In Layering Sukesuke is all in how things show through. NUNO inserts small, light objects between layers of sheer silk organdy to accentuate the translucency. This is much more laborious than it sounds: computer-driven looms must be stopped over and over again, row after row, so that feathers can be hand-positioned. Alternatively, organdy is shot through…

@Untitled, from the series « Pretty Woman », 2017 © Daido Moriyama Photo Foundation. Courtesy of Akio Nagasawa Gallery Two outstanding 20th century Japanese photographers featured in an exhibition in Paris, entitled Moriyama–Tōmatsu: Tokyo. Venue: Maison Européenne de la Photographie Daido Moriyama and Shomei Tōmatsu had envisaged this project together, but the death of the…

 The Victoria and Albert Museum introduces one of the world’s greatest textile treasures, Japanese Hikihaku, an age-old weaving process that combines silk, handmade paper, gold leaf and such things as lapis lazuli or mother-of-pearl. Follow the process from concept to completion as overseen by 10th generation textile producer Kondaya Genbei, in Kyoto.

Few people today have heard of Kajiwara Hisako (梶原緋佐子, 1896-1988) so it is welcome news indeed that four of her paintings have been included in a major exhibition in Japan this year. Kajiwara was a Nihonga painter, active in Kyoto, who worked primarily in the “bijinga” genre of lusciously detailed images of idealized female beauty….

World-renowned master textile dyer Sachio Yoshioka is featured in this 18-minute video  about the Art of Natural Dyeing.

By Alice Gordenker Shima Seien (島成園, 1892–1970) worked as a Nihonga painter at a time when few women in Japan were able to pursue art as a profession. Throughout her career, she struggled against overt discrimination against women artists. This frustration is palpable in her 1918 painting “Untitled” (無題), in which a woman in a…

Dear friends, colleagues and those who have expressed an interest in the FOOD & CULTURE of Japan: Kogomi (fiddlehead ferns) and other sansai (mountain vegetables) are foraged from woodland areas in Japan just as snow begins to melt and the promise of spring is in the air. Bitter foods such as sansai play an important role in Japanese cookery. For…

Kengo Kuma and associates (KKAA), the firm led by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, has designed a temporary pavilion for events and performances in Harumi, Tokyo.  The semi-outdoor space was built using a steel frame infilled with panels made from cross-laminated timber.  T These CLT panels measure 160 x 350 centimeters (63 x 138 inches) and…

by Elizabeth Andoh Dear friends, colleagues and those who have expressed an interest in the FOOD & CULTURE of Japan: The Japanese have a fondness for ranking things. There are endless lists known as BANZUKÉ for sports (Sumo wrestling banzuké is the most well-known), for TV personalities, for onsen (hot springs) hotels and other travel…