Picture of the day
May 05th 2010
These are picture taken not far from my house in kobe, I do pass in front of this house a lot and always loved the wall so I had to make it the pic of the day!
If you’re a gaijin living in Japan, going to shop at Ikea should be on your to do list, in the first week of your arrival in Japan. Why? Simply because you will be able to find a lot of product and furniture that you might need to comfortably live in Japan at a price that will not kill your wallet on the spot.
Ikea was introduced in Japan in 1974, the company launched a franchising deal in 1974, only to beat a retreat in 1986. The exact reasons of the retreat are not clear but it is mostly said that it was because the japanese housing market really did not match the company products. The Ikea CEO said; ” He attributed IKEA’s failure two decades ago to the fact that the company was not ready for the demanding Japanese market — and that Japanese customers were not ready for the do-it-yourself style that defines IKEA.”
20 years past and extensive reasearch were done by the Ikea corporation, to first understand the Japanese life style and also the Japanese needs.
So with all that the first modern Ikea store was open in Funabashi in 2006 followed by the seconde one in Yokohama also in 2006 and 3 other location in 2008: Kobe port island, shin-Misato Saitama and Tsuruhama. All stores are a massive 40,000 m2 which in Japan is incredibly big for a store.
IKEA in Kobe
Well, the cherry blossoms are blooming all over Japan right now, and I was lucky enough to get myself to Kurume Castle just the other day. The city of Kurume is located in Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu and interestingly, it is also the home of Brigestone tire company.
Little remains of Kurume Castle today, just sections of its stonework and moat. No matter its current state, the castle ruins look stunning with its flowers of Spring, under the blue sky.
Have you ever heard of Urushi?
Urushi is the traditional art of lacquering wood or almost anything. As for most Japanese art forms, we have to look for their origin in China. However, excavations in the Saitama prefecture (hihihi where I live) prove that there has been a lacquer culture in Japan since the early Jomon period 10000 – 250 B.C.. Lacquer was not only applied as a decoration, but also as a protection for wood and leather. Some of the famous Dogu statues of the late Jomon period can be considered as the first art objects with lacquer decoration. In this same period there even existed an imperial lacquer department Koan 392 – 291 B.C.. The lacquer colour scheme used at that time was restricted to black and red. The evolution during the Yayoi period 250 B.C. – 250 was not very important. Worth mentioning are the fine kogai and armour with lacquer coatings. The only colours used are still black and red. The introduction of a new colour, namely gold lacquer kin urushi, took place in the Kofun period 250 – 552. After that period and the introduction of Buddhism in Japan new technique were introduce and the art when on!
Now Today in the moderne world of big metropolis and stylish technology we can have those
These 1000 U.S. dollars or 99,800Jp yen iPhone cases are distributed by the Japanese mobile giant Softbank
They are traditionally lacquered by a company or branch of softbank called: Japan Texture. these 5 spledid cases where created under the supervision of a historian, since they are representing 5 famous Japanese samurai’s.
The cases are named after and designed to honor famed Japanese warriors like Date Masamune, Uesugi Kenshin and Naoe Kanetsugu just to name a few. Each one is decorate in elements that personify these legendary heroes, with gold dust highlights adding plenty of sparkle.
The famous Kyoto based lacquer ware manufacturer Zohiko was part of the collaboration to create these exquisite expensive iPhone cases.
(if you click on the name if each samurai you will have a Wikipedia page that will open so you can learn more about these great samurai’s)
If 1000$ is not really in your budget and your still kindly will to get a lacquered case for you superb iPhone, Softbank offers an other series of cases in the 39,800 Yen ($407) range. Here are those models. Unfortunately for you (if you have big pockets) these are all limited editions only 50 of each model will be sold be sure to grab one quick.