been reborn in the centre of Toronto as the flagship store of Canadian supermarket Loblaws. The city’s traditional home of ice hockey now houses fresh produce. Monocle went to see if the crowds…
Sunday 24 July
No amount of publicity could persuade the usual crowd of Tokyoites and overseas tourists to the popular springs in the three hardest-hit prefectures – Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima.
Tokyo Designer's Week has become an annual fixture in the creative calendar, with the city literally taken over by exhibitions, events and parties. Monocle explores the shops and galleries of Aoyama, Harajuku and Shibuya…
In a city with 21,500 karaoke bars, exclusive members club Amour is in a different league. Founded by Parisian club impresario and graffiti artist André and with interiors by Marc Newson, it is luring a well-heeled inter…
Thursday 26 April
Dressed all in white, promising a crowd of adoring supporters he would one day return, Charles Taylor boarded a private jet to Nigeria where a comfortable life in exile awaited.
Wednesday 16 March
If you happened to have been on any of the crowded bullet trains that left Tokyo for Kyoto, Osaka and Hakata last night, you might have thought that Japan was in the midst of a population boom.
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