November 7th, 2009 | Author: van | Filed under: Bizarre, Culture | 2 Comments »
We’ve all read the books and – for those for whom books are anathema – the websites about the zany Japanese inventions designed to improve day-to-day life.
Butter in a glue stick, slippers with a retractable rod in the heel to squash cockroaches from a distance, double-headed jugs so you can pour two glasses of water at a time, and my absolute favourite: the hardhat with a suction cup on the back, so you can attach yourself to the train window on the way home and fall asleep without your head falling into your chest.
The problem with these inventions is that they seem to ignore one fairly major factor in the success of a new product: will it embarrass me?
Read the rest of this entry »
November 6th, 2009 | Author: andy | Filed under: Art, Culture | No Comments »
To put it simply, Shinichi Maruyama hurls black India ink into water (or vice versa) and photographs the millisecond that these two liquids collide.
Maruyama takes full advantage of a recent advancement in strobe light technology which can record physical events faster than the naked eye can perceive them – 1/7500th of a second, in fact.
In the series Kusho, which means “writing in the sky,” Maruyama’s goal is to arrest in space and time the sublime intersection of two different media before they merge into one.
Read the rest of this entry »
November 5th, 2009 | Author: andy | Filed under: Art, Culture | 4 Comments »
Goemon - A visual feast from Kazuaki Kiriya
Whilst many people outside Japan are familiar with Anime (Japanese animation), Manga (Japanese graphic novels/comics) and Doramas (Televised Japanese dramas), Japanese films are often a hit and miss affair.
I stumbled upon Goemon whilst I was flying home from Tokyo last September. I was familiar with Kazuaki Kiriya’s earlier film, Casshern, which is about one hour too long and 50 plots too many.
Despite that, it was achingly stylish. Think Bleach or Naruto meets Final Fantasy (the game, not the awful one off movie). So with some reservation, but in the Australian spirit of mateship, I gave Goemon a… go.
Read the rest of this entry »
November 4th, 2009 | Author: andy | Filed under: Food and Drink | 2 Comments »
Feeling peck-ish?
In Japan, there is apparently a silent movement towards the use of one’s own chopsticks in public eateries. In today’s environmentally conscious world, disposable wooden chopsticks are increasingly seen as a waste of resources.
If there is one thing that most Japanese miss about the wooden disposable chopsticks, it’s the satisfying feel when they pull them apart. This ritual also happens to signify the starting of any meal.
Rituality to Japan is what breathing is to the normal human being; rituality defines Japan and the Japanese.
Read the rest of this entry »
November 3rd, 2009 | Author: van | Filed under: Culture | No Comments »
Take ten ‘Japanophiles’ and ask what it is that draws them to the ‘land of the rising sun’ – the odds are good that, as long as they’re not all from the same anime club, you’ll get a different answer from each of them.
Delve a bit deeper, beyond the simple declarations of love for Japanese cars, animation and girls/boys, and most will acknowledge that the general way of life in Japan – the ‘Dò’ – plays its own part in their fascination with the country.
Read the rest of this entry »
November 3rd, 2009 | Author: andy | Filed under: Art, Fashion | No Comments »
Thin mikromowell silk-screened carton sleeve with laser-cut Tiger motif
Onitsuka Tiger is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year – an event of major significance in Japan.
‘Made of Japan’ is the beautiful end result of the journey: 260 achingly beautiful pages presenting the brand’s original sports heritage, its vision and evolution, and its influence as a style icon amongst fashion leaders, artists, athletes and sports fans around the world. Only 250 of these are in existence!
Read the rest of this entry »
November 2nd, 2009 | Author: van | Filed under: Japanophiles | No Comments »
Not that we consider this some sort of bizarre race, but if blogging about Japan were a contest, Peter Payne would utterly decimate us here at JHYPE.
Read the rest of this entry »
November 2nd, 2009 | Author: van | Filed under: JHYPE | 6 Comments »
Hey there, welcome to JHYPE.
As you’ve hopefully figured out from the little blurb beneath our funky logo (katakana, is there anything it can’t do?), JHYPE is all about sharing our love for Japan. Sure, it might border on obsessive from time to time – even fanatical – but that’s what having a passion is all about.
JHYPE is very much in the ‘incubation’ stages. We’re figuring out exactly what we want from this blog; what we want to share, what we think you might like to see, how it should be presented and how often we should offer it (it’s not a day job, so time is a factor).
Read the rest of this entry »
Things You Said