Inside the issue

Dossier

Openings
News from Tokyo, Kyoto and North Jakarta

Products
New collections and collaborations

Books
Upcoming and new books on design, art, interiors and architecture from the world’s best publishers

A Day in the Life
We spend a day in the Kyoto studio of MUJI design director Sosuke Nakabo, who uses the peaceful, orderly space to work on new MUJI products as well as his own design projects

Survey
We highlight a cohort of designers contemplating modern themes with a Japanese bent

Profile
In Kobe, Teruhiro Yanagihara Studio’s new outpost of Vague is a multidisciplinary, multi-sensory space that embodies Yanagihara’s philosophies

Craft
Japan has a rich tapestry of time-honoured craft traditions, hundreds of which are still practised by masters and contemporary designers today

Style

Profile
Young Japanese designer Tomohiro Kishida undertakes every step of the making process by hand, from planting cotton seeds to weaving yarn and dyeing

Editor’s Picks
A fashion briefing from Still By Hand creative director Yusuke Yanagi

Wanderlust

Hiroshima
Hiroshima’s post-war renaissance is manifesting itself in a slew of creative and design destinations

Hotel
Ryue Nishizawa’s design of the third Shishi-Iwa House continues the brand’s tradition of serene structures embedded in their local contexts

Openings
The best of the new boutique and luxury designer hotels from around the world

Vernissage

Gallery Survey
Tokyo’s independent artist-run initiatives keep the city’s creative economy thrumming

Triennale
Niigata’s Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is a model for art interventions that engage and uplift communities through long-standing collaborations and installations

Home

Yokohama
Design studio I IN created a minimal but warm space based on a client brief that prioritised a monochrome palette

Tokyo
The Meguro home of kooo architects founders Shinya and Ayaka Kojima embraces connection and open-plan living

Osaka
Niimori Jamison’s Matsubara House draws inspiration from the unique typology of its Osaka suburb with a smart gridded layout

Tokyo
Architect Shotaro Maeshima designed his home as an open unit with no partitions between family members or functions

Tokyo
Jesus Salinas reimagined this 1940s home as an unconventional art gallery

Architectonics

Photo Essay
Okinawa-based British photographer Paul Tulett devotes his time to photographing the country’s brutalist heritage

Urban Planning
An urban studies scholar contemplates how zoning creates the unique urban landscapes of Tokyo

The Flâneur

Toyama
A flâneur is an urban explorer — a connoisseur of the street. In our rotating column, guests share their musings, observations and critiques of the urban environment in cities around the world. In this issue, editor and writer Mio Yamada considers her evolving perception of Toyama, a revitalised city known for its industrial crafts