Please Be Seated is a large-scale installation designed by Paul Cocksedge, and it is made from more than 1,000 scaffolding planks. Cocksedge collaborated with Essex-based high-end interiors company White & White to re-imagine and re-use the building wood. The curvy seating encouraged passerby to sit and relax with their books or lap tops, which [...]

 
Over the past few years, I have been quite disappointed with design industry's 'slow response' in tackling the sustainability issues, and felt the same way when I visited trade shows and exhibitions at the London design festival. Finally, things have changed this year. Sustainability and handmade crafts became the main focus of [...]

Boro – real astonishment exhibition
 
After spending so much time in the rural countryside, I found it hard to cope with the hustle and bustle back in Tokyo, and felt slightly dazy and detached from reality. My original Airbnb booking was cancelled by a host in Tokyo at the last minute, (the 2nd [...]

 
Most foreigners who visit Japan tend to stick to big cities or well-known onsen/resorts, and they rarely travel to the rural parts of Japan. On this trip, I completely fell in love with Japan's rural countryside. The Kumano Kodo pilgrimage was a highlight, but I also loved Fujino, a rural town (with [...]

 
Top: a visit and demonstration of katagami by the Ise-Katagami artisan Isao Uchida

 
Like I mentioned in my previous entry, my knowledge on traditional Japanese textiles techniques was quite minimal before the workshop. I have done some shibori techniques like itajime and pole wrapping, but I have never done any stitch shibori nor [...]

 
After my visit to Kyu Hyuga Bettei, I headed back to the train station to take a free shuttle bus to the MOA Museum of Art situated on the top of hill that overlooks the sea. Like Miho Museum in Kyoto, this private museum was opened in 1982 by the Mokichi Okada [...]

 
Unlike Shirakawa-go in the Gifu prefecture, the remote Gokayama region in the Toyama prefecture is exempt from big bus tourism and seems to attrach more independent travelers. Even though the two areas are both declared as UNESCO world heritage sites, they are located in two different prefectures, and I have a feeling [...]

The view of the city from my room in the morning
 
I am not sure if it was due to the weather or flocks of tourists, but I was slightly disappointed with Takayama city centre after spending an afternoon walking around. Luckily, I woke up the next day and the clouds have cleared [...]

Stunning scenery of the mountains during the train journey to Takayama
 
Even though I am familiar with unpredictable weather, I wasn't fully prepared for the fluctuation of temperatures and weather while traveling around Japan. For the first 10 days of my trip in the Kansai region, I experienced exceptional warm and sunny weather [...]

The preserved townscape of Minoshi
 
I think many people who are interested in Japanese paper would have heard of Mino washi paper, especially after it was was designated an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2014. The origin of this paper dates back to the Nara period (710 ~ 784 CE), and is [...]