Hello Kitty Expands with 3D Series from Kids First & Amazon Kids+

Kids First today announced its first-ever collaboration with Amazon Kids+ on an original children’s program based on Hello Kitty. The two companies are creating a new episodic series, Hello Kitty: Super Style! , which will bring lifestyle brand Sanrio’s global pop culture icon to life in premium 3D animation.

Shoji Hamada (1894 – 1978) Japanese Potter

Shoji Hamada, along with Bernard Leach, was one of the key figures in the development of studio pottery in the 20th century. His influence both in England and the US as well as in his native Japan cannot be underestimated. Read More →
Junichi Arai (1932 – 2017) Japanese textile designer and producer

Junichi Arai (1932 – 2017) was a Japanese textile designer and producer born in Kiryu, Gunma. As the sixth generation of a mill-owning family, Arai grew up with fabrics being woven for obis and kimonos. He held traditional weaving methods in high regard and the skills that only the human hand can have in the art of fabric making. Read More →
Black Wire Chair by Oki Santo

Oki Santo designed this chair; it was a part of a series called Thin Black Lines. The series includes a chair and clothes rack intended to appear as sketches in the air or calligraphy symbols. Thin black lines like the traces of sketches drawn in the air made transparent surfaces and volumes appear, which we assigned practical functions. The outlines remained after simplifying paintings of plants and animals. Read More →
Etsuko Nishi (b.1955) Japanese Glass Designer

Etsuko Nishi is a Japanese Glass Designer. She is a leading expert in pâte de verre, one of the oldest and most difficult glass-making forms. The desired shape is first made of clay, which is used as the basis for the mould. The glass powder is then mixed with a special type of paste, and the mixture is then placed in the mould and then fired.Read More →
Osamu Tezuka (1928 – 1989) Japanese manga artist and cartoonist

OSAMU TEZUKA, who was revered as the “god of manga,” watched Bambi eighty times, until he had memorised every frame, and dreamed of equaling or surpassing Disney realism in his own animation.Read More →
Makio Hasuike Japanese (b.1938) Japanese Industrial Designer

Hasuike founded his firm in Milan after studying architecture and industrial design in Tokyo and working for Seiko for a year. He has designed for various well-known brands, including Gaggia coffee machines, Panasonic electronic items, Villeroy & Boch sanitary ware and tableware, Grand Gourmet kitchen knives (1994), and WMF cookware. Read More →
Teruo Yamada (b.1945) Japanese Glassware Designer

His work was shown at 1980 ‘Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition,’ Tokyo; 1981 and 1990 ‘Glass in Japan,’ Tokyo; 1985 ‘New Glass in Japan,’ Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe; 1987 ‘The Art of Contemporary Japanese Studio Glass,’ Heller Gallery, New York; 1991 (V) Triennale of the Japan Glass Art Crafts Association, Heller Gallery.Read More →
Dorodango Japanese polished dirt balls

The hand-rolling of this soil-based mixture can be relaxing and comfortable to do. Dorodango is not without its difficulties and needs a high degree of skill, patience and concentration. Given the fragility and inclination of the dorodango to break, the perfectly formed ball is elusive. It can also be a challenging process to achieve the perfect shine.Read More →
Yūsuke Aida (1931 – 2015) – Japanese ceramics & industrial designer

Yūsuke Aida (1931-2015) – Japanese ceramics designer and industrial designer. He studied town planning at Chiba University and ceramics under Ken Miyanohara. Read More →
Yuri Masaki Japanese glass designer

Yuri Masaki is a Japanese glass designer she was president of the Masaki Glass and Art Studio. Her work was included in 1987 and 1990…Read More →
Sori Yanagi – Japanese Industrial Designer

Sori Yanagi (1915-2011) was an industrial designer from Japan. Although previously trained as a fine artist and worked in an architectural studio, Yanagi went on to study industrial design in 1947.Read More →
How much do you know about Hello Kitty?

Before she became famous and loved by people all over the world, Hello Kitty first appeared in Japan. You see her adorable face on anything from backpacks to clothing and even cutlery. But how much do you know about this famous Japanese character?Read More →
Fujiwo Ishimoto Japanese born textile & ceramic designer

The natural world and its phenomena influence Ishimoto’s works. His designs have basic forms that are coupled with vibrant exterior constructions and lavish ornamentation. Ishimoto has won the State Industrial Arts Prize, the Kaj Franck Design Prize, and Honourable Mentions at the Finland Designs show in 1983, 1989, and 1993, among other awards. He was given the Pro Finlandia Medal in 2011. His ceramics and textiles have been featured in several private and group shows. Fujiwo Ishimoto has also designed opera stage sets and costumes.Read More →
Hello Kitty Expands with 3D Series from Kids First & Amazon Kids+

Kids First today announced its first-ever collaboration with Amazon Kids+ on an original children’s program based on Hello Kitty. The two companies are creating a new episodic series, Hello Kitty: Super Style! , which will bring lifestyle brand Sanrio’s global pop culture icon to life in premium 3D animation.Read More →
How Isamu Noguchi’s Akari lamps changed lighting forever

Although most often described as a sculptor, Isamu Noguchi’s output wasn’t confined to the realms of decorative art. He made stage sets, furniture (his eponymous coffee table is a cult piece) and created interiors as well as gardens.Read More →
Japan Advertising Artists Club (JAAC) pioneer of Japanese Graphic Design

In the 1960s, the JAAC’s philosophy came under fire for being overly reliant on exhibitions as a platform for innovative ideas. Furthermore, during the turbulent 1960s, a perceived emphasis on aesthetics at the expense of social significance, combined with allegations of elitism, led to the organisation’s disbandment in 1970.Read More →
Japanese Publication: Monthly Cosmopolitan. Cover

Japanese Publication: Monthly Cosmopolitan. Aoyama Nozomi and Wakida Asuka (Cosmopolitan). 2015.Read More →
Spotlight: Arata Isozaki – Japanese Architect & Designer

Japanese architect, teacher, and theorist Arata Isozaki (born 23 July 1931) helped bring Japanese influence to some of the most prestigious buildings of the 20th century and continues to work at the highest level today. Initially working in a distinctive form of modernism, Isozaki developed his thoughts and theories on architecture into a complex style that invokes pure shape and space as much as it evokes post-modern ideas. Highly adaptable and socially concerned, his work has been acclaimed for being sensitive to context while still making its statements.Read More →
Loyly Floating Sauna Raises Bar on Minimalist Design

The Löyly was created by Tolle Rudebeck Harr as his graduate degree project. The sauna takes its inspiration from Finnish and Japanese architecture, and the result is so clean and straightforward that it must have helped Trolle graduate with honors.Read More →
Jiro Kosugi (1915 – 1981) Japanese Industrial Designer

After WWII, he worked as an independent designer, designing a series of three-wheeled trucks for the Toyo Kogyo Company (now Mazda) in Hiroshima, which he worked on from 1948 until 1960. These designs were trendy since they were both practical and reasonably inexpensive to purchase. Read More →