Despite being far less visited than the other islands of Okinawa, Kumejima offers natural treasures and invaluable craftsmanship. When travellers think about the island of Okinawa, it’s the eponymous island that comes to mind first, or the traditional Taketomi. Kumejima, however, which covers an area of 59 km2 and has 8000 residents, has its fair share…

Through the initiation story of a young city dweller, this graphic novel pays homage to the community of the ‘women of the sea’. Japan in the late 1960s. Nagisa, a young, chaste Tokyoite, meets her aunt Isoé on Hegura Island to escape from her past and family dramas. Far from the frantic pace of life…

A mainstay of the Japanese home kitchen, ichiya-boshi, literally “one-night dried” are fresh fish that have been dipped in brine and then air-dried. The generic term is himono, literally “dried thing.” In the old days, mineral-rich sea water was routinely used to wash freshly caught fish after splitting them down the back (seibiraki style) or belly (hara-biraki style) and…

Sociologist Muriel Jolivet’s book offers an analysis combined with a travelogue and interviews with these women with supernatural powers. They are known as the itako, yuta or noro. They are dispersed all over Japan, from the northern island of Hokkaido to tropical Okinawa and the urban environment of Tokyo. These shamans, all of whom are female, possess special powers…

The Adachi Museum of Art in Shimane Prefecture has greatly expanded its holdings of ceramics and other other works by the great 20th-century epicure Kitaoji Rosanjin (1883–1959).  In a dedicated building that opened in April 2020 the museum shares Rosanjin’s dishes and lacquerware, of course, but also his calligraphy, carved seals and even metalwork lanterns….

In this book, Shigeru Mizuki offers an artistic interpretation of these supernatural beings found in Japanese legends. They are known as Bakki, Waira, Zan and Tenaga Baba, and they take the form of an ogre, a strange beast, a mermaid or a witch with white hair. Sometimes they live in lakes and sometimes in the…

The reader is immersed in the enormity of a chameleon city, from contemporary architecture to the ancient art of the Asakusa district. Since 1998, Louis Vuitton has been sharing his nomadic spirit through his City Guides. Eagerly awaited each year and met with high acclaim from travellers all over the world, they reveal the spirit of…

Shichi-Go-San (Seven-Five-Three) is one of several rites of passage the Japanese celebrate to insure the growth and well-being of children as they grow to adulthood. The origins of 7-5-3 are thought to date back to the Heian Period (794-1185 AD) when girls first swept their hair up in “adult” fashion at age three and wore their…

In the early 1980s, the American contemporary artist discovered the potential Japanese ceramics had to offer in Shigaraki. An iconic figure in contemporary American art, Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) bridged the gap between abstract expressionism and pop art in the 1950s, while refusing to be affiliated with one particular movement. Bringing together materials, symbols, cultures and…

This textile design company that calls upon the skills of traditional weavers and dyers is now being celebrated in a book of photographs. Published in 2021, the book Nuno, Visionary Japanese Textiles showcases over 300 creations from the company Nuno (‘textiles’ in Japanese). Founded in 1984 by designers Junichi Arai and Reiko Sudo, it built up a…