eightframe volume 1

t a k r a m De s i gnEngi ne e r i ng

Ca i d Be s po k eT a i l o r i ng

Mi c ha i lGk i ni s F a s hi o n

CONTACTUS T : 0335888860 F : 0335888864 i nf o@housi ngj apan. com

CR Kamiyacho Bldg. 7F, 1-11-9 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo www.housingjapan.com

Note from the Editor

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elcome to the first issue of eightframe magazine. It feels like a long time ago since I sat down with publisher Lloyd Cunningham, over a few drinks,

and vented my displeasure with the English language magazine market in Japan.

I just wanted to read interesting stories about interesting people and projects.

There didn’t seem to be anything focused on Japan that we wanted to read so we decided to create our own magazine and with help from our talented contacts and colleagues we established eightframe both online and as a published magazine. The magazine you hold in your hands right now. eightframe is about looking at Japan through different eyes. We want to shed some new light on people involved in the creative industries we see around us in Japan every day. Fashion designers, design engineers, tailors, architects and artists and also people in jobs which aren’t usually covered in magazines such as a monorail driver in Chiba. Each of the people featured in the magazine have a story to tell, an opinion to be heard and this magazine is both the lens and frame through which we view these stories.

I hope you enjoy reading eightframe and for more articles and content please visit our webmagazine at eightframe.jp Paul McInnes Chief Editor

Editorial Paul McInnes Chief Editor Chris Nelson, Mareike Dornhege Contributing Editors Austin James Rea Lead Photographer Nathan Hosken Photographer and Videographer

Publishing Robotag Media Publisher Nathan Hoernig Layout & Art Direction

www.robotagmedia.com

HOMAT Monarch Hiroo 2-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 3 - 5 bedroom units

To inquire about this rental property:

SUN REALTY 03-3584-6171 sun@sunrealty.co.jp www.sunrealty.jp

Contents

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An Interview with Kotaro Watanabe of design engineering firm Takram

An Interview with architect Keith Little

Hand crafted leather bag makers Herz

Ancient wood craft from Yakushima

A day in the life of a Chiba Urban Monorail driver

Fashion designer Michail Gkinis

An Interview with Japanese artists SHIMURAbros

Tokyo bespoke tailor Caid

Copyright 2014 Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content within this publication, some information, such as contact numbers and addresses, may change without notice. Robotag Media accepts no responsibility in the event of such changes causing any misinformation within this publication.

A Hybrid Existence Design & Engineering Collide at Tokyo Firm takram

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magine this - as a high profile VIP, you and an exclusive forty-nine others are invited to a dinner for Dom Pérignon’s 2004 vintage Rosé unveiling in Tokyo.

World famous artist Jeff Koons designed the 2,000,000 yen bottle container en-

titled “Balloon Venus” to be exhibited at the event, and his handwriting welcomes you on the conspicuously simple invitation card you hold in your hand. It’s an ordinary paper card in the shape of Dom Pérignon’s étiquette glass, pink like the special vintage Rosé itself, though with holes punched in seemingly at random.

Upon arriving you are led to a glowing green table and instructed to place your invitation on the surface. Suddenly, above the card your own name appears on the table-top and animated bubbles rise from out of the invitation. You move the card around the table - your name and the bubbles follow. Pressing your finger to one of the holes punched in the paper, a pink streak appears across the table pointing the way to your seat. It does the same for each individual guest. You pick up the card, and once again it becomes nothing more than ordinary paper.

It’s something of a magic trick - a little sleight of hand mixed with sophisticated technology - and like a good magic trick it evokes chuckles of disbelief as baffled onlookers try to figure out how it works. Also like a magic trick, the answer is a mixture of the very complex and the surprisingly simple. The table is covered in a special coating of retroreflective film that only reflects infrared rays. Above it is a projector to create the images and animation, as well as an infrared LED camera.

The card really is just ordinary paper, but the holes therein are arranged uniquely like a primitive QR code, telling the camera above where the objects below are

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located, thus allowing the projector to interact with the paper on the table. This device, a union of stylish design and intricate engineering is called “ON THE FLY”, and it’s just one of many mind-bending projects devised by self-described “Design-Engineering” firm takram. The marriage of design and engineering on display within “ON THE FLY” is indicative of takram’s guiding philosophy, and central to the way in which Kotaro Watanabe, one of takram’s lead directors, goes about his life and business.

Kotaro Watanabe (KW): Design and Engineering are two areas that are supposed to be different, but for creation they have to be intertwined. Now for efficiency’s sake in companies the two have been separated, but by recombining them there can be something that’s a lot more than just an addition. It can be a multiplication.

Watanabe is one of four directors at takram, all of whom have unique fields of expertise and experience. This diversity in their team is by design, as the projects they have undertaken range from User Interface development to the creation of Japanese confectionery. Only about 20% of their projects are available to share with the public, as most of their work is in consulting for big companies like MUJI and NTT Docomo, but that 20% alone shows a surprisingly bold range of diverse works, much of which is developed without corporate funding.

One such project was a piece the firm created for the German dOCUMENTA modern art exhibition in 2012. As part of a group exhibition, takram was tasked with designing a water bottle that would help in a theoretical post-apocalyptic world 100 years in the future. What they came up with was a “water recycling self-sustaining system” - a line of prosthetic organs based on those of real animals from dry regions that would, if implanted in the human body, reduce water loss and allow humans to live with less water. Though the piece was conceptual the takram team did all of the research and development themselves and had actual mockups made for the exhibition.

KW: These projects are investments we make to show what we can do and how we think. People are very interested to know how we come up with these crazy ideas.

Corporate clients will come to us and, though it’s not how they do business necessarily, they want us to use the same thinking process. That’s how they approach us.

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Their process is quite unique indeed. When tasked with a new project takram assigns one director who is experienced and confident in the relevant field and one who is the least so within the firm. This forces them to learn and work within a vast range of disciplines, and to create a new methodology with which to approach each new project. It also gives the team the benefit of fresh perspectives and out-of-the-box thinking. Though not yet 30, Watanabe has an eloquently realized personal philosophy for his career and his company, which is all about bringing disparate elements together. Having lived in both Hong Kong and Brussels, two places that are international dichotomies, he’s very familiar with how these hybrid relationships work.

KW: Brussels is the place where Dutch Speaking and French speaking cultures collide as well. I like to think of it as, in Japanese “namiuchigiwa” (the water’s edge, the shore) where the land and the ocean meet. There is not only water and sand there, but literally rich culture as well. In that environment new species can spontaneously arise.

A graduate of Keio University, Watanabe speaks excellent English with an accent reflecting his time spent in Hong Kong and Europe. While at Keio he cofounded a company which designed stationary and furniture with digital and interactive elements exploring a fusion between design and engineering disciplines. His love of Japanese aesthetics came when he discovered Kazuko Okakura’s “The Book of Tea” and the tradition of Japanese tea ceremony. In 2013 Watanabe had the chance to elaborate on that passion when takram designed traditional Japanese sweets for TORAYA Confectionery, which has been serving the Japanese Imperial family for centuries. Having seen the aforementioned dOCUMENTA piece, the uncharacteristically innovative sweets maker tasked Watanabe with helping them bring Japanese confections into the future.

KW: Japanese confections are something special to welcome guests; something not necessarily for everyday use. It’s almost like whiskey or cigars. Something expensive and for your taste, and dictated by the seasons. I decided to shift it for everyday use - if I could bring an essence of functionality to the sweets, maybe I could take it to the next level… It was the first prototyping session I had that was edible and delicious.

Working with Toraya’s resident master confectioner, Mr. Nakamura, Watanabe created hitohi (old Japanese for one day) - a line of traditional sweets that would suit the different times of one day in not only taste and color, but also in nutrition.

Watanabe was impressed with Toraya, not only because of its masterful touch with traditional Japanese sweets, but with its ambition and progressive approach to its nearly 500 year old business (Toraya is the only traditional sweets maker he knows who has an haute cuisine department). This kind of willingness to experiment is famously rare in Japanese companies - but not, as Watanabe points out, due to a complete lack of desire for innovation.

KW: Even in larger companies there are a lot of people looking for innovation, and they find us (takram). The thing is, it’s the political aspect of larger entities that hinders their activities. Each section is run individually, so even though the planning department may come up with a great idea, once they hand it over to the engineering or design department it becomes a casualty of the odd democracy of Japanese meetings. You have to tweak all the details, and what was once a shiny star will gradually see all its points cut off, leaving it an ordinary round object. If you go to an electronics store in Japan you’ll see TV remotes with lots of buttons.

Some customers have asked for a button to change the size of the display, for example, so they put a button on there for that. And they just keep on adding buttons to please everyone and it just grows and grows. That’s a result of Japan’s political aspect, but actually we want innovation deep down in our DNA. It’s the system that’s not functioning correctly. takram itself is different. The diversity within their team keeps their client-base changing as well, allowing them to grow both as individuals and as a team.

KW: Most of us are motivated by acquiring new skills. We have had people who specialize in certain fields, but most of them leave because they can’t keep up with the pace at which the entire firm is growing and expanding. It can be good to specialize in one field, but when the industry changes and our firm evolves, there’s no room for someone with only one specific skill. Larger companies want to define who you are, what you do. This is a place where a lot of outsiders can gather. People who were expelled from traditional entities.

The success of Watanabe and takram, at least, seems to imply that Japanese companies are moving more towards innovative thinking. According to Watanabe, until a few years ago, the job title design engineer didn’t exist outside of takram, but now big names such as Toshiba and Sony are starting to create these kinds of roles within their companies. In a world of iPhones and Androids and everyone becoming a creator, the mixture of people working in a small team and co-editing is proving much more efficient than the traditional system. Now that the larger world seems to be catching up, takram and Kotaro Watanabe will no doubt be seeking out something even newer, stranger, and probably much better. We can’t wait to see what they come up with.

More information on takram can be found at their website: www.takram.com Chris Nelson

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Cover image & Lightbulb image above Venue: Milan (Italy) Tortona district “Design Library” Exhibition Area: 176 sqm, Dates: April 22 – 27, 2009 Art Direction: Toshiba Corporation Product Design and Interaction Design: Toshiba Corporation, takram design engineering Exhibition Space Design: Ryo Matsui Architects Inc. Photos by Daichi Ano

Patina

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PATINASTELLA Located in affluent Kamiyamacho, just outside the hustle and bustle of Shibuya, Patina Stella is the brain-child of founder and executive chef Joachim Splichal.

Starting in Los Angeles, Patina has gained great esteem for its unique and exquisite culinary creations, and now guests can enjoy Chef Splichal’s French inspired California cuisine right here in Tokyo. Each innovative dish is a work of art and full of flavor. The extensive wine list allows for the perfect pairing to any dish, and you can enjoy wines from the states that are difficult to find anywhere else in Japan. The interior design is flawless making for an elegant dining experience.

A terrace is available during the warm months, and you can have a chance to be in the action at the chef’s table when available. Lunch courses start from 1,800 yen and dinner from 6,200 yen. A la carte menus are available for both lunch and dinner. 10 minutes from JR Shibuya station.

Kamiyama Forest 1F 11-15 Kamiyama-cho Shibuya-ku Tokyo Japan 150-0047 TEL: +81-(0)3-5738-7031 WEB: www.patinastella.com Mon-Sun 11:30-14:30 (LO 14:00)

17:30-22:00 (LO 21:00)

Closed for dinner on Sundays

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HR Roppongi

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Hotel & Residence Roppongi The Hotel & Residence Roppongi is a designer hotel and residence located just a short walk from Nishi-azabu crossing. Exquisite design and an attention to detail can be found throughout the facility - from the entrance and lobby through to the themed rooms on the upper floors. The design is a renovation of a 30 year-old building by architect Hiroyuki Ito. The project features restaurants, a library lounge, meeting spaces, a boutique hotel, and serviced apartments in a sharp concept.

The location is very convenient as it is within walking distance of many of the most popular shopping areas and museums in central Tokyo.

1-11-6 Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku Tokyo Japan 106-0031 TEL: +81 (0)3-5771-2469 (Front Desk) www.hr-roppongi.jp/en

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Interview with Architect Keith Little

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Paul McInnes (PM): Can you tell me about your background and experience?

Keith Little (KL): I began in political theory actually, and moved into architecture after that, in the States. I worked in interior design and furniture for a while, before applying to graduate school here in Tokyo.

I was interested in the way that Tokyo had the urban fabric problem figured out.

I come from Minneapolis which is a pretty common American city. It has a grid plan, and a lot of failed transport. We used to have streetcars which were bought out by the car companies so that was all destroyed. You can’t take a bus or bike anywhere. But when I came to Tokyo I was shocked by how well it functioned as a place to live, and interested in how all this remarkable architecture came about in one place. So I decided I would study architecture in Tokyo and I went to the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

PM: How long was the course?

KL: It was a two year Master’s degree. I was especially interested in going there because the architect Tsukamoto Yoshiharu from Atelier Bow-Wow is there. I really liked his take on urbanism. Especially his studies on small pet spaces - as he calls them - pocket parks, tiny houses, and how major changes like the Olympics can result in these very odd micro scale urban spaces.

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PM: You said before that you work as an architect but you aren’t licensed. How does that work in Japan?

KL: You’re actually not allowed to take the test for licensure for a year or two after graduating university, so you have to have some work experience first. I’m eligible because I have a Master’s degree and work experience, but what I do doesn’t require a license because I’m not physically stamping plans and saying – yes submit these to the government, Keith says it’s ok. I think that’s the situation for about 95% of foreign architects working in Japan. A Japanese person is stamping the drawings and they’re doing design or other work that happens in any architectural office.

PM: You work for Toda. Can you tell me more about what they do?

KL: Toda is maybe the sixth or seventh biggest general contractor in Japan. They have a design department, a construction department and a real estate department. Also, like every major company they have pre-cast concrete factories, building maintenance, and other minor companies.

Toda’s specialty is the production of small to medium sized high design offices and buildings. They built the Tokyo International Forum. They also do high risk artistic projects that haven’t necessarily been done before, including several on the Tokyo Institute of Technology campus.

Famous Japanese design offices like SANAA, Kengo Kuma or Atelier Bow-Wow design to a very low level of detail. Unlike in the West, they give relatively little information to the companies that actually build the building. Then those companies have to fill in a lot of blanks, which come to us. We may get a model or drawing which isn’t physically possible to build because there are mistakes or it’s just not specific enough, but we make it possible, then contract the building out to subcontractors.

PM: Shigeru Ban has just won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. It’s funny how many of the top architects in the world are Japanese but Tokyo, it can be said, isn’t the prettiest of cities.

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KL: My take is that the ownership of land here is a little bit special. In the past the general size of a lot was much bigger, especially in areas like Setagaya, Shibuya and Meguro, with larger owners. You can imagine that the shrines have a lot of land, the daimyo (military politicians) had a lot of land and there was a lot of farmland. As the land became more valuable it was chopped up, and in the 60s the government made a big push to increase the available housing in Tokyo. They did this through taxation. Especially on people who had big lots and forcing them to chop up their sites in tiny pieces.

Tokyo has a relatively hands-off approach compared to other cities. The government has generally created these building envelopes and then left them alone, and unlike some countries like China, the government will not step in to say “build this here” or “this building doesn’t fit in here.” The land ownership rights in Japan are almost ridiculously strong, so there is no one person in charge of how Tokyo looks. For better or worse there’s no bureaucrat sitting there saying you can’t make this because this neighborhood is brick or wood so it doesn’t fit.

This has allowed individual buildings to take on an idiosyncratic look, but every

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architect who designs in a small to medium sized site will have the scope of their work strictly related to that size.

They have urban planning but I see it more as an emergent system in which they create a series of rules, and the rules have created Tokyo. But there was no particular end result they were going for. Also Tokyo has been burned down and struck by earthquakes over and over again. There’s a great book called “Tokyo Metabolizing” by Koh Kitayama, Ryue Nishizawa and Yoshiharu Tsukamoto. They talk of how the city itself has a kind of modularly, piece by piece revitalizing character to it.

PM: Is it connected in any way to the Metabolism group of Japanese architects?

KL: Not really, no. The book was more observational, saying this is what we’ve seen; the average life of a house in Tokyo is 30 years. This is the actual character of Tokyo. Whereas the Metabolists had more of a manifesto approach to architecture. They were talking about metabolism within a building. The unit bathroom was an idea of the Metabolists, the plug in and play system. There are actually some houses in Setagaya that are metabolism houses where they’re like odd plastic containers. They look like corny 1970s moon base Lego sets.

The view of Tokyo as a city which is constantly reforming and revitalizing is important only in so much as it erases the idea that you need to have one building technique, one look, one character to the city all the time. Which accounts for Tokyo’s mishmash look in the end. Nobody’s in charge of anything, everyone wants to maximize their building envelope to the legal limits, so you have buildings built within 500 mm of each other or sometimes less - in violation of the law. It doesn’t look pretty because no one is managing the final result. I see Tokyo as a laboratory for architecture. You can see what it looks like when you build a Dior shopping mall next to a completely shitty old wooden house. You can find every possible architectural combination side by side here and I love that.

PM: How do you think the Olympic Games will change the face of Tokyo?

KL: The government used the 1964 Olympics as an excuse to do a lot of infra-

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structure, like widening the roads and creating fire barriers. This time they don’t seem to have anything like that on their agenda. They’re also focusing on the bay area, whereas last time it was places like Komazawa Park, which has an Olympic stadium built by my company in fact. It’s quaint and old but it’s still infrastructure that’s in use. I’m worried that this time there’s not a lot of thought about the future. I think it’s a terrible idea to tear down the Kenzo Tange building. It’s a real landmark.

I think the Olympics as an infrastructural investment are dodgy to begin with, but if you’re going to use it as a kind of urban planning mechanism, as most countries do – Tokyo could have done better.

When I came to Tokyo I thought they really had the urban fabric figured out, with walkable neighborhoods that are charming and small, and diverting streets you

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can get lost in and explore forever. Now, when I see a place like Toyosu, which is just towers and shopping malls, I realize there is no special magic to Japanese urban planning. Tokyo was an historical accident which came about with an odd mixture of laws, social reasons and taxes. When you just let some bureaucrats plan a city from zero you get the same thing you get everywhere else, which is the easiest possible, most profitable thing. Put it in an excel spreadsheet and you get Toyosu. I think it’s a real shame that they’re expanding there for the Olympics.

PM: I was reading about the new Harukas building in Osaka and about Hikarie in Shibuya and the Maru and Shin-Maru buildings. Essentially they’re the same thing, with the same brands, same layout. What do you think of this kind of uniformity?

KL: They do it because it’s relatively easy to make money. Japan has a funny mech-

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anism for urban planning. There’s a law here which allows the owners of a certain size of neighborhood to change their own height restrictions, so house by house big companies like Sumitomo buy up neighborhoods until they get every last lot.

They turn them into parking lots just to generate some profit, and once they get 100% of the vote they can change the height restriction from three or four stories to much, much higher.

So what you’ll see is some parking lot for fifteen years which gradually increases in size and then suddenly a tower. There’s no malice in it, it’s just simple to plan - it’s an Excel spreadsheet. First floor retail, second floor something else and the third floor up is area times average rent times whatever period you expect it to stand. Then you do some depreciation like after ten years and the rents will go down a little bit. The tragedy of the “commons,” to use an economics term, is that if every place did this nobody would want to live in Tokyo. These people are profiting from the fact that there’s a nice little walkable, charming neighborhood around them but they’re fucking it up with this terrible strategy. If everybody followed that pattern the property prices everywhere would collapse and nobody would want to come to Tokyo to live. I think it’s a self-destructive policy to allow this to go on in the first place, and neighborhoods need to find a more profitable but also sustainable way to move forward that doesn’t involve giant towers.

PM: Which Japanese architects are doing the most interesting work now?

KL: Truthfully I’m more interested in the firms and people who are doing things like shared offices, spaces for working mothers, shared houses. UDC is really trying to reuse buildings in Japan. This is a way of understanding design not just in the kind of material choices and the placement of interior walls, but how the building is used, and the function of it. This has really accelerated here in the past four or five years. People now are trying to work out what we can do with social innovations and programs. This is the most interesting new vanguard in Tokyo architecture.

Paul McInnes

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Kimono Tango

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Kimono Tango Chizuko Takahashi is a contemporary designer making exquisite designs from one of Japan’s most traditional and loved artforms - the Kimono. With a firm belief that Kimonos are an integral part of Japanese culture, she seeks to bring this cultural heritage back into contemporary life through her work. With this in mind, she has created a line of contemporary products all made from the re-purposed fabric of Japanese Kimonos.

Her work builds on the idea that Kimonos are the “art of wearing� as it strives to use contemporary form to revive this ancient craft.

Her main product lines encompass a variety of cases, covers, and bags, but she also makes table runners, shawls and order made designs.

For more information: www.c-style-jp.com Tel +81-(0)3-3227-2782 2-11-13 Chuo Nakano-ku Tokyo Japan 164-0011

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Handcrafted Leather in the Heart of Tokyo

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One Tokyo leather maker is dedicated to hand-made craftsmanship.

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alking around the side streets of Aoyama, with its plethora of cafes, expensive boutiques and hair salons, you would hardly expect to find an

artisanal leather workshop making and selling its wares all on site. Then again, Herz leather brand has been bucking expectations since its inception just over 40 years ago. eightframe recently had the opportunity to tour its new and expansive headquarters, only a few minutes walk from Omotesando station. The store has a classic Western feel to it - all wooden shelves and leather bags from wall to wall. Herz, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, carries a wide range of items from cases and camera bags to Boston bags, wallets and belts. The present store, which moved from a smaller location in 2013, houses an equally large factory area behind the counter.

If you’ve never seen a Herz bag before, the defining feature is the thickness and rich hue of the leather. Since the beginning the craftspeople at Herz have put a priority on durability, only thinning the leather where it’s absolutely necessary for flexibility, and employing tough stitching and fittings to ensure longevity. The

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result is a practical bag that’s beautiful in its simplicity, classy yet functional, and good for both formal and casual use.

When Akimasa Kondo founded Herz in 1973, he did it on his own terms. Having never worked for a larger brand or carry maker, Kondo used his creativity and love of leather to guide his process. Two years later, after acquiring a classic Singer sewing machine, Herz started using the durable cattle hide “latigo” leather, which is used for saddlery and other rough, outdoor purposes. Kondo’s vision was to have a factory and shop right in the heart of fashionable Tokyo - rather than moving production to the countryside or outsourcing overseas - and in 1983 Herz opened its first Aoyama headquarters. Though the operation has grown steadily over the years and Kondo has since handed the reins to young protégé Hiroaki Noguchi (Kondo now spends his time making bags himself) the initial vision seems to have only grown stronger.

Herz’s dedication to Kondo’s creative roots is apparent, and it guides the philosophy of the entire organization. Each bag is made by hand, exclusively by one

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employee. Go to one of their factory shops and you can see for yourself - there’s no assembly line - one craftsman will create an entire bag from start to finish. According to the staff at the Aoyama HQ, this is the core principle in their guarantee of quality.

If one person makes one bag, they feel a sense of ownership over the artwork, and responsibility for the quality. For the customer, you get the peace of mind that someone poured all of their energy and attention into creating the piece that eventually ends up on your shoulder.

Herz presently employs about fifty craftspeople, who essentially act as the brand’s designers. Employees are encouraged to come up with their own designs and enhancements, which will then be tested on their own merits in the store. Popular designs will be made again, and there’s always room for creativity. Shoppers can also add input and partially customize their bags.

Herz currently uses an Italian tanner to provide its leather, which comes in both

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hard and soft, with five different color variations (Camel, Chocolate, Black, Green and Red). The thick and heavy leather may be something of a turnoff for people looking for a lightweight bag, which might explain the brand’s particular popularity with male shoppers. Classically stylish, there aren’t many bells and whistles on a Herz bag. The main attraction is the leather itself, which ages over long and hard use - there are always a few bags on display that have been used for numerous years, showing the way in which the leather deepens in color and texture over time. The stitching is clearly visible around the edges, making for a hand-stitched look despite their use of sewing machines. The metal buckles and fittings aren’t flashy or overly abundant, lending a subtle balance of style and practicality.

As you might expect, this level of painstaking artistry and quality craftsmanship doesn’t come cheap - a full size briefcase or shoulder bag can go for anywhere from 40,000 yen to 60,000 yen and larger and more complex items can get into the 70,000 yen to 80,000 yen range. Considering, however, that you’ll likely be passing these items down to your grandchildren, the price should be seen as a very worthwhile investment. Moreover, after visiting the Herz store and seeing the joy and passion with which they treat their work, Herz comes across as a little Mom and Pop shop that made good. There’s something of real value in the knowledge that one creative and dedicated person right here in Japan made your bag by hand. In our increasingly made in China world, that’s worth quite a lot indeed.

Herz now has stores in Aoyama, Osaka and Sendai. For more information go to www.herz-bag.jp.

Chris Nelson

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Yakushima: Ancient Wood Craft from Japan’s Most Magical Destination

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

Hermann Hesse “When I first came to Yakushima, it would have never crossed my mind that I would soon learn the old Japanese craft of carving Yakusugi wood. I was a fisherman; out on the ocean every day to catch flying fish,” says Clive Witham, who, awed by the beauty of Japan’s largest trees, the endemic Yakusugi cedars, decided to move to the island with his family. An acupuncturist by trade, he didn’t stick out amongst the crew – there are only a handful of jobs by which to make a living on Yakushima so his mates on deck were pastry chefs and salesmen now trawling the seas.

His neighbors at the time, the Kashima family, have the longest tradition of working Yakusugi wood on the island. Passing their workshop every day, he struck up conversation on their trade. Until one day they invited him to learn. “The nature of this wood is unique. It has oil in the grain that protects the tree from the harsh

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conditions on Yakushima – and creates beautiful patterns throughout the wood.

What you make from Yakusugi will last forever. It is the most durable wood I know,” shares Witham. Chopsticks, cups, plates, tables, cabinets, and sculptures, even the bathrooms up in the mountains – most things on Yakushima were once made from the wood. Simple everyday items are turned into a piece of art that tell a story of thousands of years. “Only wood collected from the forest ground can be used by the craftsmen. Yakusugi cedars can get thousands of years old. Some of the logs we worked have been laying there for hundreds. But take off the surface and underneath lies perfection.”

“Cryptomeria japonica is the only species in its genus and endemic to Japan.

The wood is highly resistant due to the presence of terpenoids”, explains Laura Jennings, a botanist at Kew Gardens in London. “These terpenoids also make the wood very aromatic. Surprisingly, the Yakusugi is a conifer and a softwood, but the wood that the craftspeople use on Yakushima has been naturally seasoned on the forest floor for decades.”

Yakusugi crafts are sold in the island’s workshops and a few select stores across Japan. Everything made from this wood is crafted by hand by one of the families on the island and will last you a lifetime. It comes at a price though – not only to honor the labor the craftsman put into producing a unique piece with care and passion, but also to account for its rarity. Yakusugi only grows on Yakushima.

They are Japan’s tallest and oldest trees. And the craft of working Yakusugi is dying. Logging operations are prohibited now. Only allowed to collect what is found on the ground, the island will run out of fallen logs in the near future.

The trees, which are the origin of the beautifully marbled wood, are a breathtaking sight and they are more than just part of the scenery. “Surrounded by the trees you can feel their presence. If you spend some time with them you will realize that they have personalities,” explains Witham. Cameron Riki Joyce, a New Zealand native who runs an established tour business on the island, agrees. “The trees have awareness. But they live on a different time scale. Imagine their heart beats just twice a day. Things move slowly for them.”

Many of the impressive wooden giants have been given names, most famous the

Yomon-sugi which at about 7,000 years is a Methuselah, albeit on its last breath of life. Younger examples in full sap of their best years at only a couple of thousand include the Ryojin-sugi, Daiyo-sugi and the Yayoi-sugi. “The Ryojin-sugi used to be popular a decade or two ago. It is very accessible and the path to it has recently been cut open again. Make sure to visit it late in the afternoon when most tourists head back and the monkeys come down from the mountains to play. You can get right next to it,” says Witham about his favorite tree. Joyce recommends visiting the Daiyo-sugi. “It is on the path to Jomon-sugi and about the same size yet healthier. It is a powerful tree! It is defined by its size, majestic shape and an overall big presence.” What made these trees so exceptional? “The wonderful ancient Yakusugi are partly so long-lived and tall because unlike animals they can grow continuously. And their morphology is exceptional. Conifers have a single growing point, so they grow ever taller rather than branching sideways,” explains Jennings.

And there are thousands at which to marvel on Yakushima. “The two main trails with the most famous absorb most of the tourists at all times,” knows Joyce. But wander one of the other paths and you will encounter deer, Japanese macaques, dewy mosses dotted with tiny mushrooms and the ever-present giants that seem to hold the island together. Yakushima is a granite rock in the ocean with very little topsoil. The trees embrace the ground with thick, spreading roots that

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Photo Credit: Yasufumi Nishi JNTO (Pgs. 32, 26)

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submerge the rocks and anchor the tree on the granite. “The trees here do weird things. They often grow together, into each other. Their bodies blend into each other as the arm of one tree grows right through the trunk of another,” says Joyce.

Nature is dominant on the island. No one lives above 200m and no central road crosses the island. The respect people have for nature is inherent in their lifestyle and in their craft. This humbling spirit might be lost in modern Japanese society, but as long as they are carved, every piece of Yakusugi woodcraft is engulfed in it.

Mareike Dornhege

Yakushima is accessible via ferry from Kagoshima, Kyushu. With mild winters, the travel season is year-round with the exception of June when the island gets so drowned in downpours that even some of the locals leave.

KASHIMA KOUGEI Yakushima crafts can be bought here.

2402 Awa Yaku-cho Kumage-gun Kagoshima Japan 891-4311 TEL: +81-(0)997-46-2613 YAKUSHIMA – A YAKUMONKEY GUIDE The book by Clive Witham is a comprehensive guidebook on the island. The 2014 e-book edition can be bought for roughly 1,000 yen on yakumonkey.com or as a paperback on Amazon. The website is also a dedicated Yakushima guide.

YAKUSHIMA EXPERIENCE TOURS Cameron Riki Joyce can take you to Daiyo-sugi, a stream filled with fireflies and a waterfall that rivals the natsukashii magic witnessed in Ghibli movies.

WEB: www.yakushimaexperience.com TEL: +81-(0)997-46-3075

MOBILE: +81-(0)90-7820-3592

EMAIL: cameron@yakushimaexperience.com

Photography: Clive Witham, Cameron Riki Joyce, Satono Yamazaki and the JNTO

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Lakeland College

“

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Lakeland is a life changing experience. I was seeking an academic environment that was multicultural and diverse, and Lakeland College

Japan was the answer.”

- Albert Young, Student (US)

Lakeland College Japan – A Different Approach to Education While other American branch campuses have disappeared from Tokyo over the last decade, the US accredited Lakeland College Japan (LCJ) campus has not only continued its program, now in its 24th year, but is also expanding. The school, which attracts students from more than 30 countries, has a reputation of offering the personal attention to its students that defines quality education. “As we are quite small teachers and staff know all students by name. Class sizes range from four to a maximum of 27,” says Dr. Alan Brender, the Associate Dean of LCJ. Lakeland College is an excellent place for students to start their academic careers. After obtaining an Associate of Arts degree at LCJ, students, who perform well, have a better chance of entering competitive universities in the United States or other countries than they would have had as high school graduates. Many of the LCJ alumni now hold executive positions, are conducting high level research or are exhibiting artwork at famous museums and galleries.

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World Flower Service

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World Flower Service World Flower Service is an online flower delivery service based in Tokyo.

They have over 15 years experience and are the biggest domestic farm-direct-delivery florist headquartered in Tokyo. They also cater to the foreign community in Japan and customers overseas who want to send flowers to someone in Japan.

Their service is quite simple. Buy flowers online and send anywhere within Japan. The flowers you order will be cut, packaged in a box, and delivered fresh within 24 hours directly from one of their many associated flower farmers across Japan (except for Hokkaido and some parts of Kyushu).

Open: Monday-Saturday, 10:00-17:00 (JST)

Closed: Sunday & Holidays

*delivery available 7 days a week

www.worldflower.net

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Interview with Hirohito Suzuki of Chiba Urban Monorail

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t’s not one of Japan’s most famous cities but Chiba City is one of the most recognizable thanks to its influence on the aesthetics of Ridley Scott’s seminal

film “Blade Runner” and its appearance as setting of William Gibson’s classic novel “Neuromancer”.

One of Chiba’s main attractions is that it has, according to Guinness World Records, the world’s longest suspended monorail system. It’s both an architectural wonder and a train lover’s paradise. The monorail is 15.2 kilometers of track connecting areas of Chiba which aren’t particularly well-served by regular trains or buses. The Chiba Urban Monorail, which started operations in 1988, has two lines, Line 1 running from Chiba-Minato to Kencho-Mae and Line 2 from Chiba to Chishirodai.

The Chiba Urban Monorail introduced its latest train, Urban Flyer, a few years ago with great success. eightframe were lucky enough to get a tour of the new train and an interview with Mr. Hirohito Suzuki, a driver with Chiba Urban Monorial.

Paul McInnes (PM): What’s your background? Have you always liked trains?

Hirohito Suzuki (HS): I left school in 1995 and I’ve been with Chiba Monorail for about 20 years and been driving for 15 years. For the five years before I became a driver I worked as train station staff. Two years at Tsuga station and three years at Chiba station.

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I really loved trains as a young boy and as I was going through school I found out it was a possible job so I went for it.

PM: What’s the training program like for Monorail drivers?

HS: Well, it’s basically the same training for all the different types of train companies – JR, Odakyu etc… But we had to study a lot about things such as law, train rules, mathematics and then you do three months in the seat next to a licensed and experienced driver. At the end of that process you take a test and if you pass you can become a driver.

PM: Is there any difference between driving a Monorail and a regular train?

HS: As for training and testing it’s basically the same but because the Monorail is unique and basically drives in the sky we need to do some special training.

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PM: What’s it like to drive a train in the sky?

Suzuki: On a clear day you can see for miles and miles and sometimes we can even see Mount Fuji from our cabin. It always feels great to see that.

PM: Do you ever feel scared?

HS: Not particularly but when there are building cranes below us it can feel quite scary because it’s hard to gauge how high they are. And in the new Urban Flyer trains we have see-through windows on the floor which can sometimes be scary.

PM: Why do they have the see through glass floor in the driver’s cabin?

HS: Basically we added the windows for the customers to add that level of fun for them. But the funny thing is I’m actually a little sacred of heights!

PM: How high is the Chiba Monorail at its peak?

HS: It’s 25 meters around Chiba Station.

PM: What’s your normal day like?

HS: For example, yesterday I started around 2pm and drove until the last train around midnight. Then I stayed at a special drivers’ room at Chiba station, to get some sleep, then I was up this morning ready to drive the first train about 5am and I worked until 9.30am this morning. But we tend to have very different and varied shifts.

PM: What do you enjoy most about your job?

HS: Well when the kids wave at us it’s great. And when we interact with the kids, families and customers it’s great. I like the fact, that in Japan, people can see the drivers drive in their compartment due to the clear glass. I think it’s a good idea.

PM: Do you get a lot of trainspotters?

HS: Well, because it’s a form of train it’s safe to say we get our fair share of train nerds. When we first released our newest train, Urban Flyer, lots of people came along to ride it and to take photos.

PM: When was the Urban Flyer introduced?

HS: July 8th 2012.

PM: What’s it like to drive the Urban Flyer compared to the older models?

HS: There are a lot more automatic functions on the Urban Flyer. It’s a lot easier for the driver. For example on the older trains we had to press buttons to give passengers information about the next stop but now it’s all automated.

PM: What’s your favorite part of the Monorail line?

HS: Near the Sports Center and Chiba Animal Park there are sometimes lots and lots of cherry blossoms so it’s really beautiful to see that as you’re driving along.

And also at Anagawa station, on your right, you can see some spectacular views of Mount Fuji.

PM: Are there any plans to extend the monorail system in Chiba?

HS: Not presently. But the masterplan or main idea is to extend it sometime in the future but we don’t know yet. Nothing is set.

PM: It must be expensive to build the monorail system due to all the suspension and tracks etc…?

HS: Actually compared to the underground system it’s quite cheap.

PM: What’s it like in your cabin when there is an earthquake?

HS: It shakes a lot up there. You really feel it but I was lucky I wasn’t driving the day of the Tohoku earthquake in 2011. I do know, however, that they closed the

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entire line for the whole day afterwards due to safety concerns and checks.

PM: What do you like to do to relax after a day of driving?

HS: I love surfing and I have two children so I love playing and having fun with them.

We wish to thank Hirohito Suzuki and the other staff of Chiba Urban Monorail for their assistance and kindness. Also a big thank you to Chris Nelson for all his help.

Paul McInnes

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Secret Closet: Fashion Designer Michail Gkinis

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or Tokyo-based Greek designer Michail Gkinis, “industrial and nature” isn’t just a slogan. It’s become a kind of lifestyle choice too. The former Issey

Miyake intern and London College of Fashion graduate has recently opened an atelier and lifestyle gallery boutique in Todoroki overlooking the beautiful and natural valley the area is famous for, and at the same time, inhabiting an industrial yet elegant structure designed by Suppose Design Office. The dichotomy between natural and industrial characteristics is something which has defined Gkinis’ work since he started to show his designs in Tokyo about ten years ago.

Gkinis has recently changed the name of his brand from aptform to Michail Gkinis. He explained in a recent interview with eightframe that, “It’s a new era for us. Moving here (Todoroki) has given us a new energy for our brand. We have renamed it from aptform to Michail Gkinis. So we have a new branding, language and identity.”

Part of this new identity is the introduction of a color palette. aptform was renowned for having a monochrome philosophy shared by other Japanese brands such as Julius and The Viridi-anne. The new Michail Gkinis brand sees pops of color as a way of accessorizing the light and shade of the main line apparel. Gkinis sees this fresh approach to color as “an evolution.”

Gkinis has some very high-profile customers such as Academy Award-winning actor and musician Jared Leto. A big fan of rock and industrial music Gkinis also had

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the chance to design an outfit for the frontman of Japanese rockers Okamotos.

This situation came about when he attended the Okinawa Film Festival where he presented an award to a movie titled “Love Session”, directed by Eiji Itaya, which is focused on musicians such as Crystal Kay, Okamotos and RIP SLYME. Gkinis saw this opportunity as a “way to target and customize our work for artists and rock musicians.”

A part of the new artistic philosophy for the Michail Gkinis brand is a customized and semi-order service for his clients. He says, “We can offer this kind of service to our personal clients. They can touch, they can feel and we can give them the right advice which color or material is better etc…And at the same time they can make their own pattern, of course with an extra charge for this. So it’s cool for the customers. “One off” is a key word for us. It’s kind of why we call our brand wearable art.”

His latest collection is “Secret Closet”, a seasonless and timeless compact collection of clothing for both men and women and some pieces which can be worn by both sexes. Much like aptform some of the new Michail Gkinis collection is unisex such as one item which at first glance looks like a simple scarf or shawl. “We’ve been making items which are more transformable” he says. “This kind of scarf can be utilized as a cardigan. Although it can also be used as a jacket or shawl.

You can also wrap it as a skirt or as a one piece. We like to play with masculinity

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and femininity. I can wear objects like this or my wife can wear it too. It’s a playful approach using texture, color and shape.”

The Greek designer is also well-known for his approach to textiles. For aptform he used material such as pigskin and integrating leather and knitwear. This fascination with textiles and feeling has carried on to his new collection and pieces like a simple bomber jacket have hidden elements such as a hand-painted lining and are made with stretchable material. He says, “So we can give this garment movement.

It’s a bomber jacket but it has this athletic feeling. And at the same time it’s casual and elegant. And it has a lot of technical points.”

The atelier and gallery boutique is by appointment only and the last few weeks have seen buyers and clients flock to Todoroki to see the new collection by a designer who has really focused on his approach and aesthetic personality. The move to Todoroki seems to have had a profound influence on him as a designer and as a person. “We moved here last June. The space truly represents what we are doing. It’s industrial and natural. It’s exactly what our brand philosophy is about. My personality, my Greek heritage, European background and Japanese lifestyle.”

Paul McInnes

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MICHAIL ATELIER + LIFESTYLE GALLERY BOUTIQUE #102 1-1-5 Nakamachi Setagaya-ku Tokyo Japan 158-0091 5mins walk from Todoroki st. (Tokyu Oimachi line) TEL +81-(0)3-6809-8540

MOBILE +81-(0)90-9959-4704

Email: info@michailgkinis.com Visual: http://michailgkinis.com

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Harunami

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Harunami Harunami specializes in Teppanyaki (Japanese style barbeque) and Okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza), using only the freshest seafood, meat and vegetables. Okonomiyaki, including plenty of wild yam is the most popular dish on the menu. The Okonomiyaki course consists of seven dishes and includes mushrooms, seafoods, meats, sardine powder and Fujinomiya fried noodles. The chef’s recommendation is the hamburger steak, made from Okinawan Ishigaki beef, which will melt in your mouth. Courses are available from ¼2,625.

4-3 Tsukudo-cho Shinjuku-ku Tokyo Japan 162-0821 +81-(0)3-3260-4729 http://harunami.net Mon-Sun 18:00~24:00

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Ginza Risen

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Ginza Risen Ginza Risen marries Japanese culinary artistic cuisine with a creativity that cannot be found anywhere else. Upon entering the staff will greet you in kimono.

The refined modern interior and exquisite art pieces on display will surely catch your eye as the staff guide you to your seat. Chef Suzuki holds the prestigious title of “Tokyo Meister” from the National Union of Specialists, a title that less than 30 people in all of Tokyo have had the honor of receiving. Each dish is made with quality ingredients of the seasons and is presented in a beautiful arrangement on meticulously crafted wares. The menu is regularly changed for the seasons and national seasonal festivals so there is always a new experience at Ginza Risen.

And since Chef Suzuki’s artistic hand is in play, each dish is not only delicious but visually stunning as well. Lunch courses start from 5,000 yen and dinner courses from 15,000 yen. Ginza Risen can be found 6 minutes from the Ginza exit of JR Shimbashi station and 5 minutes from exit A2 of Ginza station.

1F III Soirées de bldg. 8-8-7 Ginza Chuo-ku Tokyo Japan 104-0061 TEL: +81-(0)3-3569-1521 WEB: www.risen.jp Mon-Sat 11:30-15:00 (LO 14:00) / 17:00-21:00 *At least one day advance reservation is requested

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Kagurazaka

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Kagurazaka Kurosu

Kagurazaka Itsuki

Located at the far end of the cobble-

Conveniently located across from

stone street known as Hyogo Yokocho

the Bishamonten Zengoku Temple,

lies Kagurazaka Kurosu. A hidden

Kagurazaka Itsuki is a newly opened

gem named after the chef, Kagurazaka

restaurant that serves traditional

Kurosu serves Japanese cuisine that is

Japanese cuisine. You will be amazed

sure to please any palate. Chef Kuro-

by the clean and refined interior

su’s aim is to create dishes that are as

design. The staff, adorned in beautiful

visually captivating as pieces found at

kimono, demonstrate the immaculate

an art gallery. A 3-year consecutive

hospitality that traditional Japanese

recipient of one star in the Michelin

restaurants are known for. The chef

Guide, Chef Kurosu creates traditional

prepares colorful dishes with the

Japanese cuisine with a modern twist.

freshest seasonal ingredients that are

Reservations are required for lunch

carefully arranged to also please the

and recommended for dinner due to

eye. Lunch kaiseki starts from 4,000

limited seating. Located 5 minutes

yen (reservations required), and dinner

from exit B4b of Iidabashi subway

kaiseki starts from 10,000 yen.

station.

Kagurazaka Terrace B1 4-11 Tsukudocho Shinjuku-ku Tokyo

5-1 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Japan 162-0821

Japan 162-0825

TEL: +81-(0)3-6280-8112

TEL: +81-(0)3-6280-8833

WEB: www.kagurazaka-x.com

WEB: www.kagurazaka-itsuki.com

Mon-Sat 12:00- / 18:00-22:00

Mon-Sat 11:30-14:30 (LO 14:00)

18:00-22:30 (LO 21:30)

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An Interview with Japanese Artists SHIMURAbros

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first came across the work of brother/sister art duo SHIMURAbros when I was covering fashion for The Japan Times. I went to a small, dark studio in Aoyama

to see the latest collection from Japanese brand The Viridi-anne. The designer Tomoaki Okaniwa had chosen to show the collection in the form of an installation which was created by SHIMURAbros. Three screens displayed a man, wearing The Viridi-anne, almost impossibly slowed down which was reminiscent of a silent movie and it turned out that it was. SHIMURAbros had used the slapstick move-

ment of Buster Keaton and slowed it down using advanced camera techniques so that it almost resembled classical ballet and, in turn, it wasn’t particularly funny.

I sat down with SHIMURAbros at a café in Roppongi Hills which overlooked their latest installation titled “Eicon/Safety Last.”

Paul McInnes (PM): What was the idea behind the Eicon series?

SHIMURAbros (SB): The idea started from slapstick comedy. That’s’ the style of action comedy in the 1920s. The first Eicon (which means electric icon) recalled Buster Keaton and the latest Eicon recalls Harold Lloyd. The main character is climbing the skyscraper and looks like he’s falling down. That’s the scene we took from the old movie. The original “Safety Last” in 1923 used a camera which took 16 frames a second and was hand-cranked. Because of the camera and frames it looks like comedy. But when we shot the same action using our camera technique using 2000 frames per second it doesn’t look like comedy at all.

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PM: Is it a special camera?

SB: Yes, this camera is used for determining and examining especially close finishes at Olympic contests. We are always interesting in using and collaborating with new technology.

We want to challenge the film itself and to see how we can change it from the theater version and style. We are really impressed by old works for example from the 1920s.

Actually we focused on the 1920s again in our “Film Without Film/Creative Geography” which is based on the original work by Lev Kuleshov. We reworked this by putting his work into a 3D printing machine to print out the movie itself. The size was 35 mm analogue film. What we see is actually the body of the film. We see the movie in two dimensions but we cannot touch it because it’s an illumination.

However, in our piece we see the movement, time and space together in three dimensions. We believe that this is the first work in which the body of the movie can actually be touched.

PM: Do you plan to continue the Eicon series?

SB: Well, yes. This is our third Eicon work. The second one was “Eicon/Red Riding Hood.” “Red Riding Hood” has different tales in each era. The story evolved from folktale and was adapted by Charles Perrault. And then later by Brothers Grimm.

In each era the character of Red Riding Hood has different costumes and bags and so on. We used an infra-red camera to shoot our red riding hood. And we see the images without the red because it’s infra-red. And next to it we see the same image but with color. The last image is our SHIMURAbros images representing the 21st century take on the story. She wears a plastic red rain coat but the image next to it you can see through the coat due to the camera.

PM: For your latest work you collaborated with many stores in Roppongi Hills for the costumes in the film. Can you tell us more about how that came about?

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SB: Firstly this work is a commission from Mori Buildings who own Roppongi Hills.

The main producer saw our first installment of Eicon and he decided to ask us to show here. And we have the opportunity to show this as part of Roppongi Art Night.

We wanted to use costumes which are very close to Harold Lloyd’s original clothes in the film from 1923. And also the woman’s clothes too. So we said to the stores that we would like to have clothes which are close as possible to the originals.

PM: Which art form do you prefer to work in? Film, sculpture etc…?

SB: Actually we don’t like to categorize things. We see everything we do as making films. So for example “Film Without Film” looks like sculpture but it’s a film in a different form. And this installation here is also a film. Even our mixed media work use images so we consider them in some way as film.

PM: What’s coming up for you?

SB: From this August we are moving to Berlin for a few years. The Pola Art Foundation will fund our research with the studio of Olafur Eliasson.

You know Olafur Eliasson works there with so many people to create big installations such as the “The Weather Project” at the Tate in London? It’s so great to have space in his studio. www.shimurabros.com

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Hollywood’s Golden Age, Tailor-Made in Tokyo

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rom the dark wood paneled walls sporting head-shots of classic movie stars, to the dapper and bespoke shopkeepers themselves, it doesn’t take long to get

a sense of the aesthetic of Shibuya’s Caid tailor. We are not fashion snobs, but we know a few simple rules reads an old fashioned felt-board sign, sat next to an even older turntable which is currently pumping the dulcet tones of Dean Martin into the small but well appointed shop.

Yuhei Yamamoto, tailor and proprietor of Caid, is enthusiastically explaining these rules as we meet at the central table in his store. Before me he has laid out dozens of photographs and prints - stills from movies and shots of the great leading men of the last century - Gary Cooper, Paul Newman, Sean Connery, and Steve McQueen stare up at me, nonchalant in their perfectly fitting suits and ties.

“It’s not just the suit that makes up the classic man; it’s his mannerisms, the way he walks, talks and behaves. Look at these classic actors. They look comfortable and relaxed in their bespoke suits - completely effortless.” Unlike many tailors, Yamamoto didn’t inherit his profession from his father; instead he received a deep love of classic movies that would inform his business as much as his skill at tailoring.

The process of ordering a bespoke suit from Caid begins with a long consultation with Yamamoto in his second floor shop, near Bunkamura in Shibuya. With the help of the myriad movie stills and photographs, Yamamoto sets out first of all

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to get to know his potential clients. Some have a suit in mind from a movie, and chances are if it was made between 1930 and 1970, Yamamoto will know it without even looking. Want that turtleneck and sport coat combo that Steve McQueen wore in Bullitt? Yamamoto has stills of it from every angle. Sean Connery’s Glen Urquhart Check Suit in From Russia With Love? Yamamoto knows the one.

The initial consultation can last from 20 minutes to an hour, or as long as it takes to get a sense of a customer’s tastes, personality, and needs. No friends or significant others are allowed at this stage - you’re buying a suit that will last you decades, and Yamamoto takes this task extremely seriously. “I’ve even turned away the occasional customer, some people with bad attitudes, or just completely different tastes.”

With the recent success of Mad Men in the US, the classic Ivy style of Brooks Brothers and Chipp has made a major resurgence, especially in the home of the hit show, New York City. For Yamamoto, the perfect suit not only matches the wearer, but fits the city in which it’s worn. New York has long had a vibrant mix of artists and businessmen, Beats and socialites, all of whom informed its fashion legacy. “Andy Warhol may have been a Mod in spirit, but he was dressed in simple

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and classic suits. Your personality and art can be revolutionary, but great suits are timeless.�  Yamamoto says that Tokyo has its own style as well, despite the cheap and tacky suits of the host bars and the more casual and effeminate styles of young men that tend to dominate the current landscape. To achieve its potential, the impassioned tailor sees the need for more community surrounding male fashion in Tokyo.

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“I want to organize events here in town where people can dress classically - not like cosplay, but in truly stylish classic attire - as they’re doing more and more in New York now. I’ll even DJ such an event. The city needs to get things like this happening.” Dean Martin agrees as he belts out another tune from the surprisingly hi-fi vintage sound system.

Whether an Ivy trend can really pick up steam here or not, however, doesn’t worry Yamamoto. His clients know what they like, and they like a perfectly made, timeless suit. Caid also enjoys a large foreign clientele (hipster darling Nick Waterhouse is a famous regular customer) who go out of their way to get Caid’s singular talent at recreating the great styles of yesteryear.

Though he has a small staff of people to handle the accounting, some sewing, and other small duties, every suit is made from start to finish by Yamamoto himself, and takes on average one month to complete. This includes the initial consultation and some cooling off time for the customer to be sure they want the suit they’ve planned for; this is an investment after all.

A Caid suit can start around 200,000 yen, but Yamamoto makes suits that will last for 20 years or more, given the proper care. For those serious about building a bespoke wardrobe, Yamamoto will also guide customers over the course of years - tailoring a variety of suits for different occasions, building up one’s personal collection suit by suit. Yamamoto himself dresses only in his own creations. Lis-

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tening to the passion with which he can speak about films, and the great suits that inspired him to become a tailor in the first place, it’s clear that he is not a fashion snob. With a few simple rules and some not-so-simple expertise, however, Caid can bring out the sharp dressed man in anyone.

More information can be found at www.tailorcaid.com, and the shop’s blog (in Japanese, but with many pictures) is at tailorcaid.exblog.jp.

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