-
1 week ago | 
monocle.com | Fiona Wilson
While Japan's more than 50,000 convenience stores - konbini - are an indispensable part of daily life, they've tended to stay away from the realm of fashion, beyond offering clean underwear or perhaps an emergency shirt and tie. That all changed in 2021 when FamilyMart - operator of nearly 16,300 convenience stores in Japan - teamed up with the Tokyo fashion designer Hiromichi Ochiai to launch its own intuitively named label, Convenience Wear. The range debuted to instant success.
-
3 weeks ago | 
monocle.com | Fiona Wilson
It's a sunny April morning in the Japanese capital and the halls of Tokyo Big Sight, the city's waterfront convention centre, are ringing with a cacophony of barks and yelps. This is Interpets Asia Pacific, Japan's top pet-products trade show, and the 2025 edition is bigger than ever.
-
2 months ago | 
monocle.com | Fiona Wilson
Spare a thought for Hayao Miyazaki, the 84-year-old Japanese anime director and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, which has produced such hits as My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away. After decades spent honing his craft and meticulously making his hand-drawn films, frame by frame, Miyazaki discovered that his distinctive style was suddenly reproducible via a new image generator that OpenAI released as an update to ChatGPT last month.
-
2 months ago | 
monocle.com | Fiona Wilson
Digital printing has stripped the craft from Japanese manga. Meet the typesetters staging a print revolution. You might not have noticed the revolution that's occurred in the world of Japanese manga in the past 15 years - unless you were looking closely. The comic-book art form that traces its roots back to the witty, whimsical images of the great Ukiyo-e woodblock print artists, has moved squarely into the digital world.
-
Feb 26, 2025 | 
monocle.com | Fiona Wilson |Gregory Scruggs |Cyrus Panganiban |Jake Naughton
LBoom towns and bright spots across the world are bucking the trends that others are seeing in the global economy, with undaunted property companies seizing the moment to launch game-changing projects. We speak to some key industry players whose firms are reshaping the future. 1. THE INTREPID CEO Meean DyManila, PhilippinesPark Villas in Metro Manila is on course to become one of the Philippines’ most prestigious addresses.
-
Nov 21, 2024 | 
monocle.com | Fiona Wilson |Kohei Take |Andrea Pugiotto
LNot long ago, many were questioning the need to have offices at all – but there’s a growing awareness that proximity to production can help to keep standards high. We visit firms in Japan, Morocco and Italy to see how HQs with in-built factories or labs are keeping staff engaged and improving the products on offer. Big clothing, furniture and design firms today tend to make their products in locations far from where they are conceived.
-
Nov 30, 2023 | 
monocle.com | Natalie Theodosi |Claudia Jacobs |Fiona Wilson
LDespite the convenience of online shopping, a new generation of designers, buyers and entrepreneurs are reaffirming the irreplaceable charms of in-person retail. Here are five new outlets that we admire. The joys of going shopping are undisputed: nothing beats the experience of walking into a physical space, taking in its interiors and signature scent, and making a fresh discovery or striking up conversations with fellow customers and staff.
-
Nov 30, 2023 | 
monocle.com | Ursula Heinzelmann |Lucrezia Motta |Gaia Lutz |Fiona Wilson
LIn cities worldwide, recipes for traditional cakes and pastries have been passed down through generations, with the resultant treats now baked into the identities of the places and their people. These desserts are often associated with festivities, none more so than Christmas and New Year.
-
Nov 15, 2023 | 
monocle.com | Fiona Wilson
LFiona Wilson reporting from Okinawa prefecture: With territorial disputes in the East China Sea intensifying, the Japan Coast Guard has had to rapidly evolve to contend with new threats. We drop anchor at Ishigaki Island, where its crew police these vital waters. With its sugar-cane fields, sun-drenched beaches and clear, subtropical waters, Ishigaki Island could hardly look less like the front line of a conflict.
-
Oct 18, 2023 | 
monocle.com | Fiona Wilson
LA storied bookseller opens up his own personal library and why tiny museums are big news. Fiona Wilson on a new space that offers quiet contemplation and perhaps a hint about the next chapter of library design. After 20 years in the book business, Yoshitaka Haba has acquired a reputation in Japan as the man to go to for any public library or private institution looking to put together a compelling book selection.
