Modern Japanese Architecture

After introducing sites about traditional Japanese architecture last week, hereby a list of sites about modern architecture in Japan. Although there are many excellent Japanese architects, it is surprisingly difficult to find good sites in English. For example, even though Tadao Ando is one of Japan’s best known architects at this point in history, his most obvious domains are all taken by cybersquatters.

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Kjeld Duits • Thursday June 18, 2009 • Art and Design • Add Comment

Harajuku Shoot

I went shooting again in Tokyo’s Harajuku. The rain limited the opportunities somewhat, but I still found some cool people.

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Kjeld Duits • Wednesday June 17, 2009 • Fashion • Add Comment

Dolphin Hunts on the Big Screen

The Cove is a new documentary about the dolphin hunts in Taiji. Read the synopsis:

Kjeld Duits • Wednesday June 17, 2009 • Society • Add Comment

Japanese Reaction to Flu Was Way Too Sensational

I wrote an article about the Japanese reaction to the H1N1 Flu for Dutch media. Hereby an English translation.

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Kjeld Duits • Saturday June 13, 2009 • Society • Add Comment

Japan Awash in Great Deals on Luxury Hotels

Now may be a good time to take a trip in Japan. Asahi Shimbun reports that luxury hotels in Japan are slashing prices to fill rooms. For example, an overnight stay at the Peninsula Tokyo can cost as low as 38,000 yen, while a room at the Ritz-Carlton Osaka is priced at 25,000 yen. Many discounts are half of the normal rates.

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Kjeld Duits • Saturday June 13, 2009 • Fun • Add Comment

Five Cities to Preserve Historical Townscapes

Five Japanese cities are about to embark on a new form of town development that aims to preserve their traditional townscapes. The five are Kameyama (Mie Prefecture), Hikone (Shiga Prefecture), Takayama (Gifu Prefecture), Kanazawa (Ishikawa Prefecture) and Hagi (Yamaguchi Prefecture). The projects result from a new law enforced last November to provide financial and legal support to municipalities’ efforts to preserve historic landscapes in specific quarters.

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Kjeld Duits • Thursday June 11, 2009 • Traditional • Add Comment [2]

Positive Energy: Comme at 40

Comme des Garçons is marking its 40th anniversary by bringing out a guerrilla-style, temporary brand called “Black” that epitomizes the style, the inventiveness and the originality of its founder.

Rei Kawakubo created black as the color of fashion’s rebel yell. She might have pronounced later, in her enigmatic way, that “red is the new black” and made that vivid color — checkered or regal — part of her repertoire.

But the Japanese designer did not just put women in black like a flock of crows flying across the brash 1980s. More significantly she, in the words of the innovative fashion retailer Carla Sozzani, “interpreted a change of mind in women and opened up a whole vision of femininity.”

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The New York Times • Wednesday June 10, 2009 • Fashion • Add Comment

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