A ryokan in the small city
of Maebashi with 300 years of history has been brought up to date in stunning fashion. Now the Shiroiya
is attracting premier design
and hospitality talent to
a quiet corner of Japan.
As Tokyo gets set to host the Olympics and Paralympics after 2020’s false start,
a multitude of behind-the-scenes players have long been exercising their minds to
ensure a gold-standard Games. We meet some of the unsung…
Japan is a nation that does many things rather well.
Here we profile a few problem-solving products
to tackle some of life’s
trickier challenges – oh,
and a banana holder.
You might not be looking to clean up in the Japanese bathhouse game yourself but what the revival of Tokyo’s ‘sento’ shows is that some old ideas are worth considering anew. This fresh generation of baths is proving rele…
There’s something soothing about this city on the Japanese island of Kyushu. So much so that you forget there’s a grumbling volcano nearby – or wait, is that your stomach? Fear not: there are oodles of noodles.
Facing demolition, the Dai-ichi Bank building had seen better days. But at the 11th hour, and with a nod to its illustrious past, the site has been rejuvenated as K5 hotel.
The Halekulani hotel is a dream destination for its Japanese guests, with just one drawback: it’s in Honolulu. So the owners decided to reproduce its many charms in a paradisal landscape closer to home.
Kiyoshi Kimura splashes out to buy the first tuna of the year but the larger-than-life methods of Japan’s King of Tuna rely on getting the small details right.
What do you think about when you think about Japan? Fuji-san, shinkansen, tabi, kabuki, rituals, gravel gardens, shrines among the pines. Not here. Beyond the postcards are the people; a nation of unusual ingenuity, fire…
Tokyo’s architectural masterpieces continue to topple in the name of progress but with the painstakingly faithful recreation of Hotel Okura’s incomparable modernist lobby (albeit in a new skyscraper), a window to the past…
Elevating the urban environment needn’t call for grand blueprints from city planners, nor sweeping regeneration. Small projects and individual details can make a difference. Here are a few starters from our editors.
The much-loved cherry blossom season is big business in Japan. But when will it hit? To find out, a private weather forecaster employs all the tools at its disposal – including people power – to pinpoint the top petal…
Japanese digital art collective TeamLab is seizing the aesthetic possibilities of technology to remaster what it means to both create and experience artworks. We took a stroll among the flowers in their brave new world.
Hibiya Central Market is the soul of the shopping mall, where you can wander and linger among kiosks, perfectly edited fashion stores and unpretentious restaurants with a touch of old-school Tokyo.
Conde House is a sturdy presence in Japanese wooden-furniture manufacturing that’s replanting its regional roots and retaining its traditional hands-on approach.
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.
