will lavan 12/4/21 will lavan 12/4/21

KARASU-ZOKU (カラス族)

Lasting from 1982 to 1990, Karasu-zoku (‘crow tribe’) was a Japanese fashion subculture that consisted of wearing androgynous, all-black designer outfits and accessories

ben leighton 11/17/21 ben leighton 11/17/21

TAKAGI PLANNING OFFICE: Tokyo’s most aesthetic realtor

Based in Shinjuku, Takagi Planning Office (TPO) turns the traditional, bureaucratic Japanese real estate industry on its head by focusing purely on careful curation and design of beautiful spaces

ben leighton 11/15/21 ben leighton 11/15/21

LION CAFE: Shibuya’s secret classical music oasis

LION CAFE, a classical music cafe tucked away between love hotels and used underwear shops in the Maruyamacho district, is a relaxing oasis amidst Tokyo’s chaos

ben leighton 11/13/21 ben leighton 11/13/21

JAPAN’S MOST WANTED

Visit any Koban in Japan and you’ll be met with the same faces staring back at you – a wall of wanted posters, or Shimei Tehai (指名手配), showing the rewards offered for Japan’s most dangerous fugitives

ben leighton 11/11/21 ben leighton 11/11/21

SADA ABE: Japan’s Showa Sex Scandal

By the age of 31 - Sada Abe was the most notorious woman in Japan and at the center of a murderous sex scandal that shocked the Showa era public

ben leighton 10/23/21 ben leighton 10/23/21

TOKYO RUMANDO: I’m Only Happy When I’m Naked

Tokyo Rumando is a provocative, self-taught photographer who originally cut her teeth as a model for Daido Moriyama and Nobuyoshi Araki

ben leighton 10/13/21 ben leighton 10/13/21

SEIJI KURATA

Seiji Kurata (1945-2020) was one of the most highly acclaimed Japanese photographers of the modern era - shining a light on the seedy underbelly of Tokyo’s inner city

ben leighton 8/22/21 ben leighton 8/22/21

COFFEE IN A CAN

Ready-to-drink canned coffee is ubiquitous with Japan. Filling every vending machine across the nation, it first became available in Japan in 1969 thanks to UCC Ueshima Coffee Co

ben leighton 8/15/21 ben leighton 8/15/21

REVERSIBLE DESTINY LOFTS

Architects Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins have completely rejected the seemingly fundamental tenet of traditional livability in their REVERSIBLE DESTINY LOFTS

ben leighton 8/9/21 ben leighton 8/9/21

KERA / KEROUAC MAGAZINE: For Eccentric Boys & Girls (1998-2017)

KERA (originally KEROUAC) Magazine first saw publication in 1998 and soon became the defining publication on Harajuku street culture

ben leighton 7/21/21 ben leighton 7/21/21

HIROSHI NAGAI: Japan’s Sun-drenched Americana

Hiroshi Nagai developed an oeuvre of Americana pop style paintings that served as a backdrop to the Japanese City Pop movement of the late 70s and 80s

ben leighton 7/20/21 ben leighton 7/20/21

Manabu Koga’s UNDERWATER GIRLS

Manabu Koga is an innovative Japanese photographer creating incredible results through a combination of his experience in underwater photography and his passion for mecha

ben leighton 7/17/21 ben leighton 7/17/21

TOKYO STYLE: Raw Tokyo Living

Kyoichi Tsuzuki’s seminal 1993 book, TOKYO STYLE, is a collection of photographs that display the raw reality of living in Japan’s capital city

ben leighton 7/14/21 ben leighton 7/14/21

FLAMINGO BAR: Tokyo's Gaudy Artist Hangout

Now a shadow of its former self, FLAMINGO BAR in Roppongi was once a vivid crimson hangout for artists, burlesque dancers and advertising executives

ben leighton 7/13/21 ben leighton 7/13/21

1964 OLYMPICS: Tokyo’s Rebirth

1964, the first year that Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games, marked a turning point in post war Japanese society and, for many, announced the rebirth of the nation

ben leighton 7/12/21 ben leighton 7/12/21

DAIDO MORIYAMA: Japan’s King of Street Photography

Born in Osaka in 1938, Daido Moriyama is renowned for his subversive and gritty style that has come to define modern day Japanese street photography

ben leighton 7/11/21 ben leighton 7/11/21

SHINGO, AOMORI: Christ’s Tomb in Northern Japan

We take a look at Shingo - a town in Aomori Prefecture where it’s claimed by locals that Jesus spent the final years of life

ben leighton 6/6/21 ben leighton 6/6/21

SHIGERU MIZUKI: An illustrated guide to Yokai

Shigeru Mizuki, born in Osaka in 1922, was a prolific manga artist often regarded as the master of Japanese Yokai (monster) stories

ben leighton 5/31/21 ben leighton 5/31/21

DEMAEKI: Japan’s enduring contraption

With today’s reliance on apps for food delivery, it’s easy to think of it as an entirely modern phenomenon. In Japan however, food delivery, or demae (出前), goes back 300 years

ben leighton 5/30/21 ben leighton 5/30/21

YUKOKU: Patriotism or the Rite of Love and Death

We take a look at controversial figure Yukio Mishima’s 1966 film, Yukoku - often seen as a cinematic dress rehearsal for his own attempted coup and ritual suicide 4 years later