A sad story from San Francisco about a merchant group opposing the redesign of a historic public space leading to a central transit station....
12 Mar 9:10 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

I recently read Azby Brown’s book, Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan. Brown is an architect, professor, author,....
23 Feb 9:02 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

A-small-lab, Chris Berthelsen’s creativity research and practice studio, has just launched an amazing blog called Fixes. Fixes investigat....
12 Feb 9:03 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

This old sign for a shoe shop, offering repair and shoe-making, adds to the neighborly feel of Zoushigaya and the sense of long-time reside....
31 Jan 9:03 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Old Tokyo neighborhoods like Zoushigaya are full of plant lovers who manage to create gardens where there is almost no space. This type of ....
29 Jan 9:02 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

My friend Eri, a pianist and music teacher, invited me to go for a walk near her college in Zoushigaya. I wasn’t sure what to expect sinc....
27 Jan 9:03 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

My in-laws have been teaching ceramics in Tokyo for over 30 years. I recently helped them relaunch the website for their Shiho ceramic scho....
24 Jan 1:27 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Urban planners Matias Echanove and Rahul Srivastava have a provocative essay in the New York Times about how post-war Tokyo can serve as an....
20 Jan 9:05 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Mochi making parties are a winter community event. Above, a huge mochi party took place on Seijin no Hi (Coming of Age Day) on January 11 o....
19 Jan 6:10 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Vanessa Keith has a provocative article about urban reforestation. Rather than focus on new buildings, a small percentage of any city, Keit....
19 Jan 9:19 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

The Huffington Post published the English version of my recent Newsweek Japan article. Entitled “Gardening for Strangers in Tokyo,” it ....
13 Jan 6:21 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Newsweek Japan published my article about how Tokyo gardening turns public space into social space. The Tokyo Eye column allows Japanese to....
12 Jan 9:57 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Nii-hao, Taiwan! Asiajin co-founder Akky Akimoto is now in Taiwan.  On Saturday, he was invited to have a presentation on Japanese social ....
11 Jan 8:25 pm  from  Asiajin.com   [Profile] [Recent] 

An interesting article about Apple’s new prototype store in Palo Alto, the center of Silicon Valley. It will have a transparent glass fac....
11 Jan 9:04 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

The last post about Big Globe reminded me of two recent dinners I attended in Tokyo and Kanagawa which featured food with visible and inter....
10 Jan 9:01 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

The cabinet advisor unveiled recently that Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama would start using Twitter in the beginning of next year to....
26 Dec 2:35 pm  from  Asiajin.com   [Profile] [Recent] 

The small shrine near our apartment is preparing for new year. The entrance gate has pine and bamboo decorations, and the tent is ready for....
26 Dec 9:02 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

Walking on a small street in Hiroo, in central Tokyo, we heard a strange noise and saw some people staring at a persimmon tree. On closer e....
22 Dec 9:01 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

Digital Signage Consortium[J] has set up digital signage devices at Akihabara station and on the streets around there, and is helping Japa....
20 Dec 12:40 pm  from  Asiajin.com   [Profile] [Recent] 

Many Tokyo train stations, and particularly Shinjuku station, are magnets for street musicians. Although not a “green space” in terms o....
20 Dec 9:04 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

Yahoo! China[C] shut down its online photo album service last Thursday, and it hit tens of thousands of Chinese people using the service. �....
16 Dec 1:10 pm  from  Asiajin.com   [Profile] [Recent] 

The world’s most successful professional golfer Tiger Woods is now facing adultery scandal.   Taiwan’s gossip news media Apple Daily ....
12 Dec 10:22 am  from  Asiajin.com   [Profile] [Recent] 

Less famous than spring cherry blossom viewing or fall maple viewing, the Aoyama ginkos draw a crowd to see the gorgeous double allée of g....
5 Dec 10:43 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

The Huffington Post published my article entitled “Biodiversity Remakes Tokyo.” I will become a regular blogger, so if you like the art....
3 Dec 11:35 pm  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

I am not a big fan of the artificial tree or of Christmas. But Japanese love holidays, imported and national. I wonder whether the stations....
2 Dec 12:05 pm  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

In association with Japan’s National Institute of Informatics, NEC and Tokyu Agency(ad agency), Tokyu Corporation, which operates major ....
1 Dec 9:59 pm  from  Asiajin.com   [Profile] [Recent] 

The Japan Times published my op-ed article “Tokyo’s urban design role.” My argument is that Tokyo’s past urban design failures para....
29 Nov 9:57 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

Last weekend at Ookayama Campus, Tokyo Institute of Technology, O’reilly Media’s mechatronics magazine “Make” held the 4th meeting[....
28 Nov 1:47 pm  from  Asiajin.com   [Profile] [Recent] 

Next Wednesday night (December 2) I will be speaking at Pecha Kucha night in Tokyo. The event brings together the widest possible variety o....
25 Nov 9:08 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

I visited Odakyu’s Agris Seijo rental farm in Seijogakuenmae in Setagaya and was prepared to be charmed by a community vegetable farm bui....
22 Nov 10:54 pm  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent]