design-life see 1

D&L special issue SEE ! issue 01

20.

十.

10 SCENES

20 SPOTS

04 Meiji 100% chocolate cafe 07 Natural Lawson 08 Matsunosuke N.Y. 13 Sunshine studio

15 OmoteSando Hills 22 AMADANA 23 Kihachi 24 UT 30 Midtown / 21_21 33 Otoko Mae Tofu

34 Koh-men 35 Belberry 37 Time & Style 39 Tokyo Midtown Design Hub 42 ±0 47 A-Mei-Yo-Ko

49 The Nomadic Museum 56 Yoshida Kaban (Porter) 58 Tofu Cafe 62 D&Department

10 Uniqueness 18 Tradition x Modern 26 Delicate food culture 29 Clean streets 36 Bicycles

40 Convenient vendor machines 44 Unique color system 51 Dramatic dressing 53 ZAKA 60 Tokyo Night life

10 SCENES X 20 SPOTS | D&L Special issus 01 SEE! tokyo

D&L special issue SEE ! issue 01

01.

一.

4


Meiji 100% chocolate cafe

100% chocolate cafe is run by

old Japanese chocolate brand,

Meiji. The environment was de-

signed by Masamichi Katayama

while all the graphics were by

Groovisions. They have a total 56

different flavors of chocolate that

are coded by colors and numbers.

It is a stylish chocolate bar you

don't want to miss.

www.meiji.co.jp/sweets/choco-cafe

6


02.

二.

Natural Lawson

Natural Lawson is a brand new

idea from the Japan originated

convenient store, Lawson. This

is a eco-friendly convenient

store selling all kinds of organic

products: healthy, pesticide-

free food and drinks, recyclable

stationery, organic bath and

cleaning products from suppliers

such as Matsuyama. Even their

packaging material is all

eco-friendly!

www.natural-lawson.co.jp

03.

三.

8

Matsunosuke N.Y.

Daikanyama is a nice neigh-

borhood in Tokyo. It is a quiet

living area with a lot of special

small shops, galleries, and nice

restaurants. Matsunosuke N.Y.

is one of them. It is famous of

its award-wining apple pie. After

shopping around in the area,

Matsunosuke is a great place to

have a cup of afternoon tea.

www.matsunosukepie.com


01.

一.

10


Uniqueness

Japanese doesn't like to copy

someone's idea. Every store

has its own characteristic. Non

of them are the same or similar.

They have their own distinctive

facade, unique interior, their own

CD albums, and even their own

developed products. You will have

surprises anytime, anywhere,

no matter it's a famous brand

flagship or a anonymous petit

shop in a narrow alley.

12


04.

四.

Sunshine studio

Sunshine studio is just opened

this June. Run by design unit -

Design works project, it is a cafe

set up for designers to meet, eat

and exhibit. Located at the busy

area of Harajuku, the space is

bright and comfortable. Also, they

have great chiffon cake!

www.sunshinestudio.jp

14


05.

五.

OmoteSando Hills

OmoteSando Hills is a must-

go. Designed by the world-

renowned master - Tadao

Ando, OmoteSando Hills itself

is a great artwork. This large

complex gathers a lot of great

brands and restaurants with the

renewed residential section on

the uppermost levels. In order

not to interfere with the original

landscape and view, there are

only 6 levels, and 3 of them are

below ground.

www.omotesandohills.com

16


02.

二.

Tradition x Modern

Traditional culture is well kept in

Japan. Not only they preserve

it, but they respect the heritage

from forefathers. There are a lot of

examples when you walk around

Tokyo, such as traditional wa-ga-

shi(Japanese sweets) with modern

packaging; traditional companies

with modern facades; people

wearing kimono walking in the

Tokyo Midtown. In Tokyo, we can

see the tradition well blend into

the modern society.

18


20


06.

六.

22


AMADANA

AMADANA is a brand founded by

the company Realfleet Co.,ltd.

There are 3 main members,

Masaki Tabei, Hiroshi Kumamoto,

and Shuwa Tei. The tenet of

AMADANA is to show people the

best technology with the spirit and

beauty of craft of Japan. You will

find their products are somehow

combined tradition and modern.

A great shop to stop by.

en.amadana.com

07.

七.

Kihachi

It’s a special “soft cream” store.

Soft cream is kind of sundae.

The taste is so rich that you feel

like you are eating iced cream. It

has been chosen as No.1 dessert

in Tokyo! I highly recommend

“sesame soft cream”. Please try it

when you drop by.

www.kihachi.co.jp

08.

八.

24


UT

The famous Japanese T-shirts

brand, Uniqlo, has just opened up

a special T-shirt shop in Harajuku,

Tokyo. It is called UT(Uniqlo T-

shirt) Store Harajuku. It is de-

signed by the famous designer,

Kashiwa Sato. The concept of the

store is "the future T-shirts con-

venient store." All the t-shirts in

the store are stored in cans which

are placed on the shelves, just like

the convenient store. All you can

see is the samples on the hangers

and you can choose the T-shirt

you want, and find it according to

the number. How fun is that!

ut.uniqlo.com

03.

三.

Delicate food culture

Japanese dish is always too

beautiful to eat. It emphasizes

the balance of color, the seasonal

ingredients, and fresh taste. You

are satisfied with the sight and

then your taste bud. Japanese

sweet is another pleasant ama-

zement. Not to mention how pre-

tty the appearance is, the taste

is always light but full of rich body.

I had best caramel banana cheese

cake in Tokyo at Afternoon Tea.

I have to say, it has changed my

sweet life and open my dessert

vision.

www.afternoon-tea.net

26


28


04.

四.

Clean streets

Clean is the first impression for

everybody who visits Tokyo or

anywhere in Japan. There are

always dustmen cleaning the

streets although the streets are

already clean enough for us. You

won't see people spit around nor

throw cigarette buts at random.

It perfectly reflects the restrained

attitude of Japanese life.

09.

九.

30


Midtown / 21_21

Tokyo Midtown is a new land

mark at Roppongi, Tokyo. It

includes residential, commercial,

offices, hotel and leisure space.

The 5-floor retail Galleria with

73,000 square meters of stores,

restaurants and shops includes

the first Terence Conran restau-

rants in Japan. There is also a

large public park with a lot of con-

temporary works and a design

gallery/workshop, 21_21 design

sight created by Issey Miyake

and Tadao Ando.

www.tokyo-midtown.com

www.2121designsight.jp

32


10.

十.

Otoko Mae Tofu

It is difficult to ignore it when

you see "Otogo Mae Tofu" in the

supermarket. "Otogo Mae" means

macho! Can you imagining macho

tofu?? Their tofu packages are

all very special, and the name

of each product has special

meaning. Like, they have "Fight

first! Soup tofu boy!" or "Soymilk

rock'n'roll!" Is that funny? They

even have 5 characters for the

brand: Osamu, Ojoe, Tamotsu,

Don, and Johnny. Their website is

fun too! Take a look next time you

visit Tokyo!

otokomae.jp

34


Koh-men

Ramen is not only food but also

culture in Japan. There are three

kind of ramen broths, including

tongachu, soy, and salt. Besides,

there are Chinese style and miso

favor. Komen is a Chinese style

ramen shop, and it’s famous of

roasted pork.

kohmen.com

12.

二.

Belberry

Belberry is famous of its

extra jams, which still made

in traditional way. This store

is situated in the B1 of Tokyo

Midtown. This is also their first

store in Japan. They came up

a surprising dessert idea of a

combination of jam, crispy cruller,

and homemade ice cream. When

you taste it, three layers of

different temperature and texture

elements blend together. No

wonder it’s always a long line.

www.lcdd.jp/belberry

十

11.

一.十

05.

五.

Bicycles

Japanese likes to ride bicycles.

House wives ride bicycles to

super market or pick up kids.

Communicators ride bicycles to

station. Students ride bicycles to

save expensive transportation fee.

Riding bicycles gradually becomes

a city sport here.

36


13.

三.

Time & Style

Time and Style is a good

example of mixing tradition and

modern style. The store interior

is contemporary by using black

and white color as main theme.

When you look closer, you will

find the detail of each product

has Japanese traditional delicate

technique, such as hand-made

dinner ware.

www.timeandstyle.com

十

38


14.

四.

Tokyo Midtown Design Hub

Tokyo Midtown Design Hub which

located at the Midtown Tower in-

cludes 4 different institutions,

Japan Industrial Design Promotion

Organization, The Japan Graphic

Designers Association Inc., Kyu-

shu University Faculty of Design

Tokyo Lounge, and International

Design Liaison Center. The object

of the Hub is to strive through the

medium of “design,” and bring

greater energy to Japan in the

21st century. They have a lot of

design events, exhibitions, from

time to time.

www.tokyo-midtown.com/en/design/hub

十

40


06.

六.

Convenient vendor machines

Japan is famous of high tech-

nology. It seems anything can

be done by machine. So no

surprisingly, they have a lot of

vendor machines on the streets.

Mostly, they sell drinks and

cigarettes, but they also have

T-shirts, instant burgers, even

downloading MP3 files to their

MP3 players. What catch our

eyes is the 100 yen drinks vendor

machine. There is a company in

Japan selling 100 yen drinks by

purchasing them which close to

expiration date from several com-

panies. We think it's a brilliant

idea for reducing the waste.

15.

42


五.十

±0

Plusminus Zero is a brand found-

ed by world famous designer,

Naoto Fukasawa. Their products

are all very simple; neither plus

nor minus. The shape is very

normal yet fascinating. They also

have a small cafe shop across

their small courtyard. It is a

small design shop but a great

impression.

www.plusminuszero.jp

07.

七.

Unique color system

Japanese has their own special

color system. While most of the

world uses PANTONE, they have

their own DIC color system. It

seems they have their own taste

of colour scheme. We can see all

kind of examples on the street:

the banners, clothes, buildings,

flyers, and so on. The unique

sense of colour differentiates

them from the rest of the world.

44


46


16.

六.

A-Mei-Yo-Ko

Looking for bargain? You should

go to A-Mei-Yo-Ko. There are

lots of discount stores and fresh

seafood shops. Salespersons

say welcome loudly with special

voice tune. The street is a sense

of bustle and full of excitement.

It is located in front of JR UENO

Station, and nearby Ueno Zoo.

www.ameyoko.net

十

48


17.

七.

The Nomadic Museum

The Nomadic Museum is a

temporary structure composed of

156 shipping containers, specially

built for the "Ashes and Snow"

photography exhibit of Gregory

Colbert. It was first built on Pier

54 in NYC to hold the exhibit

in 2005, then was dismantled,

moved to, and reassembled in

Santa Monica, CA in early 2006.

It was designed by Japanese

architect Shigeru Ban. Right now

it is at Odaiba, Tokyo where it will

remain until the end of June. The

next stop is still unknown.

www.ashesandsnow.org/en/exhibition/

nomadic-museum.php

十

08.

八.

Dramatic dressing

Japanese knows how to dress

up and each of them is very

stylish. From hair to clothes and

accessories, each step can be

very detailed. Young generation

likes to mix and match to show

their personalities. They just

want to be themselves and don't

mind others judgement. When

you travel in Japan, you will be

impressed on their dressing skill

and find a good reason to buy

new clothing.

50


09.

九.

ZAKA

Zaka is a Japanese word, which

means general merchandises.

General speaking, it includes

utensils, tableware, home

accessory, and furniture.

Some areas in Tokyo become

a shopping district because of

zaka stores, such as Jiyugaoka,

Diaganyama, or Shimokitazawa.

These areas used to be nice

living environment, and now they

become the models presenting

the lifestyle of zaka. Zaka has

merged Japanese traditions and

European style and created its

own modern, simple, ease, and

somehow kept the heritage.

52


54


56


18.

八.

Yoshida Kaban (Porter)

Yoshida Kaban (a.k.a. Porter)

is one of the most famous bag

brands in Japan. Their bag is

made by durable fabric or leather.

The design is simple but timeless.

Many companies do crossover

with Porter, including beams and

monocle magazine. Once you

have one bag from them, you will

become its fan.

www.yoshidakaban.com

十

58


19.

九.

Tofu Cafe

Japanese loves to use soy milk

instead of milk. Soy milk is

harmony with black coffee, and

also a health ingredient with

dish. In Tokyo, there are lots of

restaurant adopt soy milk into

creative dishes. “To-Fu Café

Fujino” is one of them using soy

milk to create yummy dessert,

such like tofu ice cream, tofu

cheese cake, and green tea soy

milk au lait. This cafe is originated

from a old tofu store at Kyoto. It’s

very healthy, and super yummy.

www.kyotofu.co.jp/shop/cafe_6/index.html

十

60


10.

十.

Tokyo Night life

Japanese loves to drink, no

matter men or women. It’s a habit

to get a drink after a hard working

day. Beer bar, sake bar, sushi bar,

and fusion restaurants are full of

the streets or hided in the small

alleys. Station is still very crowded

even midnight. I can’t help to

think about how they can wake

up and go to office on time the

next day. One of our friends told

me that they always make it on

time because it’s Japanese spirit

to “Work hard, play hard.”

62


20.

十.

D&Department

Drawing and Manual is a design

company opened in Tokyo in

1977. They started D&Department

Project to influence Japanese

consumers to be able to have

good sense and interested in

“Good design”. They delivered

a message “Good design can

be recycled” by re-cycling other

brand shopping bag. They sell

tableware, utensil, furniture, CD,

stationery, and greens. First floor

is a nice café. I must tell you

the curry rice with fried egg is

amazing.

www.d-department.jp

www.drawingandmanual.com

二

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PH design consultant / Brand Images, Corporate Identity System, Shop Development Consultant,

Visual Communications, Editorial, Packaging / [email protected]

Design & Life online minizine / www.designandlife.com / Presented to you by PH design consultant

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