Japanistic/Blog

Every issue of Monocle contains more coolness than I think they should be allowed. It just doesn’t seem fair to be that cool and get to travel the world.
In the June issue–okay, I’m a little late–I am loving the work done by Japanese illustrator for Monocle, Satoshi Hashimoto. Of course, they are special limited editions–done [...]

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Okay, I know Bastille Day is over, but our party isn’t!
Tomorrow, Saturday, July 17th, join us at our Northampton or Amherst stores, or at our website, Shop Essentials, for savings and fun!
Need the details? Our blog, La Motif has the Bastille Day Rules.
Here’s some of the fun you can expect:
ESSENTIALS’ FOURTH ANNUAL BASTILLE DAY CELEBRATION!
Join [...]

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Thanks to Superpunch for the heads-up on this upcoming Robot-filled event in Philadelphia.
August 6th, from 6-9,  The Autumn Society, (which sounds like an organization for Secret Agents), hosts the tribute to Japanese Pop Culture. The exhibit will be held at Brave New World Comics, a Philadelphia comic institution and I’d think it was worth the [...]

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I feel like a proud Momma, seeing my baby bear on Japanese TV. I just got these images from Artemis in Japan-Benny on a Japanese television drama. Clearly a healing bear, bringing love and snuggles to Mother and Child, Benny obviously plays a pivotal role in this Japanese drama.

If you read Japanese, you can learn [...]

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In the wake of the oil spill, I’m having a hard time listening to or reading the news. Like all of us, I feel helpless. But what if the news was Manganized? Japanese website Manga No Shimbun converts the day’s news into Manga, for your reading pleasure.
Is it just that this style makes the news [...]

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I just heard about this tonight and had to blog about it. Elph’s Circus, from Artemis, hits the Tokyo subway! Part of a Japanese advertising campaign, Artemis was invited to liven up a Tokyo subway car with these adorable decorations. Why don’t they do this in New York?

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One of the hardest things about being a multi-racial family is having to explain racism to your kid. (Okay, I think it should be a discussion in ALL families, regardless of race or ethnicity, but that is a subject for another post.) In our house, it’s an ongoing conversation, and one that is important to [...]

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Japanistic and our Elph’s Bento Box got a wonderful shout-out on Hapa Bento yesterday, complete with terrific photography and a lunch I am now craving, even though it’s still early morning.
Here’s just a bit of what she had to say about our Bento: ”very colorful and cute, perfect for a child’s meal or a snack box!…But [...]

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I think only in Japan could a store dedicated to handkerchiefs survive. Located in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo, Partouze is the brain child of artist and graphic designer Jun Iida who owns the shop, just one of his many projects.
Designs range from the vintage-inspired to uber-contemporary. I’m a fan of his black and white [...]

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I’m sad I only found out about it from a post on Angry Asian Man, but still glad to be reminded of the many reasons we live in Western Massachusetts. (My head is in the Olympic clouds.)
Coming this weekend, the 5Pan 4th Annual Spring Issues and Leadership Conference. (Okay, I’m sure they aren’t just issues [...]

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