April 25, 2011

Spatula that looks like a smiling fish

Sakana-ka_500t

How cute is this spatula that looks like a smiling fish?

via Spoon and Tamago

May 21, 2010

Hiragana in 3D

3D-hiragana-ah-3-424x281

Designer Hideo Kanbara thought it would be fun to make hiragana in 3D. Here is あ (the "a" sound). Beautiful!

Link via Spoon and Tamago

September 04, 2009

Bamboo dining set teaches kids table manners

Fun1

I love this dining set for kids made by Funfam. Everything's made of bamboo and is reusable (huge amounts of wooden chopsticks are used and thrown away every day in Japan), but not only that, the embedded cutlery design automatically teaches your kids how to set a table! It's one less thing you have to teach them &mdash not to mention that it's just an extremely cute design. The only caveat: it costs $200.

Product page via Designboom

August 26, 2009

Ashtray made out of coffee grinds

Coffee-top

What a great idea &mdash an ashtray made out of coffee grinds, created by Ryohei Yoshiyuki. So you don't have to have that stinky stale smell sitting in your living room all day.

via Moco Loco

August 10, 2009

Gabled house in Mitaka by architect Hidetaka Shirako

House-in-mitaka-by-shin-yokoo-16

Check out this cool new house in Mitaka, suburb of Tokyo, designed by architect Hidetaka Shirako.

House-in-mitaka-by-shin-yokoo-11

via Dezeen, photos by Hiroshi Ueda.

About

Lisa Katayama's personal blog.
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  • I write articles about culture, technology, and human rights for Wired, Popular Science, Fast Company, and the New York Times Magazine. I also produce radio segments for PRI's Studio360 and am a Correspondent for Boing Boing, one of Time Magazine's five most essential blogs of 2010.

    In 2008, Chronicle published my book: Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan.

    I am also the founder of The Tofu Project, a boutique program that helps Japanese entrepreneurs and creators think deeper, tell better stories, and go out into the world in a much bigger way. We work with companies like Mixi, Japan Airlines, and Salesforce.com.

    Sometimes I try to explain Japanese culture on CNN, BBC, CBC, WSJ, ABC (so many acronyms!) or in person at places like the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, ETech, and Ignite!

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MY BOOK

  • My book, Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan, was published in April 2008. Get it now!

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