Fiona Wilson
How Japan’s snowiest cities are tackled with custom snowplough innovation
Nichijo is the leading plough manufacturer in the world's snowiest country. But is a business based on cold weather a good bet in a climate crisis?
Discovering Gora Kadan Fuji, a new luxury Ryokan built to frame Mount Fuji
Fujisan’s iconic outline is familiar to all – but a stay at the new Gora Kadan Fuji hotel offers beguiling views of Japan’s highest peak that will make you see it anew.
Japan’s 10 buzzwords of 2025 reveal a snapshot of a country in flux
From climate anxiety to soaring rice prices and a momentous leadership transition, Japan’s annual buzzwords offer a window into how the country faced 2025’s changes and challenges.
Around the world in 40 designs: The best furniture, country by country
Enjoy our tasteful guide to the best nation-focused furnishings to add style and authenticity to your home.
The forgotten underpass of Tokyo’s Skwat Kameari has become a creative, cultural hotspot
With his new arts and retail project, Keisuke Nakamura is bringing a long-neglected corner of the Japanese capital to life.
Why Tokyo’s designers still work by hand and how it keeps Japanese design exciting
The Japanese capital is a city rich with reasons to celebrate design, rooted in a sense of community and respect for every step of the process.
Monocle’s Style Top 25: The best designers, makers and retailers redefining luxury
The luxury industry is slowing down, with a growing focus on timelessness and craft. We present our survey of style experts who create designs with quality at its core.
Bringing Nagasaki’s ghosts to life: Kei Ishikawa on adapting Kazuo Ishiguro’s debut novel
Director Kei Ishikawa teams up with Kazuo Ishiguro to adapt ‘A Pale View of Hills’, exploring memory, trauma and post-war identity in a moving retelling of Japan’s fading past.
The architects of Sydney Modern: How SANAA redefined the city’s skyline
From a series of pavilions to an urban thoroughfare, SANAA’s design created a new kind of public space. Here, the visionary architectural duo behind the masterpiece reveal how they approached the project.
Japan’s tiny electric vehicle with very big ambitions
Make way for Mibot, the diminutive vehicle moving Japan’s EV sector.
