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May 02, 2024
 

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Martin Webb
For Martin Webb's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Aug 12, 2005
A little more love is in store for you
It's not often that I get to write about a shop that really gets me excited, but Colour By Numbers pushes more than a few of my buttons. It debuted in Daikanyama two weeks ago, one year to the day after the opening of its Aoyama sister store Loveless, and carries a big selection of creations by Japan-based designers -- which is something that Tokyo needs more of.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Jul 17, 2005
Tokyo eyes global catwalk
The Japanese fashion business is abuzz with the news that the six-week-long Tokyo Collections event that has forever been largely ignored by the international media is to be compressed into a government-backed, 10-day industry showcase staged in the grounds of Meiji Shrine in Tokyo's supertrendy Harajuku district.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Jul 8, 2005
YSL raises its flag again
In 1958, at the tender age of 21, Yves Saint Laurent took over the reins at the venerable couture house of Dior. From the outset hailed as a genius, then touted as no less than the savior of the French fashion industry, YSL is one of the world's most enduring fashion icons.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Jun 10, 2005
Black monolith rises in Harajuku
Tokyo is famed for its haphazard layout, with tatty old two-story structures nestling up against ultra-modern constructions, and areas seemingly designated for one type of business that are punctuated by anomalous residential or industrial premises.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
May 20, 2005
Camping it up with style
Sexy, salacious and in your face, Dress Camp is an anomaly in the dour world of Tokyo fashion.
Japan Times
Features
Apr 24, 2005
Menswear to the rescue
The Fall 2005 season saw the Tokyo Collections in a sorry state.
Features
Apr 24, 2005
Wannabe style capital puts on a 'cute' show
"Fancy a trip to the Singapore Fashion Festival?" My gnarled editor swiveled around from the Mac and shot me a grin. "This looks like a junket."
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Apr 17, 2005
A nation asleep at the wheel
Train carriages filled with white-collar workers dozing off on each other's shoulders are one of the most striking sights in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Mar 11, 2005
Omotesando goes one step beyond
Omotesando has seen a flurry of buildings for up-market fashion brands open in recent years, most notably Jun Aoki's Louis Vuitton flagship store and Herzog & de Meuron's Prada tower. Now, the thoroughfare lined with trashcans inscribed with "the Champs Elysees of Tokyo" is blessed with another architectural marvel dedicated to luxury retail -- Tod's.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Feb 11, 2005
Sweetest temptations
Japan's unique take on Valentine's Day sees women present their men with chocolate on February 14th, while the recipients reciprocate, often with branded trinkets or jewelry, one month later.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 21, 2005
New look for Mitsukoshi HQ
Mitsukoshi celebrated its 100th anniversary last year with the renovation of the New Wing of its flagship store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi. A century is as old as it gets for a department store in Japan -- this illustrious edifice has the distinction of being the nation's first. (It is also the only retailer in the land to lend its name to a subway station, Mitsukoshimae.) But, until the recent refurbishment, "New Wing" definitely seemed something of a misnomer. Now, with a fresh set of trendier tenants, a few tweaks to the layout and an immaculate interior refit, the name rings a lot truer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Dec 17, 2004
Delicatessens delight Tokyo
Everyone hankers after a little luxury in their life and in food-fixated Japan the latest in retail therapy is splashing out on fancy imported snacks or take-home dishes prepared by expert chefs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Nov 19, 2004
Ginza bites the Big Apple
American fashion institution Barneys New York has finally found a place to call home in Tokyo. Opened last month in Ginza, this is the first flagship store in Japan for the prestigious Big Apple retailer. Operated by Isetan, Barneys has been in Japan for over a decade, but fans in Tokyo have had to settle for the cramped branch in Shinjuku or make the journey out to the more spacious Yokohama outlet. Until now.
Japan Times
Features
Nov 14, 2004
A snapper's-eye view
Fashion is all about image, so it is no surprise that the men and women driving the looks from behind the camera often become some of the most powerful and in-demand people in the business.
Japan Times
Features
Nov 14, 2004
A marathon of motley collections
After Paris, London, New York and the rest of the fashion world has heaved a sigh of relief and headed home to ruminate on another season's offerings, Japan's style-setters tardily gird their loins to endure the farcically fragmented nonevent that is Tokyo Fashion Week.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Oct 8, 2004
Boldly going where no bookstore has gone before
Foreigner-run enterprises rarely make much of an impact in Japan, but American publisher Lucas Badtke-Berkow is the proud owner of a small business with a big profile. Paper Sky, his bilingual travel magazine, currently in its 10th issue, has a readership of more than 45,000 and this summer it made the leap into retail with Book246 -- a concept store in Tokyo's smart Aoyama district.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Sep 10, 2004
Traditions mingle underfoot
The fashion world's recent craze for Japonisme -- manifested in a veritable tsunami of kimono-inspired looks on the catwalks of Paris and Milan -- may have come and gone, but designs based on traditional Japanese arts seem to be finding steady footing in the worldwide marketplace.
COMMUNITY
Aug 15, 2004
Lanvin cuts a new dash
Only a couple of years ago, no self-respecting fashionista would have been caught dead in Lanvin. A brand stuck in the past, it had plenty of pedigree -- but was about as chic as white socks and sandals.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 15, 2004
Lanvin cuts a new dash
Only a couple of years ago, no self-respecting fashionista would have been caught dead in Lanvin. A brand stuck in the past, it had plenty of pedigree -- but was about as chic as white socks and sandals.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Aug 13, 2004
Loveless in Aoyama
Who needs love when you can have fashion? So goes the philosophy behind Tokyo's latest and greatest luxury clothing store, Loveless, which opened in Aoyama on July 23.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
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.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

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Longform

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