Harajuku is a neighbourhood of
contrasts, home to the Meiji Shrine,
which is surrounded by one of Tokyo’s largest green spaces, and a dense network of small streets packed with shops and cafés. Harajuku is a magnet for…
Harajuku is a neighbourhood of contrasts, home to the Meiji Shrine, which is surrounded by one of Tokyo’s largest green spaces, and a dense network of small streets packed with shops and cafés. Aoyama attracts a more grown…
Shared living often means shared cost and lower quality. But in Tokyo, The Share, an innovative scheme offering modest personal spaces linked to sprawling, well-designed communal areas, is attracting a new breed of house…
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…
Daido Moriyama, the godfather of Japanese street photography (and that is something worth being the don of), wraps up his last decade of new work in Paris this weekend at the beautiful purpose-built Montparnasse glasshouse…
Japanese clothing retailer Beams has its very own ‘internal affairs’ styling department, dedicated to helping shop staff find their personal look and inspire customers. It also believes in practising the perfect bow. This…
A decade ago it was rare to see a pair of Tokyo teenage boys out shopping in kimonos. But attitudes to national identity are starting to change. Genbei Yamaguchi’s new collection for United Arrows is targeting this shift…
With fewer clients around, smart Japanese hairdressers are putting design to the fore to win valuable customers. And there are fringe benefits too. We take a pew in three of Tokyo’s finest establishments.
There’s nothing that irritates architects more than the word ‘cosy’. We believe they should rethink their view. Whether it’s a grand urban master plan or simple apartment block, the vast majority of us are looking for…
A company that started out making bikes for professional cyclists decided to expand into a wider market. The result is customisable models for people who care about design as much as they enjoy a two-wheeled jaunt through…
The Japanese love vintage, but the idea of bidding for second-hand furniture is an unfamiliar concept. Now three entrepreneurs are bringing design classics to a new market in the country’s first modern and contemporary…