Japan Navigator

A new design center (21_21 design Sight) is now under construction at Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi and if you look at the big names of the participants it promises to be very exciting when it opens in 2007. For starters, the architect is Tadao Ando, who continues to delight us, as with his recent Chichu [...]

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The Japanese are extremely fond of fish, either dead or alive. They eat more fish than almost all other nations, and – what I want to address here – they also have the largest number of (often gorgeous) aquariums on earth.
The earliest aquarium dates from 1882 and was located in the Zoo of Ueno – [...]

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The Ginza, Japan’s major upscale shopping district is full of interesting galleries and design shops as well. On Gridskipper I found this suggestion for a design tour through the area, from the Ginza Graphic gallery to the International Forum.

[Inside the huge hall of the Tokyo International Forum. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
Some Ginza suggestions (non-design) I [...]

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One particular historical event, the Japan-US treaty of amity and the subsequent opening up of the port of Yokohama is highlighted in the Yokohama Archives of History, fittingly housed in a museum standing in the grounds of the former residence of the British consulate general, and wrapping around an offshoot of the camphor tree under [...]

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July is an exciting time to be in Japan (despite the heat), as many of the famous summer festivals are held. Here is an overview so you can plan your schedule.
July 7, nationwide: Tanabata (Star Festival)
Celebrates the meeting, just once a year, of two lovers, Kengyu (the star Altair, personified as a cowherd) and Shokujo [...]

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The Silk Museum in Yokohama is housed in a somewhat dated office building, established in 1959 on the site of British trading firm Jardine Matheson & Co. Silk was Japan’s main export item in the late 19th c. and many merchants in Yokohama thrived thanks to the silk trade (until the bust of the 1930s). [...]

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Shibayama, on the eastern side of Narita Airport, is another area rich in old tumulus graves. In contrast to Boso Fudoki-no-Oka, Shibayama has given us numerous large-sized and fascinating haniwa figures. Typical are curious figures with high hats, beards and long curly hair, a very unusual look as haniwa go. They are the trademarks of [...]

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Boso Fudoki-no-Oka is a scenic, historical park covering 32 hectares, laid out on a hill dotted with about 120 old tumulus graves. Although lying close to Narita, Tokyo’s International Airport, the thunder of jets does not reach here and the park proves remarkably tranquil. There are small grave mounds, not more than tiny knolls, lying [...]

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As temples and museum go, there is more in the vicinity of Narita than only jumbojets. After the museums in the grounds of the Narita temple, take the bus for a short ride to the Sogo Treasure Hall and Sogo Memorial Hall, both located in the grounds of a temple called Sogo Reido, standing in [...]

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Long before it became known as the site of Tokyo’s international airport, Narita was famous as the temple town that grew up around the imposing Narita-san Shinshoji Temple. One of eastern Japan’s most important temples, Shinshoji is approached along a street lined with shops, restaurants and inns. Although the main hall is modern concrete construction, [...]

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