Life, Death And Dreams: The Beautiful And Fashionable Art Of Shikimi
A Tokyo-based illustrator with a broad fan base, Shikimi combines a refined sensibility for fashion and design, an ability to create striking compositions, and an an eye for detail and aesthetic balance, resulting in exquisite and detailed tableaus centered on characters. Continue reading »
Kawaii In The Afterlife: The Playfully Religious Art Of Japanese Illustrator Hasuimo
Japanese illustrator hasuimo makes no secret about the orientation of her art. The tweet pinned to the top of her account clearly states: “I like spiritual things.” Continue reading »
Photographer Spent 3 Weeks In Japan And Captured Cyberpunk And Noir Film Inspired Photographs
According to a photographer Teemu Jarvinen: “I spent 3 weeks in Sapporo this January, shooting streets during snowstorms. I’ll share some of my favorite photos in this post. Continue reading »
Alice In Wonderland Re-Imagined With Japanese Artwork: Gorgeous Watercolor
Alice in Wonderland is beloved and celebrated for its surreal charm and dreamlike atmosphere. As it turns out, the fairy tale setting and characters translate very seamlessly (and awesomely!) into a world based on Japanese culture. Continue reading »
Beautiful Vintage Color Photographs Of The Japanese Warriors Captured Over 150 Years Ago
A group of officers in the service of a prince from the north of Japan, circa 1865. (Photo by Felice Beato/Spencer Arnold) Continue reading »
Japanese Plastic Food Samples That Look So Real, But Too Artistic To Eat
An octopus cooking up some takoyaki
Anyone who has ever traveled in Japan without knowing much of the language can appreciate the abundance of beautifully crafted plastic food samples placed outside of restaurants. It’s a great convenience for foreign visitors, and even if you know the language it gives you an immediate idea of what a shop has to offer. Continue reading »
A Mixture Of Innocence, Beauty, Violence, Decadence, Japanese And Russian Folklore – In Bizarre Works By Vania Zhuravlev
Characters from Russian fairy tales and Japanese folklore, demons, dead bodies and beautiful women from brothels – these are the main subjects and themes in the works by Vania Zhuravlev, a Russian artist who emigrated to London and who creates graphic art in a style very reminiscent of Russian engravings of the early 20th century. Except that there is a lot more sex and death in them. Continue reading »
Yokai Horrors From The 18th Century Bakemono Zukushi Scroll – The Nightmarish, Curious And Rather Cute Demons Were Created In The Edo Period
Oyajirome (親白眼) has a bulging eye on the back of its head and a claw on its one-fingered hand.
You could cut this 18th Century Japanese scroll into neat squares and use the 24 images for a game of ‘Guess Who? – Yokai.’ Does yours have one eye..? Does yours have teeth..? Does yours eat raw human anuses..? (The Kappa does.) The scroll, known as the Bakemono zukushi, was painted by an artist or artist now unknown. Continue reading »
Japanese Harvest Festival Displays Massive “Scarecrow” Of Space Battleship Yamato
Chikuzen, Fukuoka is known for its annual harvest festival, where locals work together to construct awesome statues or “scare crows” out of harvested straw. Two years ago, the festival featured an impressive 10-meter straw Godzilla, but this year’s massive structure may have set a new standard. Japanese Twitter user Natsu posted photos that have anime fans excited for the festival, revealing a giant Space Battleship Yamato scarecrow! Continue reading »
Japanese Students Build Massive Boat Made Of Handmade Sweets
600 cookies (each half the size of a standard sheet of paper), 40 muffins, 600 bread slices, 200 cream puffs, 420 leaf shaped pies, 250 tarts, 108 waffles, 200 bagels, 600 dice-cut cookies, 1000 marzipan sweets, 2000 chocolate roses. Continue reading »
The Eerie Costumers Of Japan’s Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons
Japan and cosplay go hand-in-hand, so it’s no surprise that every year the gigantic Halloween celebration in Shibuya yields a mass of creative costumers. An often overlooked celebration in Kyoto, however, offers just as as impressive -and possibly more terrifying-assembly of costumes. Continue reading »
Inside Japan’s New Luxury Suite Train That Departs From Ueno’s Platform 13½
Harry Potter fans got a little giddy when JR East announced that Ueno Station in Tokyo would open up a “Platform 13½” in order to accommodate the new Train Suite Shiki-Shima, a luxury train that features observation platforms, private suites, high class restaurants, and foot baths. Continue reading »
Become A Poop Art Picasso Japan’s PooPaint Toilet Paper
Children in Japan already have a poop museum to learn about how cute poop can be, but now they have a potty training alternative with some artistic incentive in PooPaint–a toilet paper that encourages you to make art with your poop! Continue reading »
Centipede, Spider And Other Creepy Animal-Inspired Handbags Created By A Japanese Artist
How does a giant centipede sound to you? Or a giant spider? Or maybe a football-sized flea? Would you wear one of these creepy-crawlies as an accessory? Well, if your phobias hadn’t kicked in yet, we’ve got something interesting for you. Japanese artist Amanojaku to Hesomagari creates eerily lifelike handbags and accessories inspired by all sorts of insects and animals that not only look cool but are also a great way to give your friends a nice scare. Continue reading »
Fascinating Black And White Photos Capture Street Scenes Of Kyoto, Japan In 1974
Kyoto is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, it forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. Continue reading »
New Grid-Bonsai Trees Let You Enjoy Traditional Japanese Art As A Puzzle
A new collaborative effort between Japan Botanical Culture Co., LTD. and creative design office nendo is showing that with a new “modern” bonsai that requires no watering or fertilizer, GRID-BONSAI. Continue reading »
This Novelty Pillow Lets You Sleep An A Gorilla’s Chest
It’s unfortunate that not everyone has the privilege of being able to sleep with the ones that they love every night or even someone else for that matter. Luckily, one Japanese merchandise shop has an answer to that problem. Continue reading »
Inflate Your Cat’s Holy Ego With This Buddhist Statue Scratching Post From Japan
The “Cat Club” (Neko-bu) division of Japanese online retailer Felissimo has put out some creative feline bedding situations in the past. Today, you can add holy kitty claw maintenance to their list of cute cat products, as they’ve just released a scratching post that turns your cat into a feline Buddhist statue! Continue reading »
Japanese Nerd And Fetish Brand Releases Gakuran School Uniform Swimsuit
Japanese fetish and design brand School Fiction has been leading the way with a fashion lineup of “sexy” swimsuits with the aesthetic of traditional Japanese school uniforms. The latest in their series takes another classic Japanese school uniform, the gakuran, and transforms it into a stylish and very convincing swimsuit. Continue reading »
Japanese Harry Potter Flies Around The World’s Most Iconic Landmarks On A Broomstick
Most probably, every person who has read the Harry Potter books imagined themselves as a wizard. Wouldn’t it be cool to perform all sorts of magic or to whizz around on a broom? Well, actually, if you think about it, whizzing around on a broom might not be such a good idea after all… Continue reading »
Ultimate Infill: A Skinny Building Amidst The Ginza Alley In Japan
Amidst one of Ginza’s many backstreets lies an L-shaped plot of land. This plot of land, which remained vacant for 3 years and hidden by the shadows of the tall buildings surrounding it, is only 2.7 meters wide (around 9 feet). Eventually, a developer stepped in. Continue reading »
Urban Explorer Visits Abandoned Japanese Love Motel Of Naughty Attractions
Dutch explorer Bob Thissen has explored hundreds of abandoned places all over the world, including many love motels. In July 2019, Bob found what he claims is the biggest and most high-end love motel he has ever seen, on Honshu island, Japan. Continue reading »
“Lost In Translation”: Cinematic Street Photos Of Tokyo By Yusuke Kubota
Creative street shots by Yusuke Kubota, a gifted self-taught photographer, retoucher, and urban explorer based in Tokyo, Japan. Yusuke focuses mainly on urban and street photography. He explores the vivid street of Japan to capture striking urban landscapes. Continue reading »
This Realistic Lettuce Notepad Is Great For Jotting Down Fresh Ideas
Are you still writing notes and reminders on square note pads? Do you love fresh lettuce? If you’re in the middle of that Venn diagram, then you may want to add this cool product to your grocery list. Continue reading »
This Bizarre Japanese Temple Looks Like A Fallen Intergalactic Starship
Rising out of central Tokyo, not far from Tokyo Tower or the Emperor’s Palace, this bizarre, black, pyramidal structure is a temple of the “Inner Trip Reiyukai.” Continue reading »
