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 Mio Yamada

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Mio Yamada
A freelance arts and lifestyle editor and writer, Mio Yamada focuses on design, crafts and architecture. When she’s not visiting galleries and trade fairs, you'll find her taking photos of everything and being distracted by shiny objects. She's also surprisingly British.
For Mio Yamada's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Nov 4, 2018
The kitchen is where the party is
The kitchen may be home to the most everyday objects in the house, but that doesn't mean they all have to be boring in design.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 19, 2018
Designart Tokyo 2018 looks beyond 2021
Designart, Tokyo's annual festival encompassing all creative genres, is a cornucopia of design-related presentations and exhibitions within galleries, shops and event spaces. Celebrating its second iteration at a larger scale this year, the festival has its eyes set on the future: beyond 2021 to be precise.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Sep 30, 2018
Retro Japan makes another comeback
From Showa Era-style stationery to Heian Period-inspired tenugui towels, contemporary remakes prove 'retro' can still be modern
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Sep 2, 2018
Seeing things from another angle
Design that thrives on different perspectives of the innovative, the classic and the traditional
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 25, 2018
Making the cut in Japan's film industry
Film producer Yukie Kito talks about making movies, her favorite actor and how the entertainment industry in Japan differs to that in the U.S.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Aug 5, 2018
From balancing games to playing with poop
Inspired by the 2018 Good Toy Awards winners, announced in May by the NPO Japan Good Toy Association, this month's On: Design takes a look at a few aesthetically pleasing items to help keep the kids entertained over the summer holidays.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 28, 2018
Photography: A journey of passion and joy
Name: Nico Perez
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jul 1, 2018
From Tokyo to London: This is the house that Japan built
As London's new cultural hub of all things Japanese, Japan House London's minimalist interiors, striking central spiral staircase, displays of nnovative design, art and architectural works and classy top-floor restaurant impressively avoid the all-too-easy preconceptions about Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 9, 2018
Takaoka crafts a new tourism industry
In the entrance of Nousaku in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, a group of schoolchildren skip by and point excitedly at an eclectic display of hundreds of brightly colored objects. Other visitors, meanwhile, look down in wonder toward the concrete floor, where a huge golden silhouette of the Japanese archipelago gleams as it catches sunlight streaming in from nearby floor-to-ceiling windows.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 13, 2018
Twenty-five years in the company of Maywa Denki
Maywa Denki, Japan's 'parallel-world electric company' celebrates quarter of a century of wacky art performances, peculiar gadgets and lots of humor.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / NEW IN TOWN
May 2, 2018
Kungyokudo, Japan's oldest purveyor of incense, upgrades for launch of Tokyo flagship
The first branch of Kungyokudo, Japan’s oldest incense supplier, opened near Tokyo Station on April 26, and despite how it might appear on paper, it’s a very good fit.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 28, 2018
Hawken King: Staying on his game in Tokyo
Designer-programmer and founder of games studio Dadako talks about unlocked achievements and life in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 4, 2018
Artist Rob Judges: A boombox of creativity
Inspired by retro vibes, hip-hop, street slang and graffiti, artist Rob Judges says be unique and don't succumb to all the new tech of today.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Apr 1, 2018
Looking for spring inspiration?
Nendo offers creative advice, Perrocaliente updates the past and Nousaku invokes flower power
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 25, 2018
Issey Miyake finds its Kyoto home
With its tiered roof, latticed exterior and exposed beams, the new Issey Miyake Kyoto flagship is more than just a store; it's a celebration of one of Kyoto's best-known traditional structures — the machiya.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Mar 4, 2018
Classic ways to relax in style
Crafts that help perfect a calming break from it all
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Feb 11, 2018
Bright ideas that light up the web
From sculptural memo pads and kanji-inspired interiors to artisan collaborations and cat furniture — the internet loves Japanese design.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 31, 2017
A few ways to go the whole dog in 2018
Cats may have surpassed dogs as pets in Japan for the first time in more than 20 years, but that hasn't stopped the nation preparing for the year of the dog with canine events and all manner of engimono lucky charms to see you through the year. Here are a few picks for those who want to indulge in a little puppy love.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Dec 31, 2017
New things for the new year
Now that the festive season of partying and extravagance is over, now's the time to take a breather with a return to some of the calmer things in life — tea, coffee and books.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Dec 3, 2017
It's time to stop blocking color
Minimalist interiors have been a growing trend for many years now, primarily dominated by a monochromatic palette of white. But who says we need to abandon color to live a de-cluttered life?

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