The Fukuda Museum of Art opened in October 2019, but with the pandemic and entry restrictions to Japan, few of us have had a chance to visit. As arts writer Alice Gordenker explains, the museum boasts a beautiful building, a fantastic location on the river in Arashiyama (near the famous bamboo grove) and a really…

Why does a modern car company value the ancient art of calligraphy and use it to communicate key design concepts? “Calligraphy has endured because there is fundamental beauty that dwells within the characters,” says Koji Sakamoto at Mazda’s headquarters in Hiroshima, Japan. “When you write with brush and ink, you express feelings and sensibilities that…

Nihonga draws on the traditions of over a thousand years, yet is a distinct genre of modern Japanese painting that developed from around the turn of the twentieth century. Today, it has evolved into an international art form, adopted by artists of many nationalities. Subject matter, too, is no longer limited to traditional Japanese themes….

The Tokyo National Museum is Japan’s largest and oldest modern-style museum. To commemorate its 150th anniversary, the museum is bringing forth all of its most important holdings – 89 astonishing “National Treasures” – in one unprecedented, blockbuster show, Oct. 18-Dec. 11, 2022. Advance reservations are required to see this treasure trove of Japanese culture. Arts…

The Japanese have been eating salmon (saké) for thousands of years, though historically it was consumed cooked, never raw. Eating fresh, raw salmon is a recent phenomenon, only a few decades old, in fact. The meteoric rise of raw salmon to the number one topping for sushi in Japan is due to a (highly successful)…

She is Mazda Colour and Trim Designer Mai Utagawa. He is ikebana artist Mario Hirama. In a perfectly proportioned, uncluttered corner room in a post-and-beam house built with wood joinery in the hills of Kobe, Japan, the two have come together to explore the concept of space as they create an ikebana flower arrangement. Soft…

Though the moon waxes and wanes every month, chūshū no meigetsu, literally “moon of the middle autumnal month,” is considered special. Perhaps because it coincides with harvesting — indeed in many cultures it is referred to as the Harvest Moon. This year (2022), the Harvest Moon falls on September 10. Eating tsukimi dango (chewy rice dumplings) is among…

NHK (Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai), Japan’s national broadcasting system produces and transmits television and radio shows of all sorts. One of their longest-running programs is a soap-opera like drama shown in 15-minute segments on weekday mornings. Each novella story unfolds over several months’ time. Known affectionately as Asa Dora (Morning Drama) it is often the vehicle…

This solo exhibition commemorates Honma Hideaki’s 35th year as an artist. Born in 1959, Honma is his generation’s leading sculptor in bamboo art. Honma Hideaki’s uncle, the pioneering bamboo artist Honma Kazuaki, had no children, so he adopted Hideaki (who loved to draw and work with his hands) as his son, student, and heir to the family’s…

Japanese candles are not made of beeswax or paraffin like Western candles; they are made from a unique fat pressed from the seeds of a tree that today is grown mainly in Kyushu and on Shikoku. Japanese candles — called warōsoku —are different in almost every way, including how the wick is constructed and how…