PIKUNIKU IS AN ONLINE PICNIC BETWEEN TWO DESIGNERS WHO LIKE CUTE STUFF, NASTY STUFF, AND JAPANESE STUFF TOO
Displaying all posts tagged as 'japanese'.
“First, observe the whole bowl. Appreciate its gestalt. Savor the aromas. Jewels of fat glittering on the surface…”
andreainspired: Tampopo (1985, Juzo Itami)
“First, caress the surface with the chopstick tips. To express affection. Then, poke the pork. Just touch it. Caress it with the chopstick tips. Gently pick it up, and dip it into the soup on the right of the bowl. What’s important here is to apologize to the pork by saying, ‘See you soon.’”
PIKUNIKU gets a bento box… recipes on their way
—MR
Another example of this “diplomatic breaking bread” phenomenon:
As tensions between Japan and China remain unresolved it’s curiously amusing that sushi, the cultural food staple synonymous with Japanese cuisine, is serving as a dish that might just calm China’s diplomatic tensions elsewhere. Read more…
Mini baked puff pastry chocolate pies from Japan. Image found here.
TOILET FOR DINNER IN TORONTO
It all starts at the dinner table and ends at the toilet. You can’t have one without the other. What you can’t have together, however, is a film shot and set in Toronto. Ever. You always have to shoot the film in Toronto (a cheap backdrop for filmmaking) and set it somewhere in the the United States. Thanks for the work of Japanese director Naoko Ogigami for his excellent work in Toilet. Can’t wait to see more than the trailer.
—MC
FRAGRANT DOG MEAT
Fan Xian Tao: “Some Chinese eat dog meat, like how some Westerners eat beef. What’s the difference? If you can eat beef steak, then why can’t you have dog steak?” Reminds me of the South Park episode “Whale Wars” which raises the same question: Why can’t Japanese slaughter whales and dolphins, the way Westerners slaughter chickens and cows? Good question.
—MC
Squid eye. And faux-wood polystyrene as part of the lovely packaging design.
Squid eye.
スズの甘いパンすることができます
My roommate and fellow Sandberg Institute designer Judith van der Velden was busy this afternoon making Danish sweet breads. She’d just returned from Copenhagen and couldn’t wait to try making the dish at home. This reminded me of some interesting sweet buns I had once in Japan, which then reminded me of one of the strange things that gives such interest to food and design culture: the collision of radically different ideas. Take bread and cans for example.
In the summer of 2004, when I arrived in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district around 4 in the morning, there weren’t many places to eat a pre-petit déjeuner. That is, until I discovered Japanese vending machines. I found canned coffee and café au lait for sale, as well as this weird canned sweet bun, like the ones pictured here. It was a little dry, but flavorful nevertheless. It may not have been a culinary masterpiece, but it was definitely the ultimate object of surprise and convenience.
—MC
ネスレ キットカット 焼きもろこし風味
Baked corn KitKats from Hokkaido. Strawberry cheesecake KitKats from Yokohama. Soybean KitKats from the Kanto region. I wonder what wasabi white chocolate tastes like?
Nestlé launched its new site-specific KitKat flavours in Japan. Each one responding to local produce or regional palates. And each one only sold in the local market from which it was inspired. Above is a screenshot of their flavour map. Cute “local” party tricks? Or is KitKat the top candy pusher in Japan?
Sadly, the packaging design is terrible. Nor is it local whatsoever. It reeks of a-tiny-bit-of-variety (just-enough-so-you-can-tell-what-flavour-it-is), but ultimately-overly-consistent-and-“on-brand.”
Nor did they have guts to make the product stand apart. Take the packaging for “Thé Vert Nouveau du Japon” from Mariage Frères. The collection is still “on-brand,” but not literally. Each one is different, amazing and reflects the region from which the tea originated. In Japan, you can do such a thing. So why not with KitKat?
—MC
This theme is Oedipa Maas by PH.
