節分 setsu (season) + bun (break) Setsubun is literally a break between seasons and occurs several times during the year. But the setsubun that is noted on calendars today in Japan is on February 3. In China and many other places in Asia it corresponds to the start of the lunar New Year. In Japan…

A 26-minute video celebrating a project of the late Shiro Kuramata, one of the great designers of the 20th century (1960’s thru 1980’s). He played a central role in Japanese architecture and design as it was becoming especially prominent, internationally. Kuramata may be best known for creating some of the world’s most iconic furniture. This…

by Bianca Bosker from New York Times article, April 3, 2017 WITHOUT WARNING, the Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto begins to sing. Moments before, he had been guiding me through his minimalist penthouse loft in a verdant neighborhood of Tokyo, explaining in a voice barely louder than a whisper why white Japanese shikkui plaster is the…

San Francisco Asian Art Museum explores impact of kimono on global fashion On view from Feb. 8 through May 5, 2019 Evening dress, Autumn/Winter 1991, by Rei Kawakubo (Japanese, b. 1942) for Comme des Garçons Noir. Silk taffeta with hand painting. Collection of The Kyoto Costume Institute. © The Kyoto Costume Institute, photo by Takashi…

NEW YORK TIMES:   The tidying guru is heir to a long tradition: Japan marketing itself as spiritual foil to a soulless West. By Christopher Harding Mr. Harding is a lecturer in Asian history and an author. A diminutive Japanese woman kneels, eyes closed, caressing a rug with open palms. She appears to be praying…

Dianne recalls her spring 2018 visit to her second home, Kyoto. Today we merged with a few of the thousands of Chinese tourists who come to Kyoto to view the cherry blossoms. There are droves of Chinese tourists who flock here eager to shop and have fun. Young Chinese women dress up in brightly colored…

by Amy Katoh After 43 years of Blue & White, my eyes only see BLUE. And it may well be that BLUE is taking over the color spectrum. From the skies, to the rivers to the bridges, and even the netting that surrounds them under repair, BLUE is the reigning color The autumn skies in…

by Steve Beimel Hiroshi Sugimoto inspires me. He is an artist of many forms and his exceptional eye and minimalist Japanese sensibility help to elevate our standards of beauty. I recently visited the Odawara Art Foundation Enoura Observatory, Sugimoto’s latest installation located about an hour south of Tokyo. The project combines his vision as architect,…

Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, the famous novelist, wrote an essay entitled In Praise of Shadows. He laments the passing of the somber and refined Japanese sensibility he loves. He delights in “the moment of mystery, the moment of trance” He speaks of the warmth of paper… enveloping light “like the soft surface of a first snowfall” He…

by Amy Katoh                                                                                                                                                 Blue &White has lived in Tokyo’s Azabu Juban district for the past 43 years. See how much is going on in the world outside flying kites, trimming trees, smokey moons Our world spins in blues and whites:   Previous page: Tenugui roosters drying at Asahi Dye Works Woman modelling kimono at O…