Not just another day at the office: Rethinking Japan’s business culture amid the COVID-19 pandemic
The workplaces that employees nationwide are slowly returning to are unlikely to be the same as the ones they left when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged.
For restaurant owners worrying how they can welcome back customers, a French designer has created a cylinder of transparent plastic for coronavirus protection
Fresh ideas for old-school crafts
As many of Japan's traditional crafts and industries hope to adapt to survive, more young designers are offering their creative help
Alvin Cheung: Coffee and keyboards — a perfect combo
Alvin Cheung talks about the caffeine-charged world of entrepreneurism, design and "coffee terroir."
From horizontal vases to panty-clad glasses, Japan's handmade market can offer some extraordinary gift ideas for Valentine's Day.
Waste not want not in Japanese design
The limitations of recycling and repurposing materials frees the imagination for unusual, amusing and clever design in Japan.
Future design in Japan: Recycle, upcycle and reinvent
The focus on traditional artisanship is still strong, as is the global obsession with minimalism, but what about sustainability and ethical consumption?
Maurice Eric Zacher: Designs on Japan
Japanologist and product designer Zacher on Japanese design, gadgets and university scholarships.
Now that the flurry of activity that surrounds the annual Salone del Mobile has died down, this month's On: Design takes a look at a few of the interiors fair's Japanese prizewinning ideas and new product debuts.
Plastic fantastic: Examining the obsession over Japan's soft vinyl toys
It's a cold afternoon in mid-January and, inside a factory operated by Maruyama Toys in a quiet residential area in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward, Cory Privitera is making sofubi (soft vinyl toys). In a cramped workspace surrounded by machinery and long sinks, the 33-year-old begins by ...
In 2018, art came via many anniversaries in Japan
This year saw a lot of anniversaries in Japan. It was 1868 when Crown Prince Mutsuhito became the Emperor Meiji, the official policy of national isolation ended and the country was set on a course to become a modern industrialized nation-state. This birthday seems ...
Shared spaces, locally produced goods and everyday objects
Making physical connections with people, whether via large-scale events and spaces or design concepts, and a continued celebration of traditional crafts, appeared to be a key direction for design in Japan this year. "2018 was the year Japan embraced the idea of 'shared space' — ...
