Through some 300 objects, this book explores contemporary Japanese design: from everyday objects and packaging to interior design and lighting elements.

Ultimately the book aims to explore the way in which Japanese design manages to harness its materials – whether natural or synthetic – and at the same time combines respect for tradition with forward-thinking and experimentation.

The objects featured were chosen because of their strong Japanese character and the influence this 'Japaneseness' has had on Western culture. Rather than following a chronological order or concentrating on the designers, this book focuses on the objects and is categorized by material, highlighting the strong link between design and material in Japan.

The book will include examples from some of the most important Japanese designers from Sori Yanagi and Shiro Kuramata to Naoto Fukasawa and Tokujin Yoshioka and there will be an introductory essay about Japanese design by Kenya Hara.

 - In this exquisitely produced book, readers can explore the beauty, essence, and enduring impact of Japanese design through 300 key objects, ranging from calligraphy brushes and traditional lacquered bento boxes to Isamu Noguchi’s paper lamps and other modern classics
 - Features contributions from the most important Japanese designers, such as Shiro Kuramata, Naoto Fukasawa and Sori Yanagi, alongside contemporary pieces from up-and-coming designers
 - Printed on craft paper and bound in the traditional Japanese style, the book itself is a beautiful object sure to inspire anyone interested in design

Contents and Sections:

Reinventing Tradition: From Craft to Design Rossella Menegazzo
The Origins of Japanese Design Kenya Hara

Wood, Bamboo & Lacquer
Paper
Metal
Fabric & Textiles
Ceramic
Synthetic/new materials

About the Authors:

Rossella Menegazzo is Associate Professor of History of East Asian Art at the Università degli Studi of Milan. She completed her PhD Course in Oriental Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in 2009, with a dissertation on Japanese art history and photography. She has curated several events and exhibitions and is the author of numerous texts on Japanese photography, graphic design and ukiyoe. She is a regular contributor to a number of national newspapers, writing articles on Japanese culture and art.

Stefania Piotti received her BA in East Asian studies from Ca' Foscari University of Venice specializing in Japanese textiles and the development of kimono design and patterns in particular. She has worked as translator and scientific coordinator in various exhibitions on Japanese art and as editor of Italian and English publications such as Imai. A Retrospective (Electa, 1998), Hokusai (Phaidon, 2004) and Japan Style (Phaidon, 2007).

Shunmyo Masuno, Japan's leading garden designer, is at once Japan's most highly acclaimed landscape architect and an 18th-generation Zen Buddhist priest, presiding over daily ceremonies at the Kenkoji Temple in Yokohama. He is celebrated for his unique ability to blend strikingly contemporary elements with the traditional design vernacular. He has worked in ultramodern urban hotels and in some of Japan's most famous classic gardens. In each project, his work as a designer is inseparable from his Buddhist practice. Each becomes a Zen garden, "a special spiritual place where the mind dwells."

This beautiful book, illustrated with more than 400 drawings and color photographs, is the first complete retrospective of Masuno's work to be published in English. It presents 37 major gardens around the world in a wide variety of types and settings: traditional and contemporary, urban and rural, public spaces and private residences, and including temple, office, hotel and campus venues. Masuno achieved fame for his work in Japan, but he is becoming increasingly known internationally, and in 2011 completed his first commission in the United States which is shown here.

Zen Gardens divided into three chapters, covers: "Traditional Zen Gardens," "Contemporary Zen Gardens" and "Zen Gardens outside Japan." Illustrated with photographs and architectural plans or sketches, each garden is described and analyzed by author Mira Locher, herself an architect and a scholar well versed in Japanese culture.

Celebrating the accomplishments of a major, world-class designer, Zen Gardens also serves as something of a master class in Japanese garden design and appreciation: how to perceive a Japanese garden, how to understand one, even how to make one yourself. Like one of Masuno's gardens, the book can be a place for contemplation and mindful repose.

About the Author:

Mira Locher is an architect and professor who works in the U.S. and Japan. She studied at Smith College before receiving her Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania. After working for Team Zoo Atelier Mobile in Japan for seven years, she set up an architectural practice in the U.S. with Takayuki Murakami. Mira Locher is Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba (Canada). She is the author of Super Potato Design, Zen Gardens and Zen Garden Design.

Future Beauty is the first comprehensive survey of Japanese avant-garde fashion of the last 30 years. Such designers as Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo made an enormous impact on the world fashion scene in the late twentieth century, challenging established notions of beauty and turning fashion into art. Today a new generation of radical designers, among them Tao Kurihara and Jun Takahashi, is fast gaining acclaim. This spectacular book, written by a team of experts led by the eminent fashion historian Akiko Fukai, explores the distinct sensibility of Japanese design – the uniqueness of its form, cut and fabric. Illustrated with over 250 photographs and sketches, Future Beauty is an authoritative and stylish guide to some of the world’s most expressive fashion.

_A major new study of avant-garde Japanese fashion, from the early 1980s to the present day
_Featured designers include such international masters as Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Jun Watanabe, as well as a new generation of radical designers, such as Jun Takahashi

This distinctive volume reveals a unique antique kimono collection through various delicate Japanese colors and their use in kimono.

The Japanese sensibility is immediately apparent in the classification of the nine traditional color categories of red, green, pink, blue, brown, purple, yellow, black/white, and gold/silver. Each spread presents a single color showing a page-wide photo of a kimono accompanied by a description of the color and its meaning in the context of Japanese culture. The author explains, "We organized the kimono and obi (sash) according to what I like to call ‘Japanese Kokoro no Iro’ — colors of the Japanese heart.

Each category presents what individual colors express or signify. For example, we use white, black and gold as an expression of cheer. Red indicates the sun, blood, and fire. White, black, and silver express sadness." With the knowledge of both Western and traditional Japanese fashion cultures, Yumioka presents and describes his collection in an easily accessible style.

A History of the Samurai tells the complete story of Japan's legendary warrior class from beginning to end — an epic tale of intrigue, bloodshed and bravery that is central to an understanding of the Japanese character and of Japanese history. It describes in detail the core Samurai philosophy of Bushido —"the way of the warrior"— a complex code of conduct embracing ideals of honor and loyalty that continues to govern the Japanese way of life today.

Historian Jonathan Lopez-Vera offers a compelling look at these enigmatic warriors including:

- The lives of famous Samurai—Miyamoto Musashi, Japan's greatest swordsman; Tomoe Gozen, the woman who became a Samurai; Tokugawa Ieyasu, the last Shogun; and many more
- The tragic tale of the 47 Ronin who chose honor over their own lives and were forced to commit ritual suicide after avenging their fallen master
- The philosophy of Bushido, "the Way of the Warrior," the code of conduct that embraced the ideals of honor and loyalty and governed the Samurai way of living
- The decline of the Samurai and their transformation from rough, battle-hardened warriors to highly educated philosopher-poets

Illustrated with 125 archival prints and photos, the nobility and grandeur of the Samurai is brilliantly showcased in this book. Readers will enjoy immersing themselves in the Samurai's world, as historian Jonathan Lopez-Vera traces the fascinating story of the rise and fall of these enigmatic warriors throughout Japanese history.

About the Author:

Jonathan Lopez-Vera has a PhD in Japanese History and an MA in World History from Pompeu Fabra University (Spain). He is a member of the Ethnographies, Cultural Encounters and Religious Missions (ECERM) research group and Research Group on Empires, Metropolis and Extra-European Societies (GRIMSE). He also runs the HistoriaJaponesa.com website and is co-editor of the journal Asiademica.

Russell Calvert has a masters degree in translation studies from Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona). He has 25 years TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) experience, including posts at ESADE Business School (Barcelona) and Salalah College of Applied Sciences (Oman). He was the subtitler, translator and interpreter for the 2012 Mecal International Short Film Festival of Barcelona.

Featuring the works Japan’s most celebrated neko-e artists, this gorgeous boxed set contains a volume of more than seventy exquisite accordion-fold prints and an accompanying booklet with explanatory texts.

For centuries, cats have played an essential role in Japanese culture and folklore. Long before Hello Kitty, they were fetishized and revered by every strata of Japanese society, especially by artists. This volume collects dozens of prints by the greatest masters of Japanese printmaking including Hokusai, Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, Utamaro, and Kunichika. It beautifully reflects the complex nature of the country’s attachment to felines. Cats are depicted as playful and cuddly, menacing and predatory; they are imbued with erotic meaning; and regarded as symbols of wealth and taste. They can be seen as having human qualities, yet also take on monstrous forms. Each of these prints captures its subject’s personality with meticulous detail, vibrant colors, and intricate patterns.
Included in this package is a booklet featuring an introduction to and brief texts about each of the works ― making this the perfect gift for cat fanciers, Japanese culture enthusiasts and lovers of woodblock prints.

About the Author:

Jocelyn Bouquillard is a curator at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and an expert in Japanese prints.

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of traditional Japanese ceramic culture as interpreted by today’s leading designers

The art of Japanese porcelain manufacturing began in Arita in 1616. Now, on its 400th anniversary, Arita / Table of Contents charts the unique collaboration between 16 contemporary designers and 10 traditional Japanese potteries as they work to produce 16 highly original, innovative and contemporary ceramic collections rooted in the daily lives of the 21st century. More than 500 illustrations provide a fascinating introduction to the craft and region, while the contemporary collections reveal the unique creative potential of linking ancient and modern masters.

About the Author:

Anniina Koivu is a critic, editor, and consultant. She was the editor of Abitare magazine, the director of research and head of international PR & partnerships at Vitra, and in 2013 was appointed head of theory of the masters’ programmes in product design and art direction at ECAL in Lausanne. She is the author of Works (2012) and editor-in-chief of The Walking Society (2015).

After over a decade of travel, study and creative collaboration with Japan, Norm Architects’ shares their uniquely Scandinavian view of Japanese aesthetics.

The book features richly illustrated dispatches from visits to Japanese landscapes, architecture and cultural sites, shedding light on the influence Japanese traditions have had on the studio’s contemporary projects, such as the Äng restaurant in Sweden or Heatherhill Beach House in Denmark.

Juxtaposing images from Japan with Norm Architects’ work, the book highlights the centuries-old connections between the distinct design cultures, emphasizing mutual respect and shared philosophies. Commentary from expert collaborators in both regions provides in-depth understanding into key design principles. At once an ode to Japan, a personal travelogue, and an aesthetic manifesto, Stillness takes readers on Norm’s decade-long journey as they’ve sought to understand one of the world’s most revered creative cultures.

About the Authors:

Norm Architects is a Copenhagen-based practice founded in 2008 working within architecture, interiors, design and photography. Norm’s sensory yet simple work aims to balance richness with restraint and order with complexity. Building on centuries of cultural exchange between Japan and Scandinavia, Norm Architects’ years of close collaboration with Japanese designers has shaped their design philosophy.

Outstanding typography introduced in bilingual Japanese and English text! A must-see book for anyone involved in design.

This book features more than 400 works carefully selected by 14 judges from the Japan Typography Association. With works accepted from all over the world through a public call for submissions, judges chosen from association members and the previous year’s Grand Prix winner conducted a rigorous evaluation process to select one Grand Prix winner from all the entries, along with a “Best Work Award” in each category. A “Jury Award” is awarded to works or designers highly rated by the judges from their individual perspectives. This book offers an overview of the latest trends in typography through the 10 categories, including typefaces, logotypes, and symbols, VI, graphics, editorial, research and experimentation and more. Also featured is part of the production process for the best works in each category. This year’s edition is the 45th edition since the series began in 1969 as The Japan Lettering & Typography Annual.

Get into this year’s interior design trend: Japandi, a style that combines serene Scandinavian design elements with the richness of Japanese design tradition. It is characterised by a combination of beauty, functionality, and clean lines with a lot of attention to materials, textures, and natural touches. In addition to more than 200 images of the most beautiful Japandi-interiors and designs, this book gives practical tips on how to implement these ideas in your own home.

This book will inspire you to create minimalist, yet luxurious Japandi interiors, where the design styles from two parts of the world meet.

About the Authors:

Laila Rietbergen is passionate about the Japandi interior trend and its way of life. She follows the trend closely and inspires her 630,000 followers on a daily basis. Marlous Snijder is a freelance writer, content maker and columnist.

_More than 200 images of interiors in which Japanese aesthetics and Scandinavian design go hand in hand
_Author Laila Rietbergen has more than 340,000 followers on Instagram and with this book she provides the best of Japandi inspiration
_With practical tips and tricks, you will create your own Japandi-inspired home in no time

Features 20 gardens by contemporary Japanese garden design masters.

Introduction by lauded designer Chisao Shigemori, grandson of legendary garden master Mirei Shigemori.

A Japanese garden represents the essence of Japanese culture, embodying the country’s spirit and philosophy. It has a distinctive style, quality of materials and emphasis on details. Modern Japanese Gardens captures this spirit through the work of 20 contemporary Japanese garden design masters.

The gardens featured in Modern Japanese Gardens are drawn from a variety of locations in Japan, placed in different settings, from private houses and temples to cafés, restaurants and stores. Some are of traditional appearance; others have a distinctly modern aesthetic. In common, all the gardens have been influenced by Japanese culture and society, created by masters who are internationally recognised and lauded for their skills.

Modern Japanese Gardens includes insightful text on each garden, revealing the concept behind the design and the use of plants, alongside photography exploring both the detail and the overall aesthetic that shape the design.

About the Authors:

Shinobu Sawada is the editor-in-chief of leading Japanese garden magazine Niwa, having previously worked as an editor of Japanese interior design magazine Indoor green. She is a frequent speaker at conferences, media events and workshops. Sawada has extensive, well-established connections with the garden masters of Japan. Together with Sawada, Tadafumi Aoza runs Niwa Japan, a Japanese garden agency based in both Tokyo and Paris. Aoza and Sawada represent and promote Japanese gardeners around the world.

At the heart of this book are twenty-eight real-life animals and the myths and literature, paintings, drawings, textiles and ceramics they have inspired some of the most celebrated Japanese artists and writers to create

Since the dawn of Japanese folklore and religion, the Japanese soul has cultivated a special connection with nature and wildlife, in part due to the natural abundance of the Japanese archipelago. Every animal, from the frightening crow to the sublime crane, is sacred, occupying a central place in Japanese mythology, literature, arts, and crafts. In this text-rich art book, readers will find twenty-eight real-life animals, including the fox, frog, cat, monkey, and firefly, described in texts combining haikus, tales and anecdotes from everyday life and illustrated with objects produced by the some of the most celebrated Japanese artists and craftsmen.

Readers will see just how central animals -from the most fleeting to the most majestic, from the wildest to the most domesticated -are to Japanese legends and literature but also in the latest manga and animated films. In some cases, the animals are transformed and endowed with human attributes; in others, through a representative selection of Japanese art -paintings, prints, fashion and common Japanese objects such as netsuke (miniature sculptures)- they appear lovingly portrayed in their natural element: typical animals of the countryside, mountains, forests, rivers and sea, and even today's cities. While most of the animals in this Japanese bestiary are good omens, even ones a tad mischievous, downright evil or uniquely sacred, such as the sika deer or the crane, all are invested with strong symbolism and have become extremely popular in a country where everything is ephemeral and transient, yet everything remains.

Japanese Bestiary is an ideal book for anyone interested in Japanese drawing and painting, animal illustrations and wildlife art and literature.

About the Authors:

Nelly Delay, art historian, graduate of the Ecole du Louvre high school, was an art critic at Combat – founded in 1941 as a clandestine newspaper – and in various Swiss and Italian magazines before specializing, since 1963, in the study of ancient Japanese art. She organized Japanese art events in Paris from 1974 to 1984, for which she published texts on little-explored subjects and books on old Japanese drawings and paintings and the influence of Japanese on Western Art. Since 1989, she has devoted herself to publications and conferences within the framework of different cultural organizations and the OECD. Two of her many titles are available in English: "The Art and Culture of Japan" and "Japan: The Fleeting Spirit".

Dominique Ruspoli is a writer and photographer. Doctor (PhD) of Philosophy (by Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University, France) specialized on the aesthetics of western lough, she became lecturer on written communication and psychology at the EISEA (Graduate School of Engineering in Ivry, France). Dominique Ruspoli has addressed in her writings subjects as different as psychodrama, the humorous drawing, the Etruscans, Venice or the Lascaux cave, and has published also books on the Japanese artists Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kyosai. She is, since 2000, member of the College of Pataphysics - The Science of Imaginary Solutions, founded after the principles described by the symbolist writer Alfred Jarry.

Yumi Katsura is the greatest fashion designer you’ve never heard of. One of the world’s bestselling luxury wedding-dress designers, she is venerated in her native Japan as a cultural icon and an inspirational business leader. Among her most celebrated pieces is a paper ‘washi mode’ dress housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a vestment worn by Pope John Paul II; and a diamond-laden wedding gown ranked among the most expensive of all time.

These beautifully illustrated pages tell the story of a woman who single-handedly created Japan’s modern wedding industry, turning centuries of tradition on its head. From Katsura’s childhood in the ruins of wartime Tokyo to her stellar international career, her life is an example to anyone who dreams of living for their passion. Written by Cori Coppola – producer of the acclaimed documentary House of Cardin – with co-author Kristin Coppola, this lavish fashion biography is a must-have for critics, connoisseurs and couture fans.

_The story of the number-one-selling luxury wedding-dress designer in the world
_Co-written by Cori Coppola, producer of the acclaimed fashion documentary House of Cardin
_Including historical photographs and lush full-page spreads of Katsura’s greatest creations
_A must-have for critics, connoisseurs and couture fans

About the Author:

Cori Coppola is the Producer of the fashion documentary The House of Cardin, directed by P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes. Shot in five countries over the course of two years, the film depicts the life and work of famed French fashion designer Pierre Cardin. Previously, she worked as a Coordinator and VFX Producer for films and commercials both in the U.S. and in France working at high-profile companies such as Kleiser-Walczak, BUF, and Partizan. Ms. Coppola, who originally hails from Hollywood, is fluent in French and has lived in Paris for over 21 years. She is the granddaughter of famed opera conductor Anton Coppola, daughter of jazz bassist Ray Brown, and part of the celebrated Coppola family. Her passion for art, fashion, music and film continues to inspire and drive her work.

Now available in a beautiful new edition, this book presents a meditative, arresting and dazzling collection of 240 black-and-white images of Japan, made over almost 30 years by the internationally renowned photographer Michael Kenna.

A rocky coast along the Sea of Japan; an immense plain of rice fields in the snow; Mount Fuji towering over misty wooded hills; silent temples devoid of people but brimming with Buddhist deities; a Torii gate mysteriously emerging from moving clouds and water ― these are a few images from this remarkable collection of photographs by Michael Kenna, whose black-and-white work is highly renowned. Forms of Japan, brilliantly designed by Yvonne Meyer-Lohr, is organized into chapters simply titled, “Sea,” “Land,” “Trees,” “Spirit,” and “Sky.”

The quietly evocative photographs, often paired with classic haiku poems of Basho, Buson, Issa and others, provide a contemplative portrait of a country better-known for its energy and industry. Gorgeously reproduced to convey the enormous subtleties that exist in Michael Kenna’s traditional black-and-white silver prints, the photographs in this book include both well-known and previously unpublished images from all corners of Japan: Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Okinawa and Shikoku.

About the Authors:

Michael Kenna is an English photographer, now based in Seattle, USA, best known for his black-and-white landscapes. More than 60 books and monographs have been published on his photographic work, including "Buddha", "Holga", "Rouge", and "St. Joseph’s College, Upholland" (all by Prestel).

Yvonne Meyer-Lohr is a designer and author based in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Beautifully executed illustrations and in-depth commentry are presented in this excellent introduction to the Chinese language and its millieu

Written Chinese can call upon about 40,000 characters, many of which originated some 6,000 years ago as little pictures of everyday objects used by the ancients to communicate with one another. To convey more abstract ideas or concepts, the Chinese stylised and combined their pictographs. For instance, the character for "man" - a straight back above two strong legs - becomes, with the addition of a head and shoulders and arms held sternly akimbo, the character for "official".

This book, modelled after a classic compilation of the Chinese language done in the 18th century, introduces readers to the 214 root pictographs or symbols upon which this writing system, whose rich complexities hold a wealth of cultural meaning, is based. These key characters, called radicals, are all delightfully presented in this volume, with their graphic development traced stage-by-stage to the present representation, where even now (in many of them) one can easily make out what was originally pictured-with the author's guidance.

Centuries ago, when the Japanese took up writing, they also adopted these symbols, though they gave them different names in their own spoken language. Each of the 214 classic radicals is charmingly explored by the author, both for its etymology and for what it reveals about Chinese history and culture. Chinese characters are marvels of graphic design, and this book even shows the proper way to write each radical, stroke by stroke. Finally, there are also samples of each radical combined with other radicals and character elements to demonstrate how new characters are formed-some 8,000 have been added to the language since the 18th century. With all its expertly executed calligraphic illustrations and fascinating commentary, this book serves as an excellent introduction to Chinese writing and its milieu.

About the Author:

Edoardo Fazzioli, who has studied Chinese language and culture at Hong Kong University and is a member of the Italo-Chinese Institute for Economic and Cultural Exchange, has written newspaper articles and scholarly pieces on Chinese life and civilization.