Woodblock Printmaking with Ayu Tomikawa
Ayu Tomikawa is an artist who practices the ancient art of woodblock printmaking. Her influences include Japanese folklore, manga, and sci-fi.
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Thomas Edison Honored in Shinto Ritual
My friend, and HacDC cohort, Katie Bechtold, who’s been living in Japan of late, posted this item to her Flickr photostream: Ema are small wooden plaques on which Shinto worshippers write their prayers or wishes. Thomas Edison used bamboo from the area around this shrine as a filament for his first light bulbs, and nowadays […]
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Hacking a Geiger Counter
Akiba from Tokyo Hackerspace has been understandably interested in geiger counters of late. The day after the nuclear problems started occurring at the plant, geiger counters started popping up on Ustream. After that, Pachube set up special accounts for radiation data feeds in Japan (thank you Pachube). Unfortunately, geiger counters were sold out everywhere. The […]
Continue ReadingDesign Space Q+A: Sony Ericsson
Next up in our Design Space series we visited interface designer George Arriola at the San Francisco Sony Ericsson office. George was kind enough to draw back the curtain and permit a peek into one of the most secretive and innovative telecommunication industries — mobile phones. Come take a look with us. No NDA required!
Continue ReadingPanda Bread
Perfect Pandas has a clever recipe for Panda Bread, using cocoa powder and green tea powder for coloring the brown and green parts of the bread. The recipe was translated from the original Japanese post. Freakin adorable! (via Cherry Dot).
Continue ReadingMomiji Doll Couture Contest
Love Momiji is hosting a fun Momiji doll couture contest. Momiji are Japanese message dolls, like the ones shown above, and each one has an opening in its base for a secret message. The contest rules are pretty broad, allowing for maximum creativity. They’re looking for one-off, fabric Momiji dolls using a combination of crafty methods: weaving, printing, knitting, embroidery, whatever flavor you choose. Entries will be judged on “overall wow-factor as well as skill and craftsmanship.”
Continue Reading101: Ikebana
Ikebana is known as the art of Japanese flower arranging. But it is directly translated as the arrangement of plant materials, meaning the artist is not limited only to the showy and colorful blooms of traditional Western florists. Ikebana began as ancient monks offered flowers at temples, in much the same way that bonsai developed […]
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