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From exhibitions around the world and collaborations with major brands and designers, to stylists reinventing them and even big furniture makers like Muji building their whole philosophy around them, Japan’s folk crafts are having a moment. Just a passing trend, or something deeper? As our capitalist societies slide into crisis, overconsumption pushes the planet to its limits, and artificial intelligence promises to digitize every corner of our daily lives, what does this fascination with handmade, unpretentious, almost ordinary objects say about us? Find out in this one-of-a-kind issue that will change the way you look at the things around you!
In this issue:
🪡 Boro, sashiko, kintsugi… far more than a fashion fad, mending clothes was born out of necessity in rural Japan. A deep dive into a craft that’s finally getting the recognition it deserves.
👘 We met Japanese women and men who open up about their special bond with everyday objects… to the point of becoming compulsive collectors. A photo story.
📺 How does Mingei fit into our consumer societies? Our journalist Clémence Leleu explores the question, and invites us to take a fresh look at the ordinary objects that surround us.
🌆 Folk art is often associated with the countryside, yet the city, and Tokyo in particular, gave rise to a unique craft scene. We report from the pockets that have survived against all odds.
🍶 Damien Kunik, curator at the Geneva Museum of Ethnography, looks back at the origins of the Mingei movement, which became a defining part of Japanese identity throughout the 20th century.
🪑 Our journalist Yuta Yagishita retraces Charlotte Perriand’s long journey to Japan, an experience that left a lasting mark on the French designer and led her to build unprecedented aesthetic bridges between France and Japan.
Also featuring:
🌸 Photographer Mika Ninagawa talks about her life story, her views on life and death, and her love of fleeting beauty in our Big Interview.
☢️ Back to Fukushima: an exclusive report from inside the exclusion zone by our special correspondent.
🍽️ Our journalist Emilie Laystary stepped into the kitchen of Mory Sacko, the Michelin-starred chef who draws inspiration from his African roots as much as from Japanese techniques.
♨️ Our Travel Journal takes you into the steam of Beppu, Japan’s hot spring city…
🚞 Japan by Train: a new section exploring the country one local line at a time. Episode 1: In Search of Ozu.
🔍 Jake Adelstein tells the story of an organized crime investigator faced with a case unlike any other…
And plenty more surprises!