Vertical retail fails in most countries (who wants to eat in a basement and traipse up 10 floors?) but in Japan it’s done with success. As other cities densify, what can team Tokyo teach us?
From honey producers to fashion designers, Monocle meets the groups and business owners that have launched innovative projects to help bring communities together. Sometimes it makes good business sense too.
In Tokyo’s Ginza district the jarring rattle of suitcase wheels is the sound of visitors squeezing in some last-minute shopping before a dash to the airport. Last week subway operator Tokyo Metro and delivery company Yamato…
Tokyo is about to lose another landmark: the Sony Building in the Ginza shopping district will be torn down next spring. Designed by Yoshinobu Ashihara and completed in 1966, the eight-storey edifice – with five additional…
Shiseido Parlour in Tokyo’s Ginza district is where you would take someone you wanted to impress. It’s a waitstaff-in-bow-ties kind of restaurant that’s been serving yoshoku, or Japanese-style western cuisine, since 1928…
Inspired by a creative affinity for the country, a band of Japanese craftsmen have set up shop in Italy. Monocle speaks to a shoemaker, glass artist and tailor about embracing the techniques and traditions of their foreign…
Monocle enjoys São Paulo fashion week Tomorrowland collaborates with Belgian designer Jean-Paul Knott, plus Prada platforms, Incotex trunks and Banana Republic comes to London.
Miwako Date, who runs a major property developer, is one of the most powerful business players in Japan and the key mover in shaking up the luxury-hotel scene. So what’s she got planned for Tokyo?
Japan is a nation moving beyond an unthinkable disaster to re-establish itself as a regional leader in culture and innovative lifestyles. This issue we meet the people spearheading the unusual evolution of Japanese society…
Starbucks opened its first café in Russia in September, after a decade of trying. Last year, the company won a court case that finally gave it the right to use its trademark, which was bought up by a crafty Moscow lawyer…
Zozotown has over two million visitors to its virtual boulevard of shops, populated by the best international fashion brands. Monocle visits the firm’s HQ to witness the future of e-commerce.
In this month’s rundown of vital life improvements we have a two-faced candle, a three-legged stool and 12 notebooks to get you through the coming year.
Innovative brands extending their reach, fresh-faced start-ups launching their first ventures and established institutions in line for a facelift: we round up what's new and notable in hospitality worldwide for the year…