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May 06, 2024
 

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Jean Snow

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Jean Snow
A longtime resident of Tokyo, Jean Snow lives and breathes design, pop culture, and gaming, sustained by an unhealthy addiction to magazines and frequent visits to his favorites cafes. He has reported on these obsessions for various online and offline publications.
For Jean Snow's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA / ON: DESIGN
Jan 22, 2008
Naoto Fukusawa, the peg pencil, Gallery Le Bain and more
Naoto Fukusawa: Beech Boy
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Dec 25, 2007
MoMA store in Tokyo, plus stylish New Year cards, cat toys and vacuum cleaners
MoMA Design steps in
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Nov 27, 2007
Design Week in Tokyo; Good Design Award
Tokyo Design Week, the 2007 edition, has come and gone, and now we have to deal with the fallout: what we saw, experienced, and enjoyed throughout the weeklong design showcase. Although it truly is an international event, here are a few highlights from some of the Japanese participants.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Sep 25, 2007
Tokujin Yoshioka, Nosign Design etc.
A drop of light
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Aug 28, 2007
Kyosho's MANOI PF0, IDEA International's MACINARI-TAKUMI collection, etc.
Your new best friend
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jul 24, 2007
DoCoMo's Simpure L2, Uniqlo's Hotels Homes, etc.
Word play
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jun 26, 2007
Metaphys, Bunaco, etc.
Earlier this month at Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center, the massive Interior Lifestyle show hosted more than 600 exhibitors, more than half of which were domestic companies. Having dug through the many products on display, this week I will spotlight the best Japanese designs you can expect to see on shelves in the coming year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
May 22, 2007
OVO, DateBlock, VAPE No. 1 NEO and DECO LAMP
Eggish timer
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Apr 24, 2007
Conof, One Percent and Panasonic's new mini-speakers
Shredding mystery When I first laid eyes on the Conof by n.o.l., I had no idea what it was but immediately developed a unprovoked yearning for it. So when I eventually figured out that it was a paper shredder, there was a moment of disappointment -- secrecy and sensitive documents play no part in my life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Mar 27, 2007
KOKUYO, MUJI, PILOT and MONO for spring
Spring is in the air, and that means two things: a city draped in the pink of cherry blossoms -- hey, pink is the new black, so get with it; and the start of a new school year. So I'll concentrate this month's picks on a few items that will make you more productive with a touch of a style.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Feb 27, 2007
A grab bag of affordable products
Great design ideas do not necessarily need to cost an arm and a leg -- even though some manufacturers would like you to think so. With that in mind, this month's picks are a grab bag of affordable products, all under 10,000 yen (the small version of the Oblong clock excepted). Also, you should be able to find most of them online at the Caina design store (www.caina.jp).
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jan 30, 2007
Between the crafty and the user-friendly
Receptacle for the respectable It wouldn't seem that much could be done to improve on the functionality of the lowly water dispenser -- all you need is a receptacle and a tap. Enter Kai House with the Adhoc product from their Kitchen Design Movement collection. It features both a paired-down design -- it's almost nothing but a stand -- and a stark sense of modernism that makes it an attractive addition to the kitchen. The advantage to owning an Adhoc is that it can be used with any PET bottle, so you're not limited to using a specialized container to supply the water. The only thing you'll really need to consider is whether you'll want to load your bottle as is or take the time to remove labels and go for that clear "au naturel" look. The Adhoc water dispenser sells for 8,000 yen and is available in either stainless steel or blue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Dec 26, 2006
Easy Desk Aluminum, Waste Me Not Calendars, Plusminuszero's Humidifer, Metaphys' celtis game
The new year brings with it a perfect opportunity to make life improvements, or at least pretend to do so. This month's column, therefore, is about making you more productive, better organized (with a touch of eco-related ingenuity), enhancing the air around you -- as well as adding a bit of fun to our otherwise busy lives. Even better, everything can be ordered online, so accessibility should not be an issue, or an excuse (as long as you live in Japan).
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 28, 2006
Pore's Babel, Sunnin's Tokyo Dresser, Magnet Tack, Hiroyuki Kato's Root, braille lighting . . .
No sane person would probably ever consider trying to soak in nearly as much design goodness as I do in order to bring to light the cream of the crop for you. Being the brave soul that I am, though, earlier this month I enthusiastically and recklessly charged head first into Tokyo Design Week to see what I could find. As TDW's 100% Design Tokyo trade show was the place to find the products most likely to be seen in stores in 2007, I chose it as the source of my picks for next year's most promising new Japanese designs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 2, 2006
Make the most of this year's celebration of practical art
Once again, Tokyo welcomes the design world with open arms into its streets, shops, cafes and galleries -- all under the umbrella of Tokyo Design Week, which encompasses four different yet complementary events: Tokyo Designer's Week, 100% Design Tokyo, Design Tide and Swedish Style.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 24, 2006
Sony's Aquos line, Kaichiro Yamada's Tatami chair, Tokujin Yoshioka's PANE chair, MSG's Kakehouki broom
Slim and sleek
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 26, 2006
Barouche appliances, R Chair, DoCoMo N702iS, NEKKO flower vase, M+K Design's Sweet Icicle light
Be it for the home, while you're on the go, or even during some far away travels, this month's column has you covered with a selection of choice items that should satisfy all your stylish needs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 21, 2006
Only good designs
If there's anything that design has taught us in recent years, it's that without it, the world around us would certainly be a much less interesting place.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Aug 22, 2006
Hisanobu Tsujimura's Kan chair, the En bench, Muji's form-fitting sofa, Ken Watanabe's Linkage Stool
Due to a spate of out-of-town excursions and hiking expeditions, lately I've felt the need to just sit down and enjoy moments of lounging bliss. Here is a selection of chairs, benches and sofas that not only act as elegant interior additions to the home, but more importantly, will encourage you to take a load off.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 25, 2006
Mobile Mouse, National lawn mower, Tsubomi's space packaging system, SUTTO Stool
With the weather about to get the better of us as we move into the hottest month of the year, why not try to find some solace in a few items to help us make the most of the great outdoors. For those on the go or hanging out in their backyard (that is, those of us lucky enough to actually have one) this month's picks will have you covered.
Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'
The National Diet building in Tokyo
G7 eyes plan on U.S.-led $50 billion aid package for Ukraine
A local resident visits the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday. The U.S. is in talks with close partners to lead a group of allies that would give as much as $50 billion in aid to Ukraine.
Japan drops to 70th in press freedom rankings
A businessman reads a newspaper outside a train station in Tokyo.
Japan’s record-low children population weighs on growth
The number of children 14 years old or younger fell for the 43rd straight year to around 14.01 million as of April 1.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
'Monster' Inoue ready to tear down Luis Nery in title defense at Tokyo Dome
Naoya Inoue (left) and Luis Nery following a pre-fight news conference in Yokohama on Saturday, two days ahead of their super bantamweight title fight.
Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges
With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
Sapporo court ruling on Ainu fishing rights presents tough questions
A traditional Ainu preserved food called <i>satchep</i> (dried fish) being made at the government-run National Ainu Museum and Park, nicknamed Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, on Dec. 25. The Sapporo District Court ruled last month that the Raporo Ainu Nation's rights as an Indigenous people did not extend to having an inherent right to fish for commercial reasons.
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
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